| The scientists working on this project say the discovery could change theories on plate tectonics dramatically. |
| Like a miniature version of Earth's plate tectonics, thin slabs of basalt crust jostle about, driven by the heat below. |
| In plate tectonics, fragments of crust move independently along the surface of the viscous mantle. |
| Although the concept is fatally flawed, the idea of a dynamic Earth helped usher in the concept of plate tectonics. |
| Must we reject the theory of plate tectonics because the movement of the earth's crust cannot be reproduced? |
| The discovery of Earth's stripes, in the 1960s, led geologists to accept the theory of plate tectonics. |
