Although rare at the Earth’s surface, diamonds may be commonplace at depths of 120 to 150 kilometers below the surface within the lithosphere of old continents.
continents
Posted inResearch Spotlights
On the Origin of Infragravity Waves
Seafloor pressure sensor data show that long-period ocean surface waves radiating from the world’s shorelines are mostly reflected back to shore by the continental shelf edge.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
An Improved Understanding of How Rift Margins Evolve
A new seismic reflection study of the mid-Norwegian margin examines the role that low-angle, high-displacement faults play in the evolution of continental rifts.
Posted inNews
Erasing a Billion Years of Geologic Time Across the Globe
The Great Unconformity—a huge time gap in the rock record—may have been triggered by the uplift of an ancient supercontinent, say researchers using a novel method for dating rocks.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Many Magmatic Modifications to the African Continent
How the very slow moving African Continent, with a lithosphere of quite varied age elements and thickness, has responded to ongoing asthenospheric modification.
Posted inEditors' Vox
The Earth’s Elastic Crust
A recent paper in Reviews of Geophysics discussed how the mineral composition and microfabric of the continental crust influences its seismic properties.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Data Rules for Water Management, Continental Roots, and More
The importance of relevant and consistent data (as well as more samples) spans discussions of water resources and crustal roots at the IGC.
Posted inFeatures
New Insights into North America’s Midcontinent Rift
The Midcontinent Rift has characteristics of a large igneous province, causing geologists to rethink some long-standing assumptions about how this giant feature formed.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Earthquakes May Prevent Underwater Landslides
Smaller quakes around the active edge of continental plates may contribute to increased stability by promoting compaction and solidifying the top 100 meters of seafloor sediment.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Trace Element Holds the Key to Deformation of Continents
Studies of titanium in quartz grains could help scientists gain a better understanding of our planet's shifting surface.