The early Earth may have looked much like Iceland—where lava fields stretch as far as the eye can see, inky mountainsides tower above the clouds and stark black sand beaches outline the land. But the ...

Plate tectonics is the theory used to explain the structure of the Earth's crust and many of the associated phenomenon. The rigid lithosphere is split into 15 major plates that slowly move on top of ...

Learn about Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Theory—how continents once formed Pangaea, evidence supporting it, and its link to modern Plate Tectonic Theory.

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, ...

All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more. Earth’s ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The grinding of giant chunks of Earth's outer layer — responsible for burping volcanoes, crushing ...

A new study suggests that plate tectonics -- a scientific theory that divides the earth into large chunks of crust that move slowly over hot viscous mantle rock -- could have been active from the ...

This period was anything but boring. There was a time in Earth’s history that was so stable, geologists once called it the Boring Billion. But the fact is, this period was anything but boring. In fact ...

Ancient rocks in Greenland When and how plate tectonics started is a key question among geologists. Some researchers think it started more than 4 billion years ago, and others say it started only ...

If you think about mountain ranges like the Andes or the Himalayas, you can come up with multiple factors that must affect their size and shape. There’s the collision of tectonic plates that squeezes ...

New finding contradicts previous assumptions about the role of mobile plate tectonics in the development of life on Earth. Moreover, the data suggests that 'when we're looking for exoplanets that ...