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lithosphere

Gray rocks among green grasses and flowers
Posted inNews

Radioactive Sediments May Have Built Earth’s Cratons

Javier Barbuzano, Science Writer by Javier Barbuzano 14 June 20244 August 2024

Weathering of the earliest continents could have set in motion the formation of cratons, the immutable roots of continents.

Gray and beige cliffs on the left overlook a blue ocean on the right.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

How Mantle Movements Shape Earth’s Surface

Rachel Fritts, Science Writer by Rachel Fritts 2 May 202418 June 2024

Two new data sets help researchers tease apart the influences of plate tectonics and mantle movement on surface topography.

A piece of rock under a microscope. Colors are mostly gray and beige, with a small section of blue near the center. A legend on the bottom right indicates the image is about 100 micrometers across.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

Mantle Heat May Have Boosted Earth’s Crust 3 Billion Years Ago

by Rebecca Owen 23 April 202423 April 2024

Information from igneous zircon molecules gives researchers new insight into the workings of inner Earth.

Map of the Hawaiian islands with colors and contour lines overlain.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

A Strong Pacific Plate Bends Under the Hawaiian Volcanic Chain

by Emilie Hooft 14 March 202413 March 2024

Two seismic studies reveal the volcanic loads and resulting flexure of the Pacific plate at the Hawaiian Ridge and, surprisingly, show no magmatic underplating.

A map showing the elevations of land and ocean floor around the Mariana Trench, a subduction zone in the Pacific Ocean. The trench is shown by the lowest elevations of nearly 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) deep at the southern end.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

The Nature of Mantle Flow May Depend on the Type of Slab Subducting

Sarah Derouin, Science Writer by Sarah Derouin 23 February 202423 February 2024

Researchers tease apart the links between slabs and mantle flow near subduction zones, upending some traditional views of subduction-induced mantle flow.

Diagram from the study.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Law and Order for Friction and Faults: One Law to Rule Them All

by Peter Zeitler 19 January 202418 January 2024

Faults are made of complex materials with complex behaviors, and having a single model that can predict these behaviors is an advance in understanding deformation and the earthquake cycle.

Depiction of the of the “melt-percolation barrier” model from the paper.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Do Some Cratons Have Soggy Bottoms?

by Peter Zeitler 8 January 20248 January 2024

Long-persistent stable cratons bear much of the deep-time geologic record, and a new study combines seismic and petrological data to reveal how interactions with mantle fluids can shape their evolution.

Diagram from the study
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Piecing Together the Roots of the Ancient Australian Continent

by Paul Asimow 25 October 202326 October 2023

Mineral compositions from numerous volcanic rocks that sample the mantle keel beneath Western Australia’s Kimberley Craton reveal the temperature and mineralogy that explain its long-lived stability.

A reef teems with life in shallow water.
Posted inNews

Shifts in Tectonic Plates Change Biodiversity

by Danielle Beurteaux 19 September 202319 September 2023

A 36-million-year cycle of marine biodiversity booms and busts matches the movements of plate tectonics, linking what happens deep below the ocean to what’s happening in it.

Diagrams showing lithospheric stretching with rifting.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

Uncovering Mantle Heterogeneities Beneath Drifting Continents

by Fabio A. Capitanio 11 September 20236 September 2023

Computational models of the composition and volumes of magmas during continental rifting evolution provide clues on the heterogeneities of the deep melting mantle.

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