plate tectonics

plate tectonics, theory that unifies many of the features and characteristics of continental drift and seafloor spreading into a coherent model and has revolutionized geologists' understanding of continents, ocean basins, mountains, and earth history.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Development of Plate Tectonics Theory
• Plate Boundary Conditions
• Movement of the Continents
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Geology and Oceanography