How do plate tectonics ACTUALLY work?

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I know the basic notions of convergent, divergent and transforming (transformant?) edges, but when I take a look at a tectonic map…
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Tectonic_plates_boundaries_physical_World_map_Wt_180degE_centered-en.svg/4903px-Tectonic_plates_boundaries_physical_World_map_Wt_180degE_centered-en.svg.png

… it’s so confusing. Why does every plate (that, according to my understanding, behaves like a piece piece of rock moving above the mantle) have soooo many different types of boundaries? How come there are, for example, transforming edges right next to divergent edges? I can’t wrap my head around it.

This is more a clarification post than anything, so any help is humbly appreciated 🙂

In: Geology

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Anonymous 0 Comments

I would it just explain it that way: One important factor is how the magma under the plates moved and that influences in which direction the plate drifts and how fast. Another one is what the plates consist of, so more sense heavy plates are more likely to live below other plates