Tectonophysics, a branch of geophysics, is the study of the physical processes that underlie plate tectonics. In particular, the field of tectonophysics encompasses the spatial patterns of stress, strain, and differing rheologies in the lithosphere and asthenosphere of the Earth, and the relationships between these patterns and the observed patterns of deformation due to plate tectonics.

[edit] See also

• Rock mechanics
• Geodynamics

[edit] Plate tectonics

• continental drift
• seafloor spreading
• palaeogeography

See: Earth for information on the structure of the planet.

[edit] External links

• AGU Tectonophysics Section

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