Plate tectonics! What a wonderful concept! Many people have no clue to what plate tectonics is all about and others have never heard of it. Yes, even I had no idea about the strange things that occur beneath the Earth's surface, until I took Geology 1001.3. Plate tectonics relates the movement of the plates that make up the Earth's crust to the main geologic features. This movement is responsible for the creation of the continents, island arcs, mountains, ocean trenches and oceans. Their movement is also the cause of earthquakes and volcanoes. These earthquakes and volcanoes mostly occur in concentrated areas where two plates meet. On these plate boundries the plates either come together (convergent margin) or they slowly drift apart (divergent margin). When two plates converge, one will usually slide under another, this either results in the creation of mountain ranges or the creation of deep trenches. When they diverge new rock formations appear on their boundry, this is the cause of the mid-ocean ridges.

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