What are tectonic plates why do they move what do these movements cause?
They are giant slabs of solid rock. They move a few centimeters every year due to convection currents of heat from the interior of the Earth. The entire surface of the planet is covered with these plates and they collide, slide, and separate from each other at their boundaries. Their movements are associated with volcanism, mountain building, and earthquakes. The plates are formed of the crust and the underlying attached solid rock of the upper mantle. The tectonic plates are also known as lithospheric plates. There are over thirty tectonic plates but only 7 main ones. These are the North-American Plate, South-American Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, African Plate, Eurasian Plate, Antarctic Plate and the Pacific Plate.
