The crust is the outermost layer of what we think of as “the Earth.” It includes the mountains, valleys, continents, continental shelves, ocean basins, etc. The crust is rich in oxygen, silicon, and aluminum, with lesser amounts of other elements like iron, nickel, etc. It has low density (2.5 to 3.5 \(gm/c{m^3}\)), that floats on the denser mantle. Several separate tectonic plates float beneath it on the surface of the mantle. The tectonic plates touch but magma can leak between the plates, at times causing volcanoes or the formation of under ocean ridges of new rock.
Many of Earth’s major landforms are features that occurred due to ______ hitting each other.
Explanation
Many of Earth’s major landforms are features that occurred due to tectonic plates hitting each other. Many of Earth’s major landforms are features that occurred due to tectonic plates hitting each other causing folding of rock into mountains or slipping of one plate under another forming a continental shelf. Careful study of the tectonic plates and the land formations between them reveal how the formations came to be.
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