Tectonic Plate Boundaries

The Earth’s lithosphere is made up of a series of plates that float on the mantle. Scientists think the convection of the mantle causes these plates to move triggering earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building events, or trench formation. These plates creep along at a rate of approximately five to ten centimeters (two to four inches) per year. These plates move in primarily three main ways. They slide past one another along transform (strike-slip) boundaries, they push against each other at convergent boundaries, or pull away in opposite directions at divergent boundaries. Each one of these interactions create different types of landforms. For example, the steady pressure of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate built the Himalaya mountains and the Plateau of Tibet. The divergent boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian formed the Red Sea. Use this plate map layer to explore how the movement of the plates cause earthquakes, volcanoes, or shape Earth’s landscape. This map layer features both major and minor plates, but excludes microplates. The data is from the scientific study by Peter Bird published in volume 4, issue 3 of Geochemisty, Geophysics, Geosystems and was translated into geospatial formats by Hugo Ahlenius and updated by Dan Pisut.地球岩石圈（lithosphere）由一系列漂浮于地幔（mantle）之上的板块构成。科学家认为，地幔对流驱动这些板块运动，进而触发地震、火山活动、造山运动或海沟形成。这些板块每年以约5至10厘米（2至4英寸）的速率缓慢移动。板块的运动主要分为三种基本形式：沿转换（走滑）边界（transform (strike-slip) boundaries）相互滑动、在汇聚边界（convergent boundaries）相互挤压，或是在离散边界（divergent boundaries）彼此背离拉伸。每一类相互作用都会塑造出不同的地貌类型。例如，印度板块与欧亚板块的持续挤压造就了喜马拉雅山脉与青藏高原；非洲板块与阿拉伯板块之间的离散边界则形成了红海。请借助该板块图层探究板块运动如何引发地震、火山活动，或是塑造地球地表形态。该图层涵盖主要板块与次要板块，但不包含微板块。本数据集源自彼得·伯德（Peter Bird）发表于《Geochemisty, Geophysics, Geosystems》第4卷第3期的科研成果，由雨果·阿莱纽斯（Hugo Ahlenius）转换为地理空间格式，并由丹·皮萨特（Dan Pisut）进行更新。