Plate boundaries are where the action is. A large fraction of all earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building occurs at plate boundaries. It is also where most of the people on Earth live.

In regions of convergence, one plate can sink under another in a subduction zone, or two colliding plates can form a mountain belt. At divergent boundaries, plates move away from each other and ...

Scotese studies how plate tectonics and a warming climate will change Earth's appearance in the future, and he has made multiple animated maps based from his research. For more animations from ...