The Earth’s crust is disappearing right beneath our feet – and most people don’t even realise it. Now, if you’re a geologist, ...

A study reveals that the oldest continental crust on Earth is slowly being broken up by shifting tectonic forces.

Scientists found that the speed at which continents split apart directly influences how molten rock flows deep beneath ...

Geologists have attributed age-dependent variations in the chemistry of Ethiopian volcanic rocks to rhythmic pulses like a ...

Scientists reveal that earthquakes generate electricity in quartz, explaining how enormous gold nuggets grow in deep rock ...

Continental crust is also less dense than oceanic crust, though it is considerably thicker; mostly 35 to 40 km versus the average oceanic thickness of around 7-10 km.

The research team identified that at least 30% of continental crust was lost to the mantle during the formation of the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau and Zagros Mountains (potentially up to 64% for the ...

Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust and when two lithospheric plates — one oceanic and one continental — meet, the oceanic plate always subducts beneath the more buoyant continental ...

Continental crust is also much less dense than its oceanic counterpart. In 1962, famed Princeton geologist Harry Hess theorized that the thickness of continental crust had to do with sea level and ...

“By incorporating this effect, we were able to demonstrate that even though the first evidence of a depleted mantle was seen only 3.8 billion years ago, the real continental crust was formed about 0.7 ...

Continental crust is vital in most of Earth’s natural cycles – it interacts with water and oxygen, forming new weathered products, hosting most metals and biological carbon.

But he acknowledged some uncertainty, adding, “Unless the trough is found to be very deep continental crust, like the Iceland situation, in which case Zealandia would be a part of Australia. ...