Archive: Plate Tectonics

In this archive edition of In Our Time, Misha Glenny revisits a January 2008 discussion on plate tectonics, the revolutionary theory that the Earth's outer shell is divided into moving plates. Richard Corfield, Joe Cann, and Lynne Frostick explain how this idea solved long-standing geological puzzles—from the matching shapes of Africa and South America to the distribution of fossils across oceans—and revealed a planet in constant, slow motion where continents drift, mountains rise, and ocean basins widen. The conversation highlights how plate tectonics reshaped our understanding of earthquakes, volcanoes, and the dynamic relationship between the Earth's interior and its surface.