Home > Earth Science > Plate Tectonics and Inside Earth

About how fast are Earth's tectonic plates moving, on average?

Answer 1

Around 5 cm per year.

Responses will differ:

Bucknell University states that plate tectonics causes changes in elevation of 2 to 5 cm annually. The website provides information on school departments and programs related to geology and environmental geosciences, including location, geologic history of central Pennsylvania, and environmental geosciences.

According to Hypertextbook (https://tutor.hix.ai), 5–10 cm every year.

Brooklyn College (https://tutor.hix.ai) reports a rate of 0.4–10 cm annually.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer 2

Xavier Atkins

Earth's tectonic plates move at an average speed of about 2 to 5 centimeters per year. However, the speed can vary depending on the specific plate and the type of boundary it's associated with. For example, plates at divergent boundaries, where they move away from each other, may move faster than those at convergent boundaries, where they collide.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.