Tectonic Plates and Faults

This map service depicts the boundaries of the Earth's major tectonic plates and fault lines. Tectonic plates are large plates of rock that make up the foundation of the Earth's crust and the shape of the continents. The plates comprise the bottom of the crust and the top of the Earth's mantle. The plates are most famously known for being the source of earthquakes. A fault is a fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement as a result of earth movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the movement of tectonic plates.