Plate tectonics - a recent theory in the Geological Sciences describing the dynamic processes. Plates move relative to one another as they slide over the asthenosphere through a combination of gravitational forces and thermal convection in the mantle. Plates form from molten rock which wells up to the earth's surface at divergent plate boundaries . Plates are either consumed where one slides beneath another, or form mountain belts where one collides with another at convergent plate boundaries . Regions where oceanic lithosphere is being consumed are called subduction zones .
Plates slide past one another at transform plate boundaries .
The Rock Cycle - describes many of the interrelationships observed in geology.