2. Plate tectonics:
It is from the Late Latin tectonicus,
from the Greek: τεκτονικός
"pertaining to building; it is a
scientific theory which describes
the large scale motions of Earth's
lithosphere.
3. LITHOSPHERE
The lithosphere (from the
Greek words [lithos] for
"rocky" + [sphaira] for
"sphere") is the rigid
outermost shell of a rocky
planet.
4. Earth's lithosphere
It comprises the
crust and the
portion of the upper
mantle that
behaves elastically
on time scales of
thousands of years
or greater.
6. Transform Boundaries
Also known as
Conservative occur where
plates slide or, perhaps
more accurately, grind past
each other along transform
faults.
7. Divergent Boundaries
Constructive occur where two
plates slide apart from each other.
Mid-ocean ridges (e.g.,
Mid-Atlantic Ridge) and active
zones of rifting (such as Africa's
Great Rift Valley) are both
examples of divergent boundaries.
8. Convergent Boundaries
(Destructive or active margins
occur where two plates slide
towards each other commonly
forming either a subduction zone
(if one plate moves underneath
the other) or a
continental collision (if the two
plates contain continental crust).