Get Section 9 3 Theory Of Plate Tectonics Answer Key

Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth's subterranean movements. The theory, which solidified in the 1960s, transformed the earth sciences by explaining many phenomena, including mountain building events, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

Plate tectonics is the theory that states that Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle. The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to Earth's mantle. This strong outer layer is called the lithosphere. Plate tectonics is the modern version of continental drift.

Divergent boundaries -- where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. Convergent boundaries -- where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another. Transform boundaries -- where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other.

They have three main hypotheses to explain plate movements: convection, slab pull, and ridge push. Scientists used to think that convection in the mantle was the main force that caused plate motions.

There are three kinds of plate tectonic boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries.

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. The plates act like hard and rigid shells compared to Earth's mantle. This strong outer layer is called the lithosphere.