When.com Web Search

Search results

  1. Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
  2. Plate tectonics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics

    t. e. Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') [1] is the scientific theory that Earth 's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. [2][3][4] The model builds on the concept of continental ...

  3. Fault (geology) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_(geology)

    Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic forces, with the largest forming the boundaries between the plates, such as the megathrust faults of subduction zones or transform faults. [1] Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes.

  4. Earth's crust - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_crust

    Plates in the crust of Earth. Earth's crust is its thick outer shell of rock, referring to less than one percent of the planet's radius and volume. It is the top component of the lithosphere, a solidified division of Earth 's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. [1] The lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates ...

  5. Outline of plate tectonics - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_plate_tectonics

    Sinistral transform. Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') is the scientific theory that Earth 's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental ...

  6. Brittle–ductile transition zone - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle–ductile...

    Variation of strength with depth in continental crust and changes in dominant deformation mechanisms and fault rocks in a conceptual vertical fault zone.. The brittle-ductile transition zone (hereafter the "transition zone") is the zone of the Earth's crust that marks the transition from the upper, more brittle crust to the lower, more ductile crust. [1]

  7. Mohorovičić discontinuity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohorovičić_discontinuity

    Earth's crust and mantle, Moho discontinuity between bottom of crust and solid uppermost mantle. The Mohorovičić discontinuity (/ ˌ m oʊ h ə ˈ r oʊ v ɪ tʃ ɪ tʃ / MOH-hə-ROH-vih-chitch; Croatian: [moxorôʋiːtʃitɕ]) [1] – usually called the Moho discontinuity, Moho boundary, or just Moho – is the boundary between the crust and the mantle of Earth.

  8. Fault block - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_block

    Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relatively uniform lithology. The largest of these fault blocks are called crustal blocks.

  9. Earth's crustal evolution - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_crustal_evolution

    Earth's crustal evolution involves the formation, destruction and renewal of the rocky outer shell at that planet 's surface. The variation in composition within the Earth's crust is much greater than that of other terrestrial planets. Mars, Venus, Mercury and other planetary bodies have relatively quasi-uniform crusts unlike that of the Earth ...