Editing Tectonics (section)

==Plate tectonics==
{{Main article|Plate tectonics}}

[[File:JPVD-NGTM2023-Network.jpg|upright=2|right|thumb|The Tectonic Network of the Earth. Legend: Brown: Terrane (microplate) boundaries in the continents and Mobile Belts, Cyan: Terranes of the Oceanic Plates, Blue: Oceanic transform faults; Red and orange: Fault zones in the Continental and Mountain belt domain; Purple: Main subduction zones and suture zones; Green: Continental margins]]

In plate tectonics, the outermost part of the Earth known as the [[lithosphere]] (the [[Crust (geology)|crust]] and uppermost [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]]) act as a single mechanical layer. The lithosphere is divided into separate "plates" that move relative to each other on the underlying, relatively weak [[asthenosphere]] in a process ultimately driven by the continuous loss of heat from the Earth's interior. There are three main types of plate boundaries: [[Divergent boundary|divergent]], where plates move apart from each other and new lithosphere is formed in the process of [[sea-floor spreading]]; [[Transform fault|transform]], where plates slide past each other, and [[convergent boundary|convergent]], where plates converge and lithosphere is "consumed" by the process of [[subduction]]. Convergent and transform boundaries are responsible for most of the world's major ([[Moment magnitude scale|M<sub>w</sub>]] > 7) [[earthquake]]s. Convergent and divergent boundaries are also the site of most of the world's [[volcano]]es, such as around the Pacific [[Ring of Fire]]. Most of the deformation in the lithosphere is related to the interaction between plates at or near plate boundaries.
The latest studies, based on the integration of available geological data, and satellite imagery and Gravimetric and magnetic anomaly datasets have shown that the crust of the Earth is dissected by thousands of different types of tectonic elements which define the subdivision into numerous smaller microplates which have amalgamated into the larger Plates.<ref name ='van Dijk_2023'>van Dijk, J.P. (2023); The New Global Tectonic Map – Analyses and Implications. Terra Nova, 2023, 27 pp. {{doi|10.1111/TER.12662}}</ref>