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Tectonic plates move at speeds comparable to fingernail growth
Lithospheric plates drift across Earth mantle at rates of one to ten centimetres annually
Earth's rigid outer shell, the lithosphere, is fractured into major tectonic plates that float atop the ductile asthenosphere. Driven by mantle convection currents and gravitational slab pull, these plates move at speeds averaging two to five centimetres per year. Their collisions and separations build mountains, open ocean basins, and trigger earthquakes.
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Tags: earth science, plate tectonics, geology
Tectonic plates move at speeds comparable to fingernail growth: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Lithospheric plates drift across Earth mantle at rates of one to ten centimetres annually. The figure is taken from USGS, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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