| Plate tectonics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (5718 words) |
 | The plates are around 100 km (60 miles) thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust (also, although perhaps an archaic reference in geology, called sima from silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (sial from silicon and aluminium). |
| Where a dense oceanic plate collides with a less-dense continental plate, the oceanic plate is typically thrust underneath due to the greater buoyancy of the continental lithosphere, forming a subduction zone. |
| The pacific plate, for instance, is essentially surrounded by zones of subduction (the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire) and moves much faster than the plates of the Atlantic basin, which are attached (perhaps one could say 'welded') to adjacent continents instead of subducting plates. |
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