Ten years’ worth of data reveal that two theories about how the Tibetan Plateau deforms are both probably right.
plate tectonics
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Recycled Rocks Reveal Subduction Zone Dynamics Off Baja California
High-pressure rocks on Cedros Island were exhumed, eroded, and redeposited into the subduction trench multiple times, reshaping interpretations of ancient plate boundary processes.
Posted inNews
Mongolian Mountains Rose When the Crust Bounced Back
A plate folded, the lithosphere sank, and up popped a mountain range.
Posted inNews
Eastern Africa Is Splitting Apart, but Not Where We Expected
The Turkana Rift Zone in Kenya entered a critical stage in continental breakup about 4 million years ago.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Seismic Attenuation Techniques Reveal What Lies Beneath Taiwan
A new imaging modality explores the complex subduction‐collision transition zone below southern Taiwan.
Posted inNews
Widening Channels and Westerly Winds Together Formed Earth’s Strongest Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current could only develop once wind patterns aligned with new ocean passages 34 million years ago, a new study suggests.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Constructive Debate on the Rise of the Tibetan Plateau
A constructive debate on Himalayan tectonics shows how respectful scientific dialogue helps test competing ideas about how Earth’s highest plateau formed.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Distant Cousins? How Field Work on Earth Could Help Us to Better Understand Titan
What do Saturn’s moon Titan and the Earth have in common? Quite a lot as it turns out, from hydrocarbon deposits to polar clouds, lakes and rivers, craters and canyons, and more.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
An Ancient Landscape Beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
Geophysical observations of the subglacial topography of Coats Land reveal a landscape formed by tectonics and fluvial erosion that influenced the formation of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Posted inFeatures
Drilling Down to Open Up New Understanding of Earth’s Continents
Scientists have drilled into Earth’s crust for decades to understand natural hazards, past climates, energy resources, and more. They’ve only scratched the surface of what we can learn.