This course examines how structures are associated in space and time within the various tectonic zones of the crust. Characteristic associations of structures are found at specific locations along tectonic plate boundaries and within plate interiors. They can be used to reconstruct tectonic history through time. The first part of the course examines regimes in which convergent plate motion is dominant. We start with classic orogenic belts, including the Alps, the Appalachians, the Caledonide Mountains of Europe and the Rockies. These have low metamorphic grade, fold-and-thrust belts in their external parts and mobilized, high deformation, high metamorphic grade internal parts. Ancient orogenic belts of Archean age show some similarities and some differences with this pattern. The second part of the course examines structures found where plate motion is dominantly lateral, leading to strike-slip faulting. The third part deals with plate motions that are dominantly divergent, leading to rift zones and, with extreme rifting, metamorphic core complexes. The fourth part looks at specialized regimes that occur within either convergent or divergent plate settings: these include accretionary prisms, salt diapirism and granite emplacement. Finally, the mechanisms of plate tectonics are reviewed and plate history reconstructed.