Plate tectonics<span>is a </span>scientific theory<span> that describes the large-scale motion of </span>Earth<span>'s </span>lithosphere<span>. This theoretical model builds on the concept of </span>continental drift<span> which was developed during the first few decades of the 20th century. The </span>geoscientific<span> community accepted plate-tectonic theory after </span>seafloor spreading was validated in the late 1950s and early 1960s.<span>The lithosphere, which is the rigid outermost shell of a planet (the crust and upper mantle), is broken up into </span>tectonic plates<span>. </span>
