Tectonism results from the release and redistribution of energy

from Earth's interior. This energy is either gravitational, and thus

a function of the enormous mass at the planet's core, or thermal,
resulting from the heat generated by radioactive decay.
Differences in mass and heat within the planet's interior, known
as pressure gradients, result in the deformation of rocks, placing
many forms of stress and strain on them.
In scientific terms, stress is any attempt to deform an object, and
strain is a change in dimension resulting from stress. Rocks
experience stress in the form of tension, compression, and shear.
Tension acts to stretch a material, whereas compression is a form of
stress produced by the action of equal and opposite forces, whose
effect is to reduce the length of a material. (Compression is a form of
pressure.) Shear results from equal and opposite forces that do not
act along the same plane. If a thick, hardbound book is lying flat,
and one pushes the front cover from the side so that the covers and
pages are no longer in alignment, is an example of shear. Rocks
manifest the strain resulting from these stresses by warping, sliding,
or breaking. They may even flow, as though they were liquids, or
melt and thus truly become liquid. As a result, Earth's interior may
manifest faults, or fractures in rocks, as well as folds, or bends in the
rock structure. The effects can be seen on the surface in the form of
subsidence, which is a depression in the crust; or uplift, the raising
of crustal materials.