Which term describes the broken pieces of Earth's lithosphere?

The term that describes the broken pieces of Earth's lithosphere is "plates." The lithosphere, which includes the crust and the upper mantle, is divided into several large and rigid slabs known as tectonic plates. These plates float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath them and interact at their boundaries, leading to various geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the formation of mountain ranges.

Understanding the concept of tectonic plates is crucial in the study of plate tectonics, which explains how the movement of these plates shapes the Earth's surface over time. Subduction, collision, and sliding past one another are some of the processes that occur at plate boundaries, contributing to the dynamic nature of the planet.

The other terms, while related to geological processes, refer to specific features or concepts. Faults are fractures in the Earth's surface where two blocks of land have moved relative to each other. Mountains are formed by the uplift of land due to tectonic forces but are not the broken pieces themselves. Trenches are deep depressions in the ocean floor, often formed at subduction zones, where one plate is being forced under another but do not represent the broken segments of the lithosphere itself. Thus, "plates" is the correct term to describe