Continental tectonics in the aftermath of plate tectonics

The success of plate tectonics required an acceptance of continental drift, and thus a reinterpretation of the large-scale geological history of most of the Earth. But the basic tenet of plate tectonics, rigid-body movements of large plates of lithosphere, fails to apply to continental interiors, where buoyant continental crust can detach from the underlying mantle to form mountain ranges and broad zones of diffuse tectonic activity.