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plate tectonics
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Earth's tectonic plates
What is the theory of continental drift?
Earth's lithosphere and upper mantle crustal generation and destruction
Discern between body and surface waves, primary and secondary waves, and Love and Rayleigh waves
Earth's core
Examine how the theory of plate tectonics explains volcanic activity, earthquakes, and mountains
plate movement rift valley in Thingvellir National Park age of Earth's oceanic crust
For Students
plate tectonics summary
Quizzes
Cross section of Earth showing the core, mantle, and crust
Everything Earth
Cross section of Earth showing the core, mantle, and crust
The Solid Earth Quiz
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The extent to which plate tectonics has influenced Earth’s evolution through geologic time depends on when the process started. This is a matter of ongoing debate among geologists. The principal problem is that almost all oceanic crust older than about 200 million years has been obliterated by subduction. Some of the other hallmarks of subduction—such as the high-pressure low-temperature metamorphic belts and the preservation of ophiolites—are very poorly represented in orogenic belts (belts of former or actual mountain ranges resulting from crustal deformation related to subduction or continental collision) that are older than 600 million years. To some geoscientists, this ...(100 of 14904 words)

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