Tectonics

Tectonics (from Latin tectonicus; from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building')[1] are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time.

[2][3] These processes include those of mountain-building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents known as cratons, and the ways in which the relatively rigid plates that constitute the Earth's outer shell interact with each other.

Tectonic studies are important as guides for economic geologists searching for fossil fuels and ore deposits of metallic and nonmetallic resources.

This type of tectonics is found at zones of continental collision, at restraining bends in strike-slip faults, and at the oceanward part of passive margin sequences where a detachment layer is present.

The latest studies, based on the integration of available geological data, and satellite imagery and Gravimetric and magnetic anomaly datasets have shown that the crust of the Earth is dissected by thousands of different types of tectonic elements which define the subdivision into numerous smaller microplates which have amalgamated into the larger Plates.

It seeks to understand which faults are responsible for seismic activity in an area by analysing a combination of regional tectonics, recent instrumentally recorded events, accounts of historical earthquakes, and geomorphological evidence.