An animated 3D Earth sphere with moving tectonic plates. Mountains rise where plates collide (convergent boundaries), rifts open where they pull apart (divergent), and earthquakes mark transform boundaries.
Plate boundaries are classified as convergent, divergent and transform. Collision speed and angle determine whether mountains, trenches or volcanic arcs form.
Rotate the globe to see all major plates. Watch mountains build at convergent boundaries. Speed up time to see plate motion.
Tectonic plates move about 2-15 cm per year — roughly the speed your fingernails grow. In 250 million years, all continents will merge again into a supercontinent called "Pangaea Proxima".