When it comes to 3-D puzzles, Rubik's Cube pales in comparison with the latest creation from a team of geophysicists. They have just put the finishing touches on a 20-year effort to precisely describe ...

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI. Figure 2: Plots of the logarithm of cumulative plate count versus the logarithm of plate size for four yield stress values and ...

Temporal evolution for the viscosity (upper row) and compositional (lower row) field of the 3D reference case showing LLSVP-sourced plume-induced subduction initiation. (a–) Model snapshots at 0 Myr ...

The Andes Mountains are much taller than plate tectonic theories predict they should be, a fact that has puzzled geologists for decades. Mountain-building models tend to focus on the deep-seated ...

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, ...

Let's get one thing out of the way: The supervolcano below Yellowstone is not going to erupt anytime soon; neither are any of the other similar systems that geologists have identified around the world ...

Fifty years ago, there was a seismic shift away from the longstanding belief that Earth’s continents were permanently stationary. At 50 years old, with a surge of interest in where the surface of our ...

Some great ideas shake up the world. For centuries, the outermost layer of Earth was thought to be static, rigid, locked in place. But the theory of plate tectonics has rocked this picture of the ...

A new study makes the case that the solar system’s hellish second planet once may have had plate tectonics that could have made it more hospitable to life. By Kenneth Chang Venus today is not like ...

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto. Carole ...