Yet even as mountains rise, they also periodically sink back down when the stress from tectonic collisions triggers earthquakes. These events happen in a cycle ... s tectonic plates are in ...

One of the more distinctive things about Earth among the planets is that we have plate tectonics. In other words, the hard, outer shell of the planet (called the lithosphere) is divided into several ...

Now, 50 years after the event, he may finally have an answer: The bottom of the tectonic plate off Portugal's coast seems to be peeling away from its top. This action may be providing the ...

Researchers have found fresh evidence that Africa is breaking apart because of a deep mantle superplume of hot rock beneath the East African Rift System. Skip to main content Open menu Close menu ...

The Perseverance rover on Mars just took an amazing selfie - but some of its most exciting work is just beginning.

Mountains rise, volcanoes spew, and Earth itself quakes as the crust constantly remakes itself in the ceaseless cycle of plate tectonics ... a peek underground. Hot rock is generally less dense ...

Below is the asthenosphere: the warm, viscous conveyor belt of rock on which tectonic plates ride. Earthquakes typically occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates, where one plate dips below ...