|
Disclaimer : All efforts have been made to make this image accurate. However Compare Infobase Limited,its directors and employees do not own any responsibility for the correctness or authenticity of the same.
World tectonic plates can be broadly categorized into major and minor tectonic plates. They move in relation to each other at any of the three forms of boundaries. Plate tectonics is a scientific hypothesis, which is dependent on the theory of continental drift.
The tectonic movements of the world had a key role in forming and disintegrating the various continents on planet Earth. Plate tectonics is a scientific hypothesis, which explains the major movements of the lithosphere of the Earth. This hypothesis is based on the former theories of continental drift.
Classification of World Tectonic Plates
According to geologists, the lithosphere (the solid portion of the earth comprising the crust and external layer) is divided into what are known as tectonic plates. There are seven to eight main plates (conditional on which way they are described) and various minor plates.
These plates shift with respect to each other at one of three forms of plate boundaries. The movement of these plates is still on and it can be sensed by remote sensing satellite data-sets, fine-tuned with ground station dimensions.
Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, mountain formation, and marine trench development take place beside these boundaries. The sideways relative shift of the plates differs; however, it is normally 0-100 mm every year.
World tectonic plates can be broadly categorized into major and minor tectonic plates.
Major tectonic plates
The major tectonic plates can be categorized into the following:
- Antarctic Plate
- African Plate
- Eurasian Plate
- Indo-Australian Plate (on certain occasions, this plate is subcategorized into Indian Plate and Australian Plate)
- South American Plate
- North American Plate
- Pacific Plate
There are many minor or smaller tectonic plates, the biggest of which are as follows:
- Caribbean Plate
- Arabian Plate
- Cocos Plate
- Juan de Fuca Plate
- Philippine Sea Plate
- Nazca Plate
- Scotia Plate
- Transform boundaries (conventional)
- Convergent boundaries (destructive, also known as active margins)
- Divergent boundaries (constructive)
| Related Information |