Tectonics, plate tectonics, and Pangea

Something that is interesting is the difference between plate tectonics and tectonics. Tectonics is the faulting or folding or other deformation of the outer layer of a planet. This goes hand in hand with volcanism because of the required internal heat. A good example of this in our solar is mars having the Tharsis region volcano, the largest in our solar system. Plate tectonics is something that may just be unique to Earth. It is a scientific theory in Earth’s lithosphere where a number of large tectonic plates have been slowly moving for the past 3.4 billion years. These plates move at approximately the same rate as your fingernails grow. So, it will take many thousands of years for us to notice any type of change. This is where the theory of Pangea, or supercontinent, gets its basis. The continents look like they connect like puzzle pieces. About 300 to 335 million years ago, Pangea formed due to platonic shifting, and began to break apart about 200 million years ago. This was about 194 million years before the first ancestors were on Earth.