Final answer:
Tectonic plates, sections of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, move at a rate of approximately 4 to 5 cm per year. This motion, driven by slow convection of the mantle, results in plates pulling apart, burrowing under each other, sliding alongside each other, or jamming together, significantly impacting Earth's geology.
Step-by-step explanation:
The speed at which tectonic plates move is similar to the rate at which human hair grows, which is approximately 4 to 5 centimeters per year. This motion is driven by slow convection of the mantle, where heat escapes from the Earth's interior through the upward flow of warmer material and the slow sinking of cooler material.
Tectonic plates are sections of Earth's crust and upper mantle that fit together like puzzle pieces. When these plates move, they interact in four basic ways at their boundaries: they can pull apart, one plate can burrow under another, they can slide alongside each other, or they can jam together.
Each type of interaction has a significant impact on Earth's geology. For example, the Pacific plate's motion relative to the North American plate is 5 cm per year, totaling 500 cm or 5 meters per century.
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