Flow in the asthenosphere drags tectonic plates along

New simulations of Earth's asthenosphere find that convective cycling and pressure-driven flow can sometimes cause the planet's most fluid layer of mantle to move even faster than the tectonic plates that ride atop it.

Study predicts bedrock weathering based on topography

Just below Earth's surface, beneath the roots and soil, is a hard, dense layer of bedrock that is the foundation for all life on land. Cracks and fissures within bedrock provide pathways for air and water, which chemically ...

Europa's plate tectonic activity is unlike Earth's

Plate tectonics represents a defining framework of modern geoscience, accounting for large-scale features on Earth's surface, such as mountains and valleys, as well as the processes that shape them, like volcanoes and earthquakes. ...

New light into the recent evolution of the African rift valley

Continental rift valleys are huge fractures on the surface of the planet that progressively break continental plates with the eventual development of new oceans. The African rift valley between Ethiopia and Kenya is a classical ...

Water in Earth's mantle may be associated with subduction

A team of scientists from Oregon State University has created the first global three-dimensional map of electrical conductivity in the Earth's mantle and their model suggests that that enhanced conductivity in certain areas ...

Scientists find seismic imaging is blind to water

When an earthquake strikes, nearby seismometers pick up its vibrations in the form of seismic waves. In addition to revealing the epicenter of a quake, seismic waves can give scientists a way to map the interior structures ...

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