* A dynamic system of rigid plates: Instead of continents drifting across a static ocean floor, plate tectonics posits that the Earth's outer layer (the lithosphere) is broken into large, rigid plates that move and interact with each other.
* Made of moving plates: These plates are not stationary, but constantly move over the semi-molten asthenosphere, a layer of the upper mantle.
* Interacting plates: The interactions between these plates are responsible for a variety of geological phenomena, including earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain formation, and the creation of new ocean floor.
Essentially, plate tectonics is a more comprehensive and accurate model of the Earth's surface than the hypothesis of continental drift. It explains not just the movement of continents, but also the formation of entire mountain ranges, the distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the evolution of Earth's surface over millions of years.
