Mid-ocean ridges and ocean trenches are telltale signs of plate tectonics at work on the seafloor. Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division When was it, exactly, that plate tectonics ...

Ancient plate tectonics in the Archean period differs from modern plate tectonics in the Phanerozoic period because of the higher mantle temperatures inside the early Earth, the thicker basaltic crust ...

Generally speaking, it’s easy enough to make sense of the last few million years of climate patterns—the world looked much as it does today, so changes in greenhouse gas concentrations or ocean ...

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, ...

Craig O'Neill receives funding from the ARC. Plate tectonics may be a phase in the evolution of planets that has implications for the habitability of exoplanets, according to new research published ...

A little over 50 years ago, the theory of plate tectonics emerged to provide a unifying theory for the dynamic behavior of the solid Earth as expressed by earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building, ...