Subduction zones, where one tectonic plate dives underneath another, drive the world’s most devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. How do these danger zones come to be? A study in Geology presents ...

Due to the radiative thermal conductivity of the mineral olivine, only oceanic plates over 60 million years old and ...

Earth's tectonic plates may have taken as long as 1 billion years to form, researchers report today in Nature 1.

Some previous studies have suggested that plate tectonics started much earlier in Earth's history, whereas others indicate that such processes began only about 0.7 billion years ago.

Mesmerizing animation shows Earth's tectonic plates moving from 1.8 billion years ago to today. News. By Alan Collins published 8 September 2024 ...

Plate tectonics describes how Earth’s entire, 100-kilometer-thick outermost layer, called the lithosphere, is broken into a jigsaw puzzle of plates — slabs of rock bearing both continents and ...

In the Afar region of Ethiopia, the ground beneath our feet is stretching and tearing at a rate of 16 millimeters per year ...

Emerging evidence suggests that plate tectonics, or the recycling of Earth's crust, may have begun much earlier than previously thought — and may be a big reason that our planet harbors life.

Plate tectonics, or the recycling of Earth’s crust, may have begun much earlier than previously thought—and may be a big reason that our planet harbors life. Skip to main content.

What jumpstarted Earth's plate tectonics? New clues point to ancient glaciers. The provocative theory has geologists hotly debating when and why our planet's modern geologic dance kicked into high ...