What does it mean when earths plates float?
The surface of the Earth is divided into roughly 30 separately distinct units called plates. Each individual plate is separated by a fault, and each plate moves independently of every other plate. The movement, or float, of the lithospheric plates is caused by heat from the Earth’s interior, which causes convection currents in the Earth’s mantle, a layer of solid but movable plastic-like rock. The movement of Earth’s lithospheric plate which ‘float’ on the mantle is very slow in human terms, roughly the rate of fingernail growth, but over millions of years, the change in plate locations is dramatic.
