define earth's plate
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Answer:
To define tectonic plates, it's best to start with a description of the Earth’s components. The Earth has three layers: The crust, the mantle and the core. The crust is the Earth’s surface, where people live. This is the hard surface you walk on every day. It is a thin layer, thinner under the ocean and thicker in spots where there are mountain ranges, like the Himalayas. The crust serves as insulation for the center of the Earth. Just underneath the crust, the mantle is solid. The solid part of the mantle combined with the crust make up what is called the lithosphere, which is rocky. But the further down into the Earth you go, the mantle becomes molten and has very hot rock that can mold and stretch without breaking. That part of the mantle is called the asthenosphere.
The best way to define tectonic plates is that they are parts of the lithosphere that break up into huge rock slabs, or crustal plates. There are a few really large plates and several smaller plates. Some of the major plates include the African, Antarctic and North American plates. Tectonic plates basically float on the asthenosphere, or molten mantle. While it is strange to think about, you are in fact floating on these slabs called tectonic plates. And under the mantle, the Earth’s core is very dense. Its outer layer is liquid and the inner layer of the core is solid. This core consists of iron and nickel, and it is extremely hard and dense.