---
title: "Plate Tectonics: Theory, Boundaries & UPSC Notes"
description: "Plate tectonics explains how rigid lithospheric plates move over the asthenosphere, creating earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains—core UPSC GS1 geomorphology."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/plate-tectonics"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into rigid plates that move over the asthenosphere, producing earthquakes, volcanism, and mountain building at their boundaries.
- How does plate tectonics differ from continental drift?
- What are the three main types of plate boundaries?
- Why is India so earthquake-prone under plate tectonics?
- What evidence confirmed sea-floor spreading?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into rigid plates that move over the asthenosphere, producing earthquakes, volcanism, and mountain building at their boundaries.

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In April 2015 the Indian Plate's continued northward convergence with the Eurasian Plate ruptured a Himalayan thrust fault, producing the magnitude 7.8 Gorkha earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal.

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