We live on the Earth's outermost part, the crust. This layer of solid rock is actually divided into several 'pieces', which we term 'plates', as they seem to 'hold' and contain the land or sea above them, just as normal plates carry food. These plates lie above the magma and are moved by the convection currents of the mantle. This continuous movement is called the 'plate tectonics'.

There are basically two types of plates. The oceanic plates and the continental plates.

What Are Oceanic Plates?
Oceanic plates, as the name goes, are crusts which 'carry' the oceans above it. It is made of lighter but denser materials than the continental crust. This explains why they tend to subduct, or sink under continental crust when the two collide due to plate tectonics.

What Are Continental Plates?
Continental plates are crust that have continents (Large land masses) and some areas of ocean on them. They are usually named after the continents they 'carry'. Because they are made of lighter and less dense substances, they normally do not subduct.

Let EarthMap Show You The Plates And Boundaries

Now that you know the geology of the Earth and plate tectonics, let us take a closer look into the different processes of plate tectonics which happen at the plate boundaries, zones of movement and instability.

Plates On The Move