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

It’s right there in the name: “plate tectonics.” Geology’s organizing theory hinges on plates—thin, interlocking pieces of Earth’s rocky skin. Plates’ movements explain earthquakes, volcanoes, ...

Volcanic eruptions frequently interfere with human affairs; impacts range from minor nuisances to major disasters. Some 50 to 65 different volcanoes typically are active in any given year, and among ...

image: The asthenosphere (yellow) is a layer that lays below the cold mobile plates (blue) and the upper mantle (green). Beneath spreading plates mantle material upwells over a broad region and is ...

“We have identified beaches, cliffs and sand dunes at the flat summit of the seamount,” wrote geologist Luis Somoza to Live Science, his words highlighting a find that shatters the divide between myth ...

Plate tectonics can trigger ice ages through the production of the carbon-trapping mineral smectite, according to a new study. MIT geologists have found that a clay mineral on the seafloor, called ...

A geologist has revealed intriguing insights into the volcanic activity on Mars. He proposes that Mars has significantly more diverse volcanism than previously realized, driven by an early form of ...

Earth's surface is broken up into large plates that rub against each other, causing earthquakes, volcanoes and large mountain ranges. But how unique is our planet's geology? When you purchase through ...

Earth's fractured outer shell is in perpetual motion. While usually imperceptible to us surface dwellers, these pieces of a rocky jigsaw puzzle are constantly crashing together, diving beneath one ...

(l-r) Jonny Wu, assistant professor of geology in the UH Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Spencer Fuston, a third-year geology doctoral student, applied a technique developed by the UH ...

A team of scientists discovered an ancient tectonic plate that used to be part of the crust beneath northern Canada. The existence of the plate, which has the ominous name “Resurrection,” has been ...

A tectonic plate "lost" for 60 million years under the Pacific Ocean has been reconstructed by scientists at the University of Houston. Known as Resurrection, the plate has been a controversial topic ...