A geographical map that shows the extensions of the various plate boundaries of the earth crust and the location of volcanoes at its edges. Move around the map to see the plate boundaries (shown as lines) and the location of volcanoes (show as points) across the globe.
Data Source: Plate Tectonics KML from RSOE EDIS, Volcano of the World KML from www.gelessons.com/kmzfiles/gvp_layer.kmz
Tectonic Plates of the Earth
I am a geologist by education and the topics related to earth science fascinates me a lot. Plate Tectonics is one such topic. Plate Tectonics is a scientific theory dealing with the dynamics of earth’s outer shell, the lithosphere, that revolutionized earth sciences by providing a uniform context for understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes, as well as understanding the evolution of earth’s surface and reconstructing its past continental and oceanic configurations. Here I have tried to illustrate plate tectonic through a map.The earth's crust or the outer shell can be compared to the peel of an orange. Plate tectonics explains that this orange peel-like earth's outer shell is divided into several plates-like structures that glide over the mantle, the inner semi-viscous to solid layer of the above the core. Of course this plate-gliding movement is very slow, like 5 to 10 cm/yr, but in decades of years this speed does make impact. The lines where the plates meet are called plate boundaries. Because of the gliding movements of the plates, tremendous pressures are generated and energy is accumulated at the plate boundaries. And when these energy releases all of a sudden, earthquakes occur.
There are three main types of plate boundary: divergent, convergent and transform. At divergent boundaries, plates move away from one another leading to formation of deep oceanic trenches. At convergent boundaries, plates move towards each other leading to collusion and formation of pile of upraises, like folded mountains. At transform boundaries, plates slide pass one another leading to formation of shear zones accumulating massive frictional forces, which when released causes earthquakes. These activities also create ruptures in the earth crust, through which hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface, which are called volcanoes. The image below illustrates the various plate tectonic activities of the earth.
Plate Tectonics model of the Earth Crust
