tectonically

Tectonically is an adverb used to describe something in relation to tectonics—the branch of geology that studies the large-scale structure and dynamics of the Earth's lithosphere. Tectonics encompasses the formation and movement of continents, ocean basins, mountain belts, and fault systems, driven by mantle convection and other internal geodynamic processes.

Plate tectonics is the unifying theory; the lithosphere is divided into plates that move relative to one another at divergent, transform, and convergent boundaries. Tectonic processes produce earthquakes, volcanism, orogenesis, basin formation, metamorphism, and magmatic activity. A region can be described as tectonically active if it experiences frequent deformation and seismic events; tectonically stable areas, such as ancient cratons, have long-lived, relatively undeformed crust.

Studies of tectonics integrate geologic field observations with geophysical data, such as seismic tomography, gravity, magnetics, and GPS geodesy, to model crustal and mantle dynamics. The term is used across disciplines including structural geology, geodynamics, and paleotectonics to describe past and present configurations of the lithosphere and its evolution.