What is plate tectonics?

thin layer of the Earth that sits beneath ocean basins. movement and interaction of the Earth’s plates. object’s complete turn around its own axis. massive slab of solid rock made up of Earth’s lithosphere (crust and upper mantle). Also called lithospheric plate.

How did the Earth’s tectonic plates change over time?

Earth’s Shifting Tectonic Plates. Colliding tectonic plates created mountain ranges, and a shift in global climate allowed glaciers to spread as far as the Equator. A new supercontinent named Pannotia formed in the south polar region.

Is it possible to visualize the Earth before plate tectonics?

It will not be easy to visualize the pre-plate tectonic Earth. No successful global physics-based geodynamic paradigm yet exists for Earth before plate tectonics due to the scarceness and fundamental unavailability of necessary data (e.g. global picture of the unperturbed Archean Earth interior and surface).

What does pre-plate tectonic earth look like?

Pre-plate tectonic Earth is a challenge. An egg does not look like a chicken. Therefore, even if we look at the chicken from 1000 different perspectives it will not help us to understand what the egg looked like. Modern plate tectonic Earth is like the chicken, whereas pre-plate tectonic Earth is like the egg.