Earth Science · Geology
Plate Tectonics
Collide plates, raise mountains, open rifts and tune magma until a volcano erupts.
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The course
8 worlds · 56 lessons
World 1 · Earth's Structure
FREELayers, drift and the birth of an idea- 01Inside the EarthCrust, mantle, core · 5 min
- 02Two kinds of crustOceanic vs continental · 6 min
- 03Floating on the mantleIsostasy · 6 min
- 04Wegener's puzzleThe continental drift idea · 7 min
- 05Pangaea, the supercontinentOne land, one ocean · 6 min
- 06Frozen compassesPaleomagnetism · 7 min
- 07Seafloor spreadingWhere new crust is born · 7 min
- 08The mantle engineConvection currents · 7 min
- 09A cracked shellEarth's plate mosaic · 6 min
- 10Watching plates moveFrom clues to GPS · 6 min
World 2 · Plate Boundaries
PROPush, pull and slide — three ways plates meet- 01Three ways to moveDivergent, convergent, transform · 6 minPRO
- 02Ocean spreading ridgeDivergent · ocean–ocean · 7 minPRO
- 03Splitting a continentDivergent · continent–continent · 7 minPRO
- 04Island arcConvergent · ocean–ocean · 8 minPRO
- 05Coastal volcano rangeConvergent · ocean–continent · 8 minPRO
- 06Continental collisionConvergent · continent–continent · 8 minPRO
- 07Sliding pastTransform faults · 7 minPRO
- 08One motion, many outcomesWhy plate type matters · 6 minPRO
- 09The deepest placesOcean trenches · 6 minPRO
- 10Where three plates meetTriple junctions · 6 minPRO
- 11Volcanoes far from edgesHotspots · 7 minPRO
- 12Boundary field guidePutting it together · 6 minPRO
World 3 · Volcano Lab
PROSilica, gas and the shape of an eruption- 01What is magma?Molten rock, dissolved gas · 6 minPRO
- 02Silica makes it stickyBasalt to rhyolite · 7 minPRO
- 03Gas is the triggerBubbles and pressure · 7 minPRO
- 04Effusive eruptionsRivers of lava · 7 minPRO
- 05Strombolian fountainsRhythmic bursts · 6 minPRO
- 06Vulcanian burstsBlowing the plug · 6 minPRO
- 07Plinian catastropheSky-high ash columns · 8 minPRO
- 08Measuring the blastThe VEI scale · 7 minPRO
- 09Mount St. Helens, 1980A lateral blast · 7 minPRO
- 10SupervolcanoesVEI 8 and calderas · 7 minPRO
- 11Hotspot volcanoesHawaiʻi and mantle plumes · 6 minPRO
- 12Reading the eruption tablePutting silica × gas together · 6 minPRO
World 4 · Earthquakes
PROFaults, magnitude and hazard- 01What is an earthquake?Stored strain, sudden release · 6 minPRO
- 02Three kinds of faultNormal, reverse, strike-slip · 7 minPRO
- 03How big was it?Magnitude scales · 7 minPRO
- 04Seismic wavesP-waves and S-waves · 7 minPRO
- 05Finding the epicentreTriangulation · 6 minPRO
- 06Megathrust quakesThe biggest of all · 7 minPRO
- 07How tsunamis formWhen the seafloor jumps · 7 minPRO
- 08Mapping the riskHazard vs vulnerability · 6 minPRO
- 09Building for earthquakesEngineering that saves lives · 6 minPRO
- 10Living on a restless planetCourse wrap-up · 6 minPRO
World 5 · Inside Earth with seismic waves
PROUse waves to investigate hidden layers
World 6 · Slice a planet
PROFour regions, one spherical model
World 7 · Rock cycle
PROFollow one grain through pressure, heat and time- 01From sandstone to gneissBurial, pressure and metamorphic grade · 9 minPRO
- 02One magma, two texturesCooling rate sets crystal size · 9 minPRO
- 03Blueschist: deep but coldA subduction path through pressure–temperature space · 9 minPRO
- 04All the way roundSediment to sediment, by way of every rock type · 9 minPRO
World 8 · Minerals & strata
PROIdentify minerals and read the order of events in rockRead first
All guides →Guides for Plate Tectonics
ExplainerWeather IslandHow the Water Cycle Works: A Simple Water BudgetFollow a drop of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation and runoff, and learn why the total is conserved when water changes store.
ExplainerPlate TectonicsPlate Tectonics Explained: From Wegener to Seafloor SpreadingHow Earth’s layers, Wegener’s drifting continents and the discovery of seafloor spreading came together into the theory of plate tectonics.