Our world’s surface is a jumble of jostling tectonic plates, with new ones emerging as others are pulled under. The ongoing cycle keeps our continents in motion and drives life on Earth. But what ...

Scientists have discovered a new layer of partly molten rock under the Earth's crust that might help settle a long-standing debate about how tectonic plates move. The molten layer is located about 100 ...

Modern plate tectonics may have only got going in the past billion years. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Like a giant broken-up ...

Computers may now be better than ever at revealing how the giant plates of rock that we live on will drift, crash and dive against each other to shape Earth throughout its history, scientists say. The ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Earth's hot, gooey center and its cold, hard outer shell are both responsible for the creeping ...

A new study introduces a novel way for tectonic plates — massive sheets of rock that jostle for position in the Earth’s crust and upper mantle — to bend and sink. It’s a bit of planetary Pilates that ...

Credit must be given to the creator. Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted. Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.