Question

About how fast are Earth’s tectonic plates moving, on average?

Answer 1

Hint: The movement of the plates that make up the crust of the earth is known as the tectonic plates. The earth’s crust also known as the lithosphere contains nearly 15 to 20 tectonic plates.

Complete answer: The earth keeps on changing constantly. It is in a constant state of evolution. The continents which we can observe at present are a result of the constant state of evolution. It is accepted to have moved from a supercontinent named the Panagea through a tectonic shift.

The heat produced from the radioactive processes within the earth's interior creates the plates to move, sometimes away and sometimes toward one another. This movement of the plates is called the tectonic shift, or the plate motion. The rate at which the earth’s tectonic plates move varies. The movement of the earth’s tectonic plates varies from one to two inches per year, which is nearly three to five centimetres. According to geographers and researchers, the region of coastal California moves quite fast almost two inches a year.

The movement of the tectonic plates is minimal and we believe that it is not moving. The slow rise of the Himalayan mountain is a result of the tectonic shift that happened 55 million years ago when India and Asia collided.

Note: The development of the plates makes three kinds of tectonic boundaries: convergent, divergent and transform. In convergent type the plates move into each other; in the divergent type the plates move away, and in transform type, the plates move sideways corresponding to one another.