Plate Tectonics Theory

The story of Plate Tectonics is the story of continents drifting from place to place, breaking apart, colliding, and grinding against each other (Story pp). It is also the story of terrestrial mountain ranges rising up while being pushed together, of oceans opening and closing, of undersea mountain chains girdling the planet like seams on a baseball, and of violent earthquakes and fiery volcanoes (Story pp). Plate Tectonics describes the intricate design of a complex, living planet in a state of dynamic flux (Story pp).

Examination of the globe usually results in the observation that most of the continents seem to fit together like a puzzle (Plate pp). For example, the west African coastline appears to snuggle into the eat coast of South America and the Caribbean sea, and a similar fit appears across the Pacific (Plate pp). The fit is even more evident when the submerged...
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