1. Pangaea
Alfred Wegener is the scientists responsible for the plate tectonics theory. He noticed some clues on the maps, such as the perfect fit between the eastern coast of South America and western coast of Africa, and he started his research. After many years of looking for clues, Wegener was finally convinced in the movement of the tectonic plates when he discovered the spreading of the mid-ocean ridges. He then hypothesized that in the distant past there was a super-continent, which he named Pangaea, and the name of it has been kept ever since.
2. subduction
When there are two tectonic plates that move towards each other, and one of them slips below the other, a subduction zone forms. This happens when an oceanic and continental plates interact. The oceanic plate is situated lower and it is denser, so under the influence of the gravitational pull it slips below the higher and lighter continental plate. As the oceanic plate moves downward it reaches the mantle and it gets melted.
3. magnetic
There isn't just collision between the tectonic plates, but there's also places from where they diverge, move away from each other. This happens at the-divergent boundaries where a mid-ocean ridge forms. At the mid-ocean ridge there constant rise of magma which is cooling off quickly, creating new crust, and pushing the old crust sideways, thus causing the moving away of the tectonic plates. This movement of the tectonic plates is often measured by using the Earth's magnetic field, as the metallic elements are always pointing toward the North Pole, so it is a relatively easy and correct measurement to conduct.
4. convection
The movement of the tectonic plates is mostly attributed to the convection cells/currents that occur in the mantle layer. The lower mantle is heated much more by the outer core. This heated material is pushed up because it has smaller density than the cooler material in the upper part of the mantle, while the cooler material is moving downward. This creates a movement of heated rock in the mantle layer, which manages to influence the crust above it with its high temperature and pressure, with the end result being the movement of the tectonic plates.
5. slab pull... ridge push
The gravity is another of the major factors that contributes to the movement of the tectonic plates. There are two primary ways in which the gravity affects the tectonic plates. The first one is through the slab pull where basically the gravity is pulling the plate downward toward the mantle to sink, and this occurs at the subduction zones. The other one is the ridge push where the tectonic plates are pushed aside from the mid-ocean ridge, but also pushed slightly downward as well, and this occurs at the divergent boundaries.
6. earthquake
On the transform plate boundaries we have tectonic plates that are moving in opposite directions, so they don't really collide, but instead slide past each other. As they slide and scrape past each other, a lot of stress is created, which forms faults parallel to the boundary itself. When the crust cracks deep inside and it adjusts, lot of energy is released, and this energy results in the occurrence of earthquakes.
7. Pacific
The Ring of Fire is region which is bordering the majority of the Pacific plate. It is by far the most seismically active region in the world, as well as having the majority of the volcanoes on the planet. The Ring of Fire has occurred because of the subduction zones on almost all sides of the Pacific plate. This plate is oceanic and it mostly borders continental plates, so it is subducted on pretty much all sides. Along the subduction zones, a continuous chain of volcanic islands has formed, making an enormous circular island arc on the outskirts of the largest ocean on Earth.
