The study of the relative movements of large parts of the Earth. Implicit in the phrase ‘global tectonics’ are the ideas that: (a) the movements may not have involved lithospheric plates (indeed, the earliest supposed plate movements are in the early Proterozoic); (b) energy changes in one part of the Earth have repercussions in other parts; and (c) large-scale tectonics have effects on many other systems, e.g. global weather patterns, evolutionary change, and the formation of natural resources.