How does plate tectonics change Earth's surface?

NARRATOR: The theory of plate tectonics proposes that the surface of the Earth—to a depth of 50 to 100 kilometers—is composed of large and small plates that rest on and slide over an underlying layer of plasticlike rock.

In the late 1960s geologists suggested that this surface layer, called the lithosphere, is divided into about a dozen of these large plates and a number of smaller ones. They are thought to move independently of one another.

The lithosphere rests on and slides over an underlying weaker layer of plasticlike rock known as the asthenosphere.

When the lithosphere slides, the plates interact along their boundaries by diverging, converging, or slipping past each other. While moving, the plates may push past each other, causing mountains to rise and continents to fracture.

When the plates pull apart, oceans form.

A very large percentage of the Earth's most devastating earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain-building processes occurs at the boundaries of tectonic plates.

Because of plate tectonics, the surface of the Earth is divided into continents and ocean basins, caused by differences in the thickness and composition of the continental and oceanic crust.

The continents have a crust that is composed of granite rock, which is lighter and stronger than the basaltic ocean floor. The continental crust is 30 to 40 kilometers thick, while the oceanic crust is only 6 to 7 kilometers thick. The extra buoyancy of the continental crust causes it to float higher in the mantle, and this is what accounts for the difference in level of the two principal kinds of Earth's surface.