Many sources of energy, soil, minerals and other natural resources are concentrated at past or present plate boundaries. Many civilizations have sustained life as a result of the utilization of these resources both in the past and currently. Also, tectonic plate-movement has resulted in volcanic eruptions which, in the long run, can be very good for civilizations. Many Roman, Greek, Etruscan civilization settled on Mediterranean-Aegean sea regions containing rich, fertile volcanic soils. Currently, some of the best rice-growing regions in Indonesia are utilizing the soils in volcanically active regions.
Ore deposits are also a benefit of volcanic activity influenced by plate-movement. Geothermal energy is also a bi-product of volcanic activity as a result of plate movement.
Oil and natural gas are many times the product of decomposition and the deep burial of accumulated organic material in geologic basins that flank mountain ranges created as a result of plate-tectonic processes.The study of tectonic plate-movement have also given us the appreciation that Earth is an integrated whole and not simply individual land masses. This has integrated many fields of scientific disciplines to gain a more collective history life’s histories. There are numerous long-term benefits of plate-movement that outweigh the short-term adverse affects.
