Two new data sets help researchers tease apart the influences of plate tectonics and mantle movement on surface topography.
Earth’s crust
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mantle Heat May Have Boosted Earth’s Crust 3 Billion Years Ago
Information from igneous zircon molecules gives researchers new insight into the workings of inner Earth.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Hydraulic Fractures Are Lazy
The layering of rock masses can help constrain and focus the growth of hydraulic fractures.
Posted inNews
From First Continents to Fancy Countertops
A new study suggests melting gabbros may have helped form Earth’s first continents, riling a long-standing debate.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A Strong Pacific Plate Bends Under the Hawaiian Volcanic Chain
Two seismic studies reveal the volcanic loads and resulting flexure of the Pacific plate at the Hawaiian Ridge and, surprisingly, show no magmatic underplating.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Illuminating the Complex Structural Fabric Beneath the European Alps
A new study investigates the dynamics of the complex continental collision that formed the European Alps and reveals how structural alignments change with depth.
Posted inNews
Flowing Crust Pushes Faults on Their Backs
Puzzlingly shallow faults in western Türkiye are likely getting a boost from below.
Posted inFeatures
The 2023 Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes Shifted Stress in the Crust
In February, a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the eastern Mediterranean, triggering a second major jolt and a cascade of aftershocks.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Digging Deep into Interactions Between the Core and Mantle
A new book presents major advances in our understanding of core-mantle interaction and co-evolution, and showcases technological developments improving our insights into deep Earth processes.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Machine Learning Helps Constrain the Thickness of Ancient Crust
A machine learning model trained using data on the chemical composition of magmatic rocks yields comparable, if not better, results to previously developed geochemical proxies.