Neotectonic processes are tectonic phenomena that have occurred from approximately the late Neogene to the present and are responsible for the current configuration and active deformation of the Earth’s crust. They include contemporary faulting, folding, crustal uplift and subsidence, active volcanism, and associated seismicity, typically constrained by geodetic measurements, seismic records, geomorphic analysis, and dating of displaced Quaternary deposits or landforms. Neotectonic processes are central to understanding present-day plate boundary kinematics, intraplate deformation, landscape evolution, and seismic and volcanic hazards, providing critical constraints on lithospheric rheology, stress fields, and the temporal variability of tectonic activity on human to Quaternary timescales.
Isotope analysis of gas from geothermal springs in Zambia could show that a new continental rift is forming, scientists say. Unexpectedly high helium isotope ratios indicate that a weakness in Earth's crust has broken through ...
Earth Sciences
May 12, 2026
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As seismic waves travel through Earth, they gradually lose energy, a process called attenuation. That energy loss doesn't happen uniformly—some features in the crust sap far more energy from seismic waves than others. Researchers ...
Earth Sciences
May 11, 2026
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The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that took place in 2018 on the south flank of Kīlauea on the Island of Hawaiʻi may have stalled episodes of periodic slow slip along a major fault underlying the volcano, according to a new study ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 5, 2026
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A study on tectonic plates that converge on the Tibetan Plateau has shown that Earth's fault lines are far weaker and the continents are less rigid than scientists previously thought. This finding is based on ground-monitoring ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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Asier Madarieta, a researcher in the EHU's HGI (Water Environmental Processes) group, has analyzed how the Earth's crust is being compressed and deformed in the field where Eurasia and Africa meet in the Western Mediterranean. ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2025
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146
Climate change is accelerating continental rifting, the geological process where landmasses slowly pull apart. According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the East African Rift System (EARS) became ...
Greenland is being twisted, compressed, and stretched. This happens due to plate tectonics and movements in the bedrock, caused by the large ice sheets on top melting and reducing pressure on the subsurface.
Earth Sciences
Oct 14, 2025
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111
Vast, quasi-circular features on Venus's surface may reveal that the planet has ongoing tectonics, according to new research based on data gathered more than 30 years ago by NASA's Magellan mission.
Space Exploration
May 14, 2025
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120
About 240 miles long, Utah's Wasatch Fault stretches along the western edge of the Wasatch Mountains from southern Idaho to central Utah, running through Salt Lake City and the state's other population centers. It's a seismically ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 30, 2025
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136
On New Year's Day 2024, a massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in north central Japan, resulting in extensive damage in the region caused by uplift, when the land rises due to shifting tectonic plates. ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 28, 2025
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