Tectonic plates are composed of lithosphere, the rigid outer portion of the earth. With a thickness of about 100 km, the lithosphere is composed of an upper layer of crust (~7 km thick under the oceans, and ~35 km thick under the continents) and a lower, denser layer of the earth's upper mantle.ISTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES. The earth is a dynamic planet. Its rigid outer surface layer is broken into several tectonic plates which are in constant motion relative to one another. As demonstrated in the world map below, most of the ~550 active volcanoes on earth are located along the margins of adjacent plates.