Exactly when and how plate tectonics started, however, is a matter of debate. Now, in a study published March 19 in the ...

A seamount sitting on a subducting tectonic plate off the coast of Japan and plowing its way into Earth's mantle may be at the root of several magnitude 7 earthquakes in the past 40 years. When you ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Scientists have developed a new model of Earth’s tectonic plates that provides fresh insights into the planet’s geological history ...

The Earth's mantle might not always move along in lockstep with the overlying tectonic crust—as set out in science textbooks for decades—but may instead behave differently. This is the conclusion of ...

“These ascending pulses of partially molten mantle are channelled by the rifting plates above.” This finding matters because it shows how the movement of tectonic plates – the massive slabs of Earth’s ...

Using information from inside the rocks on Earth’s surface, my colleagues and I have reconstructed the plate tectonics of the planet over the last 1.8 billion years. It is the first time Earth’s ...

Carbon released from Earth’s spreading tectonic plates, not volcanoes, may have triggered major transitions between ancient ice ages and warm climates, new research finds. Published today in ...

We often affiliate plate tectonics with earthquakes, as we are all taught in school that the shifting of plates leads to big shakes. But plate tectonics serve a far more important job to the planet ...

After nearly 12,000 years in dormancy, a volcano in Ethiopia has erupted and hurled ash over unsuspecting communities. It's assumed that Hayli Gubbi, located in the Afar region of northeastern ...

This episode is brought to you by the Music for Scientists album! You might think of plate tectonics as destructive since ...