Category: Plate Tectonics

Republished from Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes - Past, Present, and Future by Robert Tilling, Christina Heliker, and Donald Swanson U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 117. Pacific Basin Map: Map of the Pacific Basin showing the location of the Hawaiian Ridge-Emperor Seamount Chain and the Aleutian Trench.

Article by: Hobart M. King, Ph.D., RPG A generalized map of Earth's major tectonic plates. These plates move and interact with one another to produce earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain ranges, ocean trenches and other geologic processes and features. Map prepared by the United States Geological Survey.

Article by: Hobart M. King, Ph.D., RPG Illustration from USGS. Plate Tectonics Plate tectonics is the study of the lithosphere, the outer portion of the Earth consisting of the crust and part of the upper mantle. The lithosphere is divided into about a dozen large plates which move and interact with one another to create earthquakes, mountain ranges, volcanic activity, ocean trenches and many other features.