<p>tectonic plates are not completely rigid they can bend, flex, and in the case of oceanic plate, get pushed under each other and melted back down.<strong>The plates move by sliding under each other, melting, or bending</strong> </p>

<p>Take a toffee-bar candy, hang most of it off the side of a table and put something heavy on the other end to hold it in place, wait a few hours, just under its own weight it will bend 90 degrees. However bend it fast by only a few degrees and it will snap. Rock behaves in a similar fashion, do it slowly enough and with enough force and you can bend it. Basically all solids behave like this to a certain extent. tectonic plates are not rigid on the large scale.</p>

<p>bending rock leaves behind traces like <a href="https://naturalishistoria.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/loughshinny_folds-rock-bent-wikipedia1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> and this<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fXreW.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fXreW.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>bend it to fast and the rock breaks creating a fault lines like <a href="http://epod.usra.edu/.a/6a0105371bb32c970b01bb0957e2a8970d-pi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> and this<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dpuS7.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dpuS7.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a> </p>

<p>plates pushed down get remelted, it helps if you think of oceanic crust as exposed mantle that has been cooled into a solid, while continental crust is much less dense and sort of floats on top of the more liquid mantle. that's why continental crust does not subduct but oceanic does. In essence there are huge gaps between the the permanent plate material, it just cools when exposed forming a hard surface skin called an oceanic plate.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hazyh.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hazyh.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>we can even see that in how earth quakes behave around subduction zones getting deeper and deeper in the direction of movement until the stop indicating where there are no solids left to break. </p>

<p><a href="http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/files/2011/03/hist1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> is an earthquake depth map for japan. notice how they get deeper in the direction of the movement of the pacific plate (west by NW) as it dives under japan. </p>

<p>If you look at a global map of plate movement you will notice that at then end of a moving plate (in the direction of movement) is either a mountain range or a subduction zone, or often both. <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0zuPS.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0zuPS.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T17:50:45.077Z
This doesn't really answer the question. You need to say how this relates to plate tectonics.
bon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T22:22:40.480Z
@bon I actually think it's a good answer that complements mine and adds the perspective of plates changing their shape.
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-20T09:26:43.387Z
This doesn't answer the question, but it *does* address the fundamental thing that the op is missing and which will enable them to understand the other answers. Moreover, it is helpful and not aggressive, which appears to be unusual in answers to this question. I would encourage the author to add a short summary at the end of why this is important, and how it relates to the other answers.
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T17:27:12.317Z
2018-04-22T04:04:47.683Z
2018-04-22T04:04:47.683Z
John
<p>At continental scales, plates don't really behave like solid objects. Furthermore, their edges can't compete with the forces below in the mantle, that move them around willy nilly over the earth' surface. Your mental "block" is that you think of plates as solid, like concrete, or sheets of ice floating on water. They are not!</p>

<p>It may be more useful to think of a tectonic plate as a large sheet of semi-solid caramel floating around on a thick sludge of gooey hot chocolate. To a tiny, microscopic bug, the caramel plate might feel solid but to an omnipotent being with a wooden spoon, the plate is weak and bendy. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-19T22:30:03.957Z
thanks for the explanation friend @Knob Scratcher,  but then another doubt occurs..
suppose the event when continental parts of two plates collide.. what will happen? will the oceanic part (caramel in ur analogy) continue to move? if so, won't the continental part get detached from the oceanic part eventually? or will the movement be stopped?... for example, the case with indian subcontinent plate and asian plate.. the continental parts of both plates are now pushed against each other. So what will be now happening to the oceanic parts of those two plates?
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-20T03:35:10.297Z
Boris, may I suggest a short video? Fast forward to 3:00 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbtAXW-2nz0 and pay close attention to the idea that the earth's crust is constantly being destroyed and reborn at plate boundaries. For some better detail, I suggest the Khan Academy video on Plate Tectonics, here: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/cosmology-and-astronomy/earth-history-topic/plate-techtonics/v/plate-tectonics-evidence-of-plate-movement.
Knob Scratcher
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T23:38:29.240Z
2017-02-18T23:38:29.240Z
Knob Scratcher
<p>Plate movements can be detected with GPS, as this short outreach document made by US earthquake researchers explains: <a href="http://www.iris.edu/hq/files/programs/education_and_outreach/aotm/14/1.GPS_Background.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.iris.edu/hq/files/programs/education_and_outreach/aotm/14/1.GPS_Background.pdf</a> .
Measurement accuracies of GPS and geodetic technologies get better all the time.</p>

<p>Central to the theory of Plate Tectonics are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Subduction</a> processes, which are also the subject of much current research.
For instance accurately characterizing deep earthquakes, in particular those occuring in Subduction Zones along the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ring of Fire</a>" around the Pacific gives us evidence for Subduction Processes and therefore Plate Tectonics. </p>

<p>Numerical modeling of the Earth as a giant sphere, or nested set of spheres, combined with experimental data (rock melting experiments, high-pressure experiments) show that Plate Tectonics is possible.</p>

<p>Also we have more evidence from radiogenic dating of Oceanic crust. Most of the rocks on the seafloor are much younger than continental crust. The youngest are at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-ocean_ridge" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mid-Oceanic Ridges</a>, where submarine volcanism and deeper volcanic processes drive Plate Tectonics (together with Subduction - now, since the mid-seventies, interpreted as a "recycling process" of ocean crust)</p>

<p>Observing other celestial bodies show that similar processes are occuring in the Solar system. <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-300" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jupiter's Moon Europa</a>  and Saturn's Moon Enceladus for instance, seem to have huge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_stripes_(Enceladus)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">cracks/gaps</a> in their crust/surfaces. (This is of course also subject of much research). </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-10T09:55:42.177Z
2017-09-10T09:55:42.177Z
knb
<blockquote>
  <p>isn't the plate tectonics theory a complete hoax?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No, it isn't. It's a perfectly valid theory that has much supporting evidence from all disciples of earth sciences, and it explains features that would otherwise remain unexplained. It is so widely and universally accepted that questioning it (particularly in the way you are doing) is likely to elicit a very hostile response from the scientific community, similar to how people would react to questioning Newton's laws of gravity.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>How can the plates move? (before you suggest me some page to read about plate movement mechanics, let me clarify that i am not asking about the mechanics behind plate movement here. But i am talking about the physical possibility of plate movement)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Since you are not asking about the mechanics I will spare you from explanation about mantle convection and similar processes.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>all of them are tightly packed, with not an inch of space or gap to move...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You are entirely correct. They don't have any gap to move. This is why we have mountain ranges where continental plates collide (or converge):</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/prJJs.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/prJJs.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>In places where an oceanic plate converges, plates can go underneath one the other in a process called subduction. This causes melting around the subducting plate, causing the formation of volcanic arcs:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lluvy.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lluvy.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Where plates pull apart and diverge you can have impressive rift valleys:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/qqvuc.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/qqvuc.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Or submarine trenches:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xOPsN.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xOPsN.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>And of course, let's not forget about the earthquakes that occur when all of these things form. While you may doubt it, it is very real to the people affected by such natural disasters.</p>

<p>Everything I just mentioned happens <em>because</em> the plates are so tight and have nowhere to move. Just because you think a theory is incorrect because it doesn't fit your extremely simplistic way of how things should work, does <em>not</em> mean it is in fact incorrect. Nature does its thing regardless of what you, me, and everyone else thinks.</p>

<p><sup>(Photographs either public domain or mine)</sup></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T02:56:51.227Z
good explanation...thank you.

But can you please answer my second question also?
If plates have no place to move, how did the continents drift  thousands of miles away to current locations, over the course of millions of years? They say all current continents were united as a single continent millions of years ago...and they later drifted away to current locations.
But how is it possible, if plates have no place to move?

Or are the continents  floating over the plates, unattached?
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T03:14:46.807Z
@boris as I said in my answer, there is a process called "subduction", where one plates moves underneath the other. This forms a "gap" on the other side of the plate, where formation of new plates occurs. This causes movement of the plate. It's hard to explain in words, and videos or animations are much better for this. YouTube has some, and [Plate Tectonics Basics 1](https://youtu.be/6wJBOk9xjto) is a favourite of mine. You can follow links from that to other videos that are also good. Notice that you watch science videos, not people claiming that it's a hoax (it is not).
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T03:15:25.537Z
@boris and a good tip for life in general: when you don't understand something, don't storm in the room claiming that it's a lie or a hoax. This will make you more enemies than friends, and you don't want that to happen.
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T03:27:20.560Z
thank you.
@michael i agree to all that... but how are the continents moving thousands of miles away? No matter how many 'meters', plates slide under one another, it can not explain the thousand-mile drifting of continents! Or should we assume that, continents are not attached to the plates, and they can move freely over the plates?
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T03:30:46.447Z
The continents _are_ the plates. Each plate has a continental part and oceanic part to it. For example, in the image you added to your question you can see that the North American plate has a continental bit on the left and an oceanic bit (which is half of the Atlantic ocean) on the right. This entire thing (continental and oceanic parts of the same single plate) move together. Another useful video that may help you understand this: [Plate Tectonics Explained](https://youtu.be/kwfNGatxUJI)
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T03:40:09.450Z
dear @michael , thats what is puzzling me.If entire thing move together, how is continental-drift possible?  Lets agree that, plates slide under one other, meters or even a few kilometers. But how can the continents part alone drift away thousands of kilometers, while the oceanic part doesnt have no gap to move? You also agreed there is no gap. please see below video to see the extensive distance covered by continents. Plates are so tightly packed that, they dont have any gap left to move such great distance!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T04:31:49.097Z
@boris the plates also change their shape. Parts of them are formed and destroyed. Even at slow rates of several cm per year, this is a significant movement and change of shape over millions of years.
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T08:57:58.647Z
thanks @michael for all your explanations.  (Please ignore my previous comment. I have deleted it, because  I had made a wrong calculation regarding distance between continents and time taken for movement etc.)
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-19T19:36:00.270Z
@boris: How do packages move on conveyor belts?  Now visualize two conveyor belts running towards each other.  Some of the packages pile up at the join (mountains), and some get sucked down the gap between the belts (ocean trench).  Meanwhile the actual belt (mantle/ocean crust) keeps running around and around.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-19T22:28:03.537Z
thanks for the reply friend @jamesqf , but then another doubt occurs..
suppose the event when continental parts of two plates collide.. what will happen? will the oceanic part (conveyor belt in ur analogy) continue to move? if so, won't the continental part get detached from the oceanic part eventually? or will the movement be stopped permanently?... for example, the case with indian subcontinent plate and asian plate.. the continental parts of both plates are now pushed against each other. So what will be now happening to the oceanic parts of those two plates?
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-19T22:38:27.763Z
i would like to ask the above same question to dear friend @Michael also.. when the continental parts of two plates are pressed against each other, what happens? Does The oceanic part of plate coninue movement or does it stop? if it continue movement, Will the continental part get detached from the Oceanic part eventually??... or if oceanic part is struggling to move, but cant, then why isn't new plate parts originating from the other end? (the portion of oceanic plate which is directly opposite to the part contianing the continental part which collided with another continent)
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-20T03:33:49.167Z
@boris those are actually excellent questions, and have answers that are more complex than can be explained in a comment. I suggest you ask these questions as a new question on this site.
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-20T03:51:04.757Z
@boris: Simplistically (because 1) I'm not a geologist, and 2) there's only so much you can fit in a comment), you can think of continents floating on the underlying crust (which is a very viscous fluid, like the toffee bar mentioned elsewhere).  Like the packages on the conveyor belts, when two run into each other, the packages pile up (mountains, IOW), but the conveyor belt keeps going around underneath.  And new plate parts DO originate at the other end.  The classic example is the mid-Atlantic ridge.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-14T08:43:56.280Z
There's a typo near the beginning of the article. Can someone change "from all disciples of earth sciences" to "from all disciplines of earth science" please? Stackexchange's stupid policy doesn't allow me to do it myself.
Roel Schroeven
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-15T14:37:47.803Z
Actually, a picture of an automobile collision might be informative.
Spencer
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T02:37:52.517Z
2017-02-18T02:54:41.653Z
2017-02-18T02:54:41.653Z
Gimelist
<p>Here are two questions I had ever since I first heard about plate-tectonics.</p>

<ol>
<li>How can the plates move? Before you suggest me some page to read about plate movement mechanics, let me clarify that I am not asking about the mechanics behind plate movement here. But I am talking about the physical possibility of plate movement.</li>
</ol>

<p>When we look at the map of plates, all of them are tightly packed, with not an inch of space or gap to move. The complex shape of surrounding plates, blocks all freedom of movement. Then how can the theory say that plates can move?</p>

<p>If you can't follow my explanation, consider a jigsaw puzzle in which the blocks are correctly set up. Can we move a block from the middle now? We can not because the blocks are tightly interlocked, and because of their complex shape. The same is the situation here too, in fact much more complex! Each plates is tightly surrounded by complex shaped other plates, making any movement in any direction impossible!</p>

<p>See the below given a map of tectonic plates for example. It is evident the plates are actually interlocked so tightly that, it is impossible to move in any direction, because of the presence of another plate in opposite direction. There is no freedom of movement available, in any direction! The complex shape of plates make movements impossible!  </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vvVHW.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vvVHW.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<ol start="2">
<li>My second question is this: It is said that, all continents were a single large continent millions of years ago. And then much later, continents 'drifted away', reaching current shape and locations.</li>
</ol>

<p>If tectonic plates does not even have hundreds of miles of gaps between them to move, how can continents drift away so far, even thousands of miles away?  Certainly plates can't move this far, because the whole earth surface is divided into plates, with no space left for plates to move thousands of miles.</p>

<p>So how did the continents drift away this far? Or do we have to assume that continents are simply floating over the tectonic plates?</p>

<p>Is the plate tectonics theory a complete hoax?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-17T21:30:07.463Z
You forgot the #FAKE NEWS.
Siv
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-17T21:38:19.767Z
Might have a better response here: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/
Isopycnal Oscillation
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-17T23:10:52.997Z
Please read up on the basic fundamentals of plate tectonics like [this Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics) and show us that you understand how they're supposed to work. If after that, you find something to question in the science, come back and give us a science-based question.
Spencer
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T01:33:05.247Z
You don't really need to know HOW the plates move (though you can easily find out).  It's enough to know that we can, with sensitive instruments, measure their current movement.  And that geological techniques allow for the measurement of past movements.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T01:50:11.320Z
@jamesqf  friend, i agree all that.... but my question is, how can the plates move? where is the space to move? please see the plate map given above, all edges of complex shaped plates are perfectly matching... Then towards where can they move? If no gap is there, and if movement is blocked in all directions, to where are they said to be moving?
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T07:36:00.047Z
material will move through any material given enough force. It is analogous to: " If you give any object enough voltage (the force or push behind the flow of electricity), then that object will conduct electricity. " Your question should be, where does that material go (hint: mountains)?
Isopycnal Oscillation
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T09:05:29.627Z
thank you for explanation  friend @IsopycnalOscillation , but problem is this.
If plates moved even10cm per year, over the course of 200 million years, total movement has be 20,000 kilometers.
But we doesnt have any mountain with 20,000 kilometer high, or any trench that deep. Since earth's diameter is just 12,000 kilometers, even if the plate slided under the other plate, it would have to come out through the other side, piercing earth, and still would have protruded about 8000 kilometers into sky.
boris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T16:53:10.787Z
@ boris plates that get pushed down, melt forming volcanoes, this is extremely basic and had you done any research you would have seen it.
John
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T17:00:16.640Z
Take a toffee-bar candy, hang most of it off the side of a table and put something heavy on the other end to hold it in place, wait a few hours, just under its own weight it will bend 90 degrees. However bend it fast by only a few degrees and it will snap. You can do something similar with silly putty, smack it with a hammer and it will fracture and shatter, rock behaves in a similar fashion, do it slowly enough and you can bend it. Basically all solids behave like this to a certain extent.
John
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T19:40:12.870Z
@boris: Google "plate tectonics", and you will find plenty of explanations written by people who are far better writers than I am, and who have more than the 500 character limit of a comment for their explanation.  But you might as well ask how rivers can keep flowing downhill, or why the prevailing west wind hereabouts doesn't blow all the air to the east coast :-)
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-19T02:32:20.967Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is a scientific site.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-20T09:21:50.313Z
I am disappointed by all the rude responses, and even one person saying they have voted to close. This is somebody with a well-explained question that is definitely on topic (with an admittedly inflammatory title) , who simply has a misunderstanding at a fairly basic level. Rather than mocking them, or complaining that it isn't scientific, ANSWER THE QUESTION!
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-20T19:59:23.453Z
@Simon W: I don't see any rude responses here.  About the closest would be the suggestions to read any of the many good books or web sites that explain plate tectonics, and that's just practical, as they can do a better job of explaining.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-21T01:15:19.987Z
There is nothing wrong with this question, it is a very basic plate tectonics question but well with the earth science wheelhouse. I for one would rather answer the question of someone who asks rather than encourage them to wallow in ignorance. The word "hoax" is a poor choice Boris and is putting people in the wrong state of mind. It makes it seem like you have already made up your mind and are not really asking.
John
<geology><plate-tectonics>
How do tightly packed plates move in the theory of plate tectonics?
boris
# How do tightly packed plates move in the theory of plate tectonics?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-17)

Here are two questions I had ever since I first heard about plate-tectonics.

1. How can the plates move? Before you suggest me some page to read about plate movement mechanics, let me clarify that I am not asking about the mechanics behind plate movement here. But I am talking about the physical possibility of plate movement.

When we look at the map of plates, all of them are tightly packed, with not an inch of space or gap to move. The complex shape of surrounding plates, blocks all freedom of movement. Then how can the theory say that plates can move?

If you can't follow my explanation, consider a jigsaw puzzle in which the blocks are correctly set up. Can we move a block from the middle now? We can not because the blocks are tightly interlocked, and because of their complex shape. The same is the situation here too, in fact much more complex! Each plates is tightly surrounded by complex shaped other plates, making any movement in any direction impossible!

See the below given a map of tectonic plates for example. It is evident the plates are actually interlocked so tightly that, it is impossible to move in any direction, because of the presence of another plate in opposite direction. There is no freedom of movement available, in any direction! The complex shape of plates make movements impossible!

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/vvVHW.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/vvVHW.jpg)

2. My second question is this: It is said that, all continents were a single large continent millions of years ago. And then much later, continents 'drifted away', reaching current shape and locations.

If tectonic plates does not even have hundreds of miles of gaps between them to move, how can continents drift away so far, even thousands of miles away? Certainly plates can't move this far, because the whole earth surface is divided into plates, with no space left for plates to move thousands of miles.

So how did the continents drift away this far? Or do we have to assume that continents are simply floating over the tectonic plates?

Is the plate tectonics theory a complete hoax?

**Tags:** geology, plate-tectonics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You forgot the #FAKE NEWS.  
> **username_2**: Might have a better response here: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/  
> **username_3**: Please read up on the basic fundamentals of plate tectonics like [this Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics) and show us that you understand how they're supposed to work. If after that, you find something to question in the science, come back and give us a science-based question.  
> **username_4**: You don't really need to know HOW the plates move (though you can easily find out).  It's enough to know that we can, with sensitive instruments, measure their current movement.  And that geological techniques allow for the measurement of past movements.  
> **username_0**: @username_4  friend, i agree all that.... but my question is, how can the plates move? where is the space to move? please see the plate map given above, all edges of complex shaped plates are perfectly matching... Then towards where can they move? If no gap is there, and if movement is blocked in all directions, to where are they said to be moving?  
> **username_2**: material will move through any material given enough force. It is analogous to: " If you give any object enough voltage (the force or push behind the flow of electricity), then that object will conduct electricity. " Your question should be, where does that material go (hint: mountains)?  
> **username_0**: thank you for explanation  friend @username_2 , but problem is this. If plates moved even10cm per year, over the course of 200 million years, total movement has be 20,000 kilometers. But we doesnt have any mountain with 20,000 kilometer high, or any trench that deep. Since earth's diameter is just 12,000 kilometers, even if the plate slided under the other plate, it would have to come out through the other side, piercing earth, and still would have protruded about 8000 kilometers into sky.  
> **username_5**: @ username_0 plates that get pushed down, melt forming volcanoes, this is extremely basic and had you done any research you would have seen it.  
> **username_5**: Take a toffee-bar candy, hang most of it off the side of a table and put something heavy on the other end to hold it in place, wait a few hours, just under its own weight it will bend 90 degrees. However bend it fast by only a few degrees and it will snap. You can do something similar with silly putty, smack it with a hammer and it will fracture and shatter, rock behaves in a similar fashion, do it slowly enough and you can bend it. Basically all solids behave like this to a certain extent.  
> **username_4**: @username_0: Google "plate tectonics", and you will find plenty of explanations written by people who are far better writers than I am, and who have more than the 500 character limit of a comment for their explanation.  But you might as well ask how rivers can keep flowing downhill, or why the prevailing west wind hereabouts doesn't blow all the air to the east coast :-)  
> **username_6**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is a scientific site.  
> **username_7**: I am disappointed by all the rude responses, and even one person saying they have voted to close. This is somebody with a well-explained question that is definitely on topic (with an admittedly inflammatory title) , who simply has a misunderstanding at a fairly basic level. Rather than mocking them, or complaining that it isn't scientific, ANSWER THE QUESTION!  
> **username_4**: @username_7 W: I don't see any rude responses here.  About the closest would be the suggestions to read any of the many good books or web sites that explain plate tectonics, and that's just practical, as they can do a better job of explaining.  
> **username_5**: There is nothing wrong with this question, it is a very basic plate tectonics question but well with the earth science wheelhouse. I for one would rather answer the question of someone who asks rather than encourage them to wallow in ignorance. The word "hoax" is a poor choice username_0 and is putting people in the wrong state of mind. It makes it seem like you have already made up your mind and are not really asking.  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2017-02-18. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

> isn't the plate tectonics theory a complete hoax?

No, it isn't. It's a perfectly valid theory that has much supporting evidence from all disciples of earth sciences, and it explains features that would otherwise remain unexplained. It is so widely and universally accepted that questioning it (particularly in the way you are doing) is likely to elicit a very hostile response from the scientific community, similar to how people would react to questioning Newton's laws of gravity.

> How can the plates move? (before you suggest me some page to read about plate movement mechanics, let me clarify that i am not asking about the mechanics behind plate movement here. But i am talking about the physical possibility of plate movement)

Since you are not asking about the mechanics I will spare you from explanation about mantle convection and similar processes.

> all of them are tightly packed, with not an inch of space or gap to move...

You are entirely correct. They don't have any gap to move. This is why we have mountain ranges where continental plates collide (or converge):

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/prJJs.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/prJJs.jpg)

In places where an oceanic plate converges, plates can go underneath one the other in a process called subduction. This causes melting around the subducting plate, causing the formation of volcanic arcs:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/lluvy.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/lluvy.jpg)

Where plates pull apart and diverge you can have impressive rift valleys:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/qqvuc.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/qqvuc.jpg)

Or submarine trenches:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/xOPsN.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/xOPsN.jpg)

And of course, let's not forget about the earthquakes that occur when all of these things form. While you may doubt it, it is very real to the people affected by such natural disasters.

Everything I just mentioned happens *because* the plates are so tight and have nowhere to move. Just because you think a theory is incorrect because it doesn't fit your extremely simplistic way of how things should work, does *not* mean it is in fact incorrect. Nature does its thing regardless of what you, me, and everyone else thinks.

(Photographs either public domain or mine)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: good explanation...thank you.  But can you please answer my second question also? If plates have no place to move, how did the continents drift  thousands of miles away to current locations, over the course of millions of years? They say all current continents were united as a single continent millions of years ago...and they later drifted away to current locations. But how is it possible, if plates have no place to move?  Or are the continents  floating over the plates, unattached?  
> **username_9**: @username_0 as I said in my answer, there is a process called "subduction", where one plates moves underneath the other. This forms a "gap" on the other side of the plate, where formation of new plates occurs. This causes movement of the plate. It's hard to explain in words, and videos or animations are much better for this. YouTube has some, and [Plate Tectonics Basics 1](https://youtu.be/6wJBOk9xjto) is a favourite of mine. You can follow links from that to other videos that are also good. Notice that you watch science videos, not people claiming that it's a hoax (it is not).  
> **username_9**: @username_0 and a good tip for life in general: when you don't understand something, don't storm in the room claiming that it's a lie or a hoax. This will make you more enemies than friends, and you don't want that to happen.  
> **username_0**: thank you. @michael i agree to all that... but how are the continents moving thousands of miles away? No matter how many 'meters', plates slide under one another, it can not explain the thousand-mile drifting of continents! Or should we assume that, continents are not attached to the plates, and they can move freely over the plates?  
> **username_9**: The continents _are_ the plates. Each plate has a continental part and oceanic part to it. For example, in the image you added to your question you can see that the North American plate has a continental bit on the left and an oceanic bit (which is half of the Atlantic ocean) on the right. This entire thing (continental and oceanic parts of the same single plate) move together. Another useful video that may help you understand this: [Plate Tectonics Explained](https://youtu.be/kwfNGatxUJI)  
> **username_0**: dear @michael , thats what is puzzling me.If entire thing move together, how is continental-drift possible?  Lets agree that, plates slide under one other, meters or even a few kilometers. But how can the continents part alone drift away thousands of kilometers, while the oceanic part doesnt have no gap to move? You also agreed there is no gap. please see below video to see the extensive distance covered by continents. Plates are so tightly packed that, they dont have any gap left to move such great distance!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLahVJNnoZ4  
> **username_9**: @username_0 the plates also change their shape. Parts of them are formed and destroyed. Even at slow rates of several cm per year, this is a significant movement and change of shape over millions of years.  
> **username_0**: thanks @michael for all your explanations.  (Please ignore my previous comment. I have deleted it, because  I had made a wrong calculation regarding distance between continents and time taken for movement etc.)  
> **username_4**: @username_0: How do packages move on conveyor belts?  Now visualize two conveyor belts running towards each other.  Some of the packages pile up at the join (mountains), and some get sucked down the gap between the belts (ocean trench).  Meanwhile the actual belt (mantle/ocean crust) keeps running around and around.  
> **username_0**: thanks for the reply friend @username_4 , but then another doubt occurs.. suppose the event when continental parts of two plates collide.. what will happen? will the oceanic part (conveyor belt in ur analogy) continue to move? if so, won't the continental part get detached from the oceanic part eventually? or will the movement be stopped permanently?... for example, the case with indian subcontinent plate and asian plate.. the continental parts of both plates are now pushed against each other. So what will be now happening to the oceanic parts of those two plates?  
> **username_0**: i would like to ask the above same question to dear friend @Michael also.. when the continental parts of two plates are pressed against each other, what happens? Does The oceanic part of plate coninue movement or does it stop? if it continue movement, Will the continental part get detached from the Oceanic part eventually??... or if oceanic part is struggling to move, but cant, then why isn't new plate parts originating from the other end? (the portion of oceanic plate which is directly opposite to the part contianing the continental part which collided with another continent)  
> **username_9**: @username_0 those are actually excellent questions, and have answers that are more complex than can be explained in a comment. I suggest you ask these questions as a new question on this site.  
> **username_4**: @username_0: Simplistically (because 1) I'm not a geologist, and 2) there's only so much you can fit in a comment), you can think of continents floating on the underlying crust (which is a very viscous fluid, like the toffee bar mentioned elsewhere).  Like the packages on the conveyor belts, when two run into each other, the packages pile up (mountains, IOW), but the conveyor belt keeps going around underneath.  And new plate parts DO originate at the other end.  The classic example is the mid-Atlantic ridge.  
> **username_12**: There's a typo near the beginning of the article. Can someone change "from all disciples of earth sciences" to "from all disciplines of earth science" please? Stackexchange's stupid policy doesn't allow me to do it myself.  
> **username_3**: Actually, a picture of an automobile collision might be informative.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-02-18. Score: 12

tectonic plates are not completely rigid they can bend, flex, and in the case of oceanic plate, get pushed under each other and melted back down.**The plates move by sliding under each other, melting, or bending**

Take a toffee-bar candy, hang most of it off the side of a table and put something heavy on the other end to hold it in place, wait a few hours, just under its own weight it will bend 90 degrees. However bend it fast by only a few degrees and it will snap. Rock behaves in a similar fashion, do it slowly enough and with enough force and you can bend it. Basically all solids behave like this to a certain extent. tectonic plates are not rigid on the large scale.

bending rock leaves behind traces like [this](https://naturalishistoria.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/loughshinny_folds-rock-bent-wikipedia1.jpg) and this[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/fXreW.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/fXreW.jpg)

bend it to fast and the rock breaks creating a fault lines like [this](http://epod.usra.edu/.a/6a0105371bb32c970b01bb0957e2a8970d-pi) and this[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/dpuS7.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/dpuS7.jpg)

plates pushed down get remelted, it helps if you think of oceanic crust as exposed mantle that has been cooled into a solid, while continental crust is much less dense and sort of floats on top of the more liquid mantle. that's why continental crust does not subduct but oceanic does. In essence there are huge gaps between the the permanent plate material, it just cools when exposed forming a hard surface skin called an oceanic plate.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/hazyh.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/hazyh.jpg)

we can even see that in how earth quakes behave around subduction zones getting deeper and deeper in the direction of movement until the stop indicating where there are no solids left to break.

[here](http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/files/2011/03/hist1.jpg) is an earthquake depth map for japan. notice how they get deeper in the direction of the movement of the pacific plate (west by NW) as it dives under japan.

If you look at a global map of plate movement you will notice that at then end of a moving plate (in the direction of movement) is either a mountain range or a subduction zone, or often both. [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/0zuPS.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/0zuPS.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: This doesn't really answer the question. You need to say how this relates to plate tectonics.  
> **username_9**: @username_8 I actually think it's a good answer that complements mine and adds the perspective of plates changing their shape.  
> **username_7**: This doesn't answer the question, but it *does* address the fundamental thing that the op is missing and which will enable them to understand the other answers. Moreover, it is helpful and not aggressive, which appears to be unusual in answers to this question. I would encourage the author to add a short summary at the end of why this is important, and how it relates to the other answers.  

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### Answer by username_10 on 2017-02-18. Score: 4

At continental scales, plates don't really behave like solid objects. Furthermore, their edges can't compete with the forces below in the mantle, that move them around willy nilly over the earth' surface. Your mental "block" is that you think of plates as solid, like concrete, or sheets of ice floating on water. They are not!

It may be more useful to think of a tectonic plate as a large sheet of semi-solid caramel floating around on a thick sludge of gooey hot chocolate. To a tiny, microscopic bug, the caramel plate might feel solid but to an omnipotent being with a wooden spoon, the plate is weak and bendy.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thanks for the explanation friend @username_10,  but then another doubt occurs.. suppose the event when continental parts of two plates collide.. what will happen? will the oceanic part (caramel in ur analogy) continue to move? if so, won't the continental part get detached from the oceanic part eventually? or will the movement be stopped?... for example, the case with indian subcontinent plate and asian plate.. the continental parts of both plates are now pushed against each other. So what will be now happening to the oceanic parts of those two plates?  
> **username_10**: username_0, may I suggest a short video? Fast forward to 3:00 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbtAXW-2nz0 and pay close attention to the idea that the earth's crust is constantly being destroyed and reborn at plate boundaries. For some better detail, I suggest the Khan Academy video on Plate Tectonics, here: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/cosmology-and-astronomy/earth-history-topic/plate-techtonics/v/plate-tectonics-evidence-of-plate-movement.  

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### Answer by username_11 on 2017-09-10. Score: 3

Plate movements can be detected with GPS, as this short outreach document made by US earthquake researchers explains: <http://www.iris.edu/hq/files/programs/education_and_outreach/aotm/14/1.GPS_Background.pdf> .
Measurement accuracies of GPS and geodetic technologies get better all the time.

Central to the theory of Plate Tectonics are [Subduction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction) processes, which are also the subject of much current research.
For instance accurately characterizing deep earthquakes, in particular those occuring in Subduction Zones along the "[Ring of Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire)" around the Pacific gives us evidence for Subduction Processes and therefore Plate Tectonics.

Numerical modeling of the Earth as a giant sphere, or nested set of spheres, combined with experimental data (rock melting experiments, high-pressure experiments) show that Plate Tectonics is possible.

Also we have more evidence from radiogenic dating of Oceanic crust. Most of the rocks on the seafloor are much younger than continental crust. The youngest are at [Mid-Oceanic Ridges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-ocean_ridge), where submarine volcanism and deeper volcanic processes drive Plate Tectonics (together with Subduction - now, since the mid-seventies, interpreted as a "recycling process" of ocean crust)

Observing other celestial bodies show that similar processes are occuring in the Solar system. [Jupiter's Moon Europa](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-300) and Saturn's Moon Enceladus for instance, seem to have huge [cracks/gaps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_stripes_(Enceladus)) in their crust/surfaces. (This is of course also subject of much research).


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