We can thank tectonic plates and their interaction with each other for the rugged terrain and grand landscapes of the Wild West. Of course, the rugged land and grand landscapes were in place long before social circumstances evolved that, together with the land, gave us the "Wild West."

Considered collectively, tectonic plates are Earth's lithosphere, its outermost layer broken into massive slabs of rock — the tectonic plates. These plates vary in size but are all massive slabs of solid rock, and together they cover Earth’s surface. Seven major plates make up about 94% of the surface, while several smaller ones account for the remaining 6%.

     You can picture Earth like a hard-boiled egg with a lightly cracked shell. The whole egg represents the Earth, and the broken shell pieces—still mostly in place—represent the tectonic plates. Another way to imagine it is as a giant jigsaw puzzle: Earth’s surface is made up of enormous puzzle pieces that slowly move around.

     These plates drift atop the asthenosphere, a hot, semi-fluid layer beneath the lithosphere. Like rafts on a very slow-moving sea of softened rock, the plates shift over time—sometimes crashing into each other, sometimes sliding past one another, and sometimes pulling apart. These movements are responsible for many of Earth’s most dramatic features and events: earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain ranges.

Right now, the Himalayas are rising as a result of the collision of the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. This collision causes the two continental plates to buckle and push upwards, creating the mountain range. Tectonic plates move around at an average rate similar to human fingernail growth, about two inches per year. However, the "speed" of tectonic plates can range from less than half an inch to nearly six inches per year.

     One well-known example of this movement is California’s San Andreas Fault, where the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate meet. The Pacific Plate is slowly sliding northwest, while the North American Plate moves slightly southeast. When these plates become locked together and pressure builds, they can suddenly lurch past one another. If that lurch is sufficiently large and produces enough energy, we feel an earthquake.

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