Open navigation menu
Geography
Plate tectonics
Loading resource…
Loading resource…
Explore crustal buoyancy and changing plate boundaries in an interactive three-dimensional cutaway.
Click rock layers or landforms to read their information. Drag to rotate and scroll to zoom. The information panel provides equivalent keyboard selectors and instrument controls.
Preparing the 3D scene…
Horizontal and vertical scales differ
Compare the middle sample with continental and oceanic crust.
Click a rock layer, the sea or a landform to explore.
Drag to rotate and scroll to zoom. The selector above provides keyboard access.
Less dense, thicker crust generally floats higher. Heating expands rock; silica-rich rock generally has a lower density.
- Sample density
- 2850 kg/m³
- Surface elevation
- -0.9 km
Representative model value
Light → dark: increasing density. Blue → orange: increasing temperature.
Asthenosphere: hot solid rock that deforms slowly.
Model notes
- This is a qualitative two-plate model. Horizontal and vertical scales differ; landforms and presentation speed are exaggerated; representative model values do not predict a real location.
- Tectonic plates include crust and rigid upper mantle. The asthenosphere is mostly hot solid rock that deforms slowly, not a magma ocean.
- Temperature, composition and thickness affect buoyancy. Cooling oceanic lithosphere becomes thicker and denser on average, while its crust remains comparatively thin.
- Water and volatiles released above a subducting slab promote partial melting of the mantle wedge. The descending plate does not simply melt into a volcano.
- Thermometer and density probes are relative. Distance and time belong to the simplified model and cannot predict earthquake timing or strength.