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Explainer: Earth’s Tectonic Plates

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explaining tectonic plate theory

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Explainer: Earth’s Tectonic Plates

It’s widely understood that Earth’s lithosphere (or outer crust) is made up of moving slabs of rock, better known as the tectonic plates.

These plates only move a couple of inches each year. However, these tiny movements add up over time and cause some of Earth’s most well-known phenomena. Today, the Earth looks a lot different than it did millions of years ago.

This graphic by Giulia De Amicis provides a brief explanation of plate tectonic theory and shows a map of the seven major plates.

Plate Tectonic Theory

In the early 20th century, German geologist Alfred Wegener published a paper on his theory called continental drift—a hypothesis that Earth’s continents were moving across Earth, and sometimes, even colliding into one another.

According to Wegener’s theory, Earth’s continents were once joined as a single, giant landmass, which he called Pangaea. But over time, Pangaea broke apart and formed the continents as we know them today.

Wegener couldn’t explain why this phenomenon was happening, so at the time, his theory was heavily criticized by his colleagues. But over the years, technological advances allowed scientists to study the Earth more closely, and geologists started to build on Wegener’s theory.

Discoveries like seafloor spreading helped explain the “why” behind continental movement, and eventually, Wegener’s initial continental drift theory morphed into plate tectonic theory. And now, the idea that Earth’s crust is slowly moving beneath our feet is widely accepted.

The Seven Major Tectonic Plates

There are seven major plates, and dozens of minor plates, that make up the outer crust of the Earth. The big seven are:

  • North American plate
  • Eurasian plate
  • Pacific plate
  • South American plate
  • African plate
  • Indo-Australian plate
  • Antarctic plate

The areas between these plates are known as plate boundaries, and their interactions cause some crazy things to happen on Earth’s surface. There are three types of plate boundaries:

1. Divergent boundary

A divergent boundary is when two plates move away from each other, which creates a fracture in the lithosphere.

A well-known divergent boundary is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs approximately 10,000 miles from the Arctic Ocean all the way down to the south of Africa.

2. Convergent boundary

A convergent boundary is when two plates collide with one another.

If the collision is between oceanic crust and continental crust, the denser oceanic crust slides underneath the other plate, which is a process known as subduction.

When two continental crusts collide, the rock folds and lifts at the boundary, creating mountains like the Himalayas (where the Indian plate meets the Eurasian plate).

3. Transform Boundary

When two plates move parallel to one another, their meeting point is called a transform boundary.

The friction causes tension. Eventually, that tension needs to be released, which can cause earthquakes. The San Andreas Fault is a well-known major transform boundary between the North American and Pacific plates—it caused the infamous San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Misc

Charted: Car Brand Loyalty in 2024

This ranking of car brand loyalty shows what percentage of owners would buy from the same brand for their next vehicle.

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Car Brand Loyalty in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic visualizes the best and worst car brands in terms of brand loyalty. This is measured by the % of current owners who would buy from the same brand for their next vehicle.

Data comes from Consumer Reports’ owner satisfaction survey, which includes responses from owners of more than 330,000 vehicles.

Car Brands With the Most Loyal Customers

Rivian takes the top spot in this ranking, with 86% of owners saying they would buy from the brand again. The EV startup has carved an interesting niche for itself with its outdoor adventure-focused models, and despite several recalls, appears to have won the hearts of its early customers.

Company% who would buy again
🇺🇸 Rivian86
🇩🇪 Mini77
🇩🇪 BMW76
🇩🇪 Porsche76
🇺🇸 Tesla74
🇰🇷 Genesis73
🇯🇵 Lexus73
🇯🇵 Subaru70

It’s interesting to note that Tesla held the #1 spot in last year’s ranking.

Car Brands With the Least Loyal Customers

At the other end of the spectrum we have brands with the least loyal customers, suggesting that owners are less satisfied with their purchase.

Company% who would buy again
🇺🇸 Cadillac61
🇺🇸 Chrysler60
🇩🇪 Mercedes-Benz59
🇩🇪 Audi59
🇺🇸 Jeep58
🇯🇵 Nissan55
🇩🇪 Volkswagen51
🇯🇵 Infiniti43

At the bottom of this table is Nissan’s luxury marque, Infiniti, with only 43% of owners saying they would revisit the brand for their next car.

Infiniti dealerships are aware of this alarming trend, and have attributed it to the brand’s aging lineup. In a recent interview, Steve Lapin, Chairman of the Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board, said: “Product is king. Infiniti doesn’t have the right products right now to compete in the marketplace.”

Interested in learning more about the automotive industry? Check out this graphic, which ranks the world’s top 10 exporters of automotive products.

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