* Earthquakes: Occur at plate boundaries where plates move past, collide, or separate.
* Volcanoes: Form at plate boundaries where magma rises from the mantle.
* Mountain Ranges: Form when tectonic plates collide and buckle.
* Seafloor Spreading: New oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges and then moves away from these ridges.
* Continental Drift: The movement of continents over time, driven by plate tectonics.
Other key aspects of modern geological thinking:
* Uniformitarianism: The idea that geological processes happening today have been happening throughout Earth's history.
* Deep Time: The vast scale of geological time, measured in billions of years.
* Rock Cycle: The continuous process of rock formation, transformation, and destruction.
While there may be ongoing research and debates about specific aspects of these concepts, the theory of plate tectonics serves as the overarching framework for understanding Earth's geology.
