Meaning & use
plate tectonics
The scientific theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into large rigid plates that move slowly over the mantle beneath.
See it in a sentence
Plate tectonics explains why earthquakes cluster along certain boundaries of the Earth's crust.
Students learned how plate tectonics gradually formed the Himalayas over millions of years.
A note on using this word
Plate tectonics accounts for continental drift, earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation as results of plates colliding, spreading, or sliding past one another.
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