Types of lithospheric plates

edge of the plates

The lithosphere is formed by the upper mantle and the oceanic or continental crust, so we must distinguish between oceanic lithosphere and continental lithosphere. The lithosphere breaks up into different types of lithospheric plates rigid and stable, which are located in the region of low speed of seismic waves (previously asthenosphere) and have a plastic behavior that favors their movement induced by convection.

In this article we are going to tell you about the main types of lithospheric plates that exist and what their characteristics are.

Key features

types of lithospheric plates in the world

The tectonic plates are the differently rigid and homogeneous parts into which the lithosphere, the outermost crust, can be divided, which are suspended in the upper terrestrial mantle (or asthenosphere), and whose semi-liquids allow them to move or move.

The movement of these lithospheric plates follows the description of plate tectonics, a scientific theory that originated in the mid-XNUMXth century and it can explain various terrestrial and topographical phenomena such as the formation of mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes.

According to this theory, the different existing tectonic plates move like rafts through the mantle, rubbing, colliding and pushing against each other, in a field of geological tension.

The best evidence for this seems to be that the current shape of the continents allows us to assume that they were put together like puzzle pieces millions of years ago to form a single supercontinent called Pangea. Continued tectonic movement separated the continents to their current distribution.

Shape and activity of tectonic plates

types of lithospheric plates

A continent can be just the visible part of one or several tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are rigid, concrete, and solid, but they come in different shapes, irregularities, and thicknesses. They do not coincide with the shape of the continents that we represent on the map, because the same continent can be only a visible part (uncovered by water) of one or even several adjacent tectonic plates.

There are many known tectonic plates, of which there are about 15 major (major) plates and about 42 minor plates. Processes deep within the Earth are the result of plate tectonic dynamics. Since the heart of our planet is liquid and made up of various molten metals, tectonic plates form the outer and colder layers of the planet and, therefore, stronger. When underground magma erupts (like a volcano), new chemical elements are thrown to the surface.

Main types of tectonic plates

The North American Plate is located around the North American continent. There are fifteen known major tectonic plates:

  • African plate. Distributed throughout the African continent.
  • Antarctic plate. Located on the Antarctic continent and around Antarctica.
  • Arabian plate. Located around the Middle East.
  • Coconut plate. Located on the Pacific coast of Central America.
  • Nazca plate. Located in the Pacific Ocean, bordering the coasts of Peru, Chile and Ecuador.
  • Caribbean plate. Throughout the Caribbean, northern South America.
  • Pacific plate. Located in the central Pacific Ocean, it is bordered by the Nazca, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Indo-Australian, Philippine, and North American plates.
  • Eurasian plate. Distributed throughout continental Europe and most of Asia.
  • Philippine plate. Territory of Southeast Asia located in the Philippine Islands.
  • Indian plate. in India and its neighboring countries.
  • Australian or Indo-Australian plates. Located in most of Oceania and its adjacent waters.
  • Juan de Fuca plaque. Located on the west coast of the United States.
  • North American plate. It is found in North America, Greenland, Iceland, and parts of eastern Russia.
  • Scotia plate. It is located in the southern part of the South American continent and borders the South Pole.
  • South American plate. It includes the continent of South America and parts of its territory adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.

Types of tectonic plates and their characteristics

subduction process

Mixed plates combine oceanic and continental crust. There are two types of tectonic plates, depending on which crust they belong to:

  • oceanic plates. These are almost completely covered by seawater (except for the island that eventually emerged, the volcanic mansion within the plate), and their composition is mostly metals: iron and magnesium.
  • Mixed plates: These combine oceanic and continental crust, so their composition is very diverse.

The boundaries between one tectonic plate and another appear in three possible ways:

  • divergent limits. Due to the pressure of the subsurface magma that emerged, the plates moved away from each other, forming new parts of the crust as they cooled.
  • Convergent limits. Tectonic plates near the point of collision can create subduction zones, where one plate enters the mantle below another, or crumple the crust, creating mountains and mountains.
  • friction limit. In these ranges, the crust is neither created nor destroyed, but it maintains a parallel movement, creating a lot of friction, which is why they are regular seismic zones.

tectonic accidents

The orogeny is the formation of mounts or mountains. Three types of features are believed to be the result of tectonic dynamics:

  • Volcanic activity. The emergence of continental or submarine volcanoes, in which exuberant magma is released from the subsoil, which, as it cools, creates new crust.
  • Orogenesis. Ridge formation. This can happen both when plates collide and crumple and when they subduct. In the first case there is little volcanic activity and strong seismicity, on the other hand there is little seismicity and much volcanic activity.
  • Seismic activity. Earthquakes and tremors occur as a result of friction between tectonic plates.

Earth is the only planet in the solar system that shows evidence of tectonic activity as we know it. Although some moons of Mars, Venus and Saturn show signs of this happening at some point.

Convection currents are those that flow material from the subsurface, pushing out the hotter and less dense material (due to the high temperatures inside the Earth). This material presses on the lithosphere and gradually cools, sinking deep into the mantle; the circulation creates a pressure that moves the plates together. This is the engine of the lithospheric plates.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about the different types of lithospheric plates and their characteristics.


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