The plate tectonics that determine the shape of our continents may have originated from a huge impact billions of years ago. This huge collision with the Earth, thought to have occurred around 4.5 ...

The colossal movements of tectonic plates shape our world, influencing the composition of Earth’s atmosphere, the planet’s ...

A new study from Harvard geoscientists reports the oldest direct evidence yet of plate motion, dating to 3.5 billion years ago. In a study published March 19 in Science, the researchers found that ...

Earthquakes and volcanism occur as a result of plate tectonics. The movement of tectonic plates themselves is largely driven by the process known as subduction. The question of how new active ...

Researchers used small zircon crystals to unlock information about magmas and plate tectonic activity in early Earth. The research provides chemical evidence that plate tectonics was most likely ...

For millions of years, Earth’s moving plates have sculpted continents, carved oceans, and built massive mountain ranges. Yet some of these giant structures vanished deep into the mantle, hidden from ...

The history of Earth is written on the great tablets of tectonic plates. The motions of plates shaped land masses, formed oceans, and created the varied climates and habitats that set the stage for ...

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines how movements throughout the 36-million-year cycle of Earth’s tectonic plates have caused biodiversity ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. Are we alone, and if so, why? So far, the search for ...