What theory explains the movement and interaction of large lithospheric plates?

• A. Desertification
• B. Plate Tectonic Theory
• C. Pollution
• D. Urbanization

Answer: (B)

The movement and interaction of Earth's large lithospheric plates is explained by plate tectonics, which describes the outer shell of the planet as a set of rigid plates floating on the hotter, more plastic mantle beneath. These plates move slowly because of convection currents in the mantle, along with gravity-driven forces like slab pull and ridge push at their boundaries. Where plates meet, the interactions produce the surface features we see: spreading apart at divergent boundaries creates new crust and mid-ocean ridges; collisions at convergent boundaries build mountains or cause one plate to sink beneath another in subduction zones; and sliding past one another at transform boundaries leads to earthquakes. The theory is supported by evidence such as the fit of coastlines, matching fossils across continents, and the patterns of earthquakes and volcanoes along plate boundaries. So it best explains how and why the continents and oceans move and interact. Other terms describe environmental or societal processes, not the mechanism that moves the plates.