A Visual Guide to the World’s Tectonic Plates 🌎

What We’re Showing

This graphic shows the Earth’s tectonic plate boundaries, based on research from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Key Takeaway

There are three major plate boundary types, which have different characteristics:

• Divergent boundaries can create new valleys and oceanic crust, resulting in volcanoes
• Convergent boundaries can form mountain ranges, which may lead to earthquakes and volcanoes
• Transform boundaries, which are located in densely populated areas like the Western United States, can trigger massive earthquakes.