This article is about the geologic usage. For the philosophical or architectural usage, see Architectonics.
"Tectonic" redirects here. Not to be confused with Tecktonik (dance), Tectonic (record label), or Tectonics (journal).
Tectonics (from Latin tectonicus; from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building')[1] are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time.[2][3]
These processes include those of mountain-building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents known as cratons, and the ways in which the relatively rigid plates that constitute the Earth's outer shell interact with each other. Principles of tectonics also provide a framework for understanding the earthquake and volcanic belts that directly affect much of the global population.
Tectonic studies are important as guides for economic geologists searching for fossil fuels and ore deposits of metallic and nonmetallic resources. An understanding of tectonic principles can help geomorphologists to explain erosion patterns and other Earth-surface features.[4]
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Geologists (as distinct from architects) may define tectonics as "the architecture of the Earth's crust" -
O'Hara, Kieran D. (19 April 2018). A Brief History of Geology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107176188. Retrieved 23 March 2023. The words tectonics and architecture are derived from the same Greek root, and tectonics is defined as the architecture of the Earth's crust.
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The field of planetary tectonics extends the concept of tectonics to studying non-terrestrial bodies such as other planets and moons: Watters, Thomas R.; Schultz, Richard A. (2010). "Planetary tectonics: introduction". In Watters, Thomas R.; Schultz, Richard A. (eds.). Planetary Tectonics. Cambridge Planetary Science, ISSN 0265-3044 - Volume 11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780521765732. Retrieved 23 March 2023. Since the 1960s, an armada of exploratory spacecraft have identified widespread evidence of tectonism on all the terrestrial planets, most of the satellites of the outer planets, and on a number of asteroids. Tectonic landforms on large and small bodies in the solar system are as ubiquitous as impact craters.
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Anderson, Robert S.; Burbank, Douglas W. (2 November 2011) [2001]. "Rates of erosion and uplift". Tectonic Geomorphology (2 ed.). Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444345049. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
present. Thrust tectonics is associated with the shortening and thickening of the crust, or the lithosphere. This type of tectonics is found at zones...
interactive plate-tectonic reconstructions Outline of plate tectonics – Hierarchical outline list of articles related to plate tectonics List of submarine...
Lid tectonics, commonly thought of as stagnant lid tectonics or single lid tectonics, is the type of tectonics that is believed to exist on several silicate...
"Cloud Tectonics"". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2021-08-28. Braunagel, Don (1995-07-03). "Cloud Tectonics". Variety...
Ocean – Salt water covering most of Earth Plate tectonics – Movement of Earth's lithosphere List of tectonic plate interactions – Types of plate boundaries...
This is a list of articles related to plate tectonics and tectonic plates. Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining...
[citation needed] Active tectonics will increase the likelihood of salt structures developing. In the case of extensional tectonics, faulting will both reduce...
Thrust tectonics or contractional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the tectonic processes associated with, the shortening and...
Extensional tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the tectonic processes associated with, the stretching of a planetary body's crust...
Indenter tectonics, also known as escape tectonics, is a branch of strike-slip tectonics that involves the collision and deformation of two continental...
The Plate Tectonics Revolution was the scientific and cultural change which developed from the acceptance of the plate tectonics theory. The event was...
presence of Hadean oceans are thought to trigger plate tectonics. Subduction due to plate tectonics would have removed carbonate from the early oceans, contributing...
the Earth and the convecting mantle is called plate tectonics. The development of plate tectonics has provided a physical basis for many observations...
as a fallback Vertical displacement – Vertical shift of land in plate tectonics "USGS: Magnitude 8 and Greater Earthquakes Since 1900". Archived from...
The Centenal Cycle, which also included Null States (2017) and State Tectonics (2018), which won a Prometheus Award in 2019. Older holds an undergraduate...
hypothesis was suggested historically, since the recognition of plate tectonics during the mid 20th century, scientific consensus has rejected the idea...
structural basin is a large-scale structural formation of rock strata formed by tectonic warping (folding) of previously flat-lying strata into a syncline fold...
Asian oceanic trenches. The oldest part disappearing by way of the plate tectonics cycle is early-Cretaceous (145 to 137 million years ago). The Pacific...
under a continent. Due to the driving forces of the rock cycle, plate tectonics and the water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium and change as...
; Wheeler, Paul J. (August 1999). "Late Cenozoic tectonics of the Kepingtage Thrust Zone". Tectonics. 18 (4): 639–654. Bibcode:1999Tecto..18..639A. doi:10...
Japan Median Tectonic Line (中央構造線, Chūō Kōzō Sen), also Median Tectonic Line (MTL), is Japan's longest fault system. The MTL begins near Ibaraki Prefecture...
Tectonic uplift is the geologic uplift of Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics. While isostatic response is important, an increase in...
have been separated from the sea by the tectonic uplift of the sea floor above the ocean level. Often, the tectonic action of crustal extension has created...
throughout the study of tectonics on Mars. In general, Mars lacks unambiguous evidence that terrestrial-style plate tectonics has shaped its surface....
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