Plate Tectonics Continental Drift. Plate tectonics is a hypothetical movement of earth’s crust plates: But the concept of plate tectonics and the theory of continental drift that preceded it were quite radical.

The realization that earth's land masses move was first proposed by alfred wegener, which he called continental drift. Plate tectonics (pt) plate tectonics is the movement of lithospheric plates relative to each other. Plate tectonics the concepts of continental drift and seafloor spreading are united into a more encompassing theory known as plate tectonics.