GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -What can happen when tectonic plates move a few centimeters? The atmosphere can become cooler. Whole continents can move. The ozone layer can thicken.

Detailed explanation-2: -At the “seams” where tectonic plates come in contact, the crustal rocks may grind violently against each other, causing earthquakes and volcano eruptions. The relatively fast movement of the tectonic plates under California explains the frequent earthquakes that occur there.

Detailed explanation-3: -These plates are in constant motion. They can move at rates of up to four inches (10 centimeters) per year, but most move much slower than that. Different parts of a plate move at different speeds. The plates move in different directions, colliding, moving away from, and sliding past one another.

Detailed explanation-4: -Today, we know that the continents rest on massive slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The plates are always moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics. The continents are still moving today.

Detailed explanation-5: -A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth’s mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust.