Plates are on average 125km thick, reaching maximum thickness below mountain ranges. This is a list of the biggest tectonic plates on Earth. There are 9 major tectonic plates in the Earth\'s oceanic crust, six of which receive the names of the continents they hold. Jump to navigation Jump to search ... (2019) Plate tectonics map from NASA. List of tectonic plates. In today's lesson you will learn about the world's major and minor tectonic plates and what causes these plates to move. In places where plates run into each other, the collisions cause earthquakes. The largest plates are the Antarctic, Eurasian, and North American plates. What major events that happens in chapter 8-9? There are about 7 or 8 major tectonic plates, and many other small ones. Most of the continents are on single plates, called continental plates, and the plates under the ocean are called oceanic plates. When we talk about tectonic or lithospheric plates, we mean the sections into which the lithosphere is cracked. Choose from 500 different sets of major tectonic plates flashcards on Quizlet. Including small ones, there are about a hundred tectonic plate. There are also several secondary plates including the Arabian, Caribbean, Indian and Philippine Sea plates, and tertiary plates which make up sub-sections of the major plates of the Earth. Learn major tectonic plates with free interactive flashcards. Plate tectonics, theory dealing with the dynamics of Earth’s outer shell that revolutionized Earth sciences by providing a uniform context for understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes as well as the evolution of Earth’s surface … These are only the large ones. The Theory of Plate Tectonics or Plate Tectonic Theory is a key body of knowledge for geologists trying to figure out "how the Earth works." The surface of the Earth is divided into 7 major and 8 minor plates.