New sediment-provenance data date the closure of the southern Neotethys and the Arabia–Eastern Anatolia collision to 74–71 million years ago, at least 25 million years earlier than previously estimated.
plate tectonics
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Southeast Tibet Grew in Pulses, Not All at Once
Mineral cooling ages reveal three pulses when uplift and erosion exposed deeper rocks, showing that Southeast Tibet grew outward, step by step, over roughly 80 million years.
Posted inNews
The Breakup of Gondwana Over 100 Million Years Ago May Be Why Antarctica Has Ice Today
A rift event set off a domino effect of geologic processes that created conditions ripe for Antarctica’s glaciation, a new study suggests.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Venezuelan Earthquakes Struck in a Complex Zone of Faults
Two powerful earthquakes hit Venezuela within less than a minute on the evening of 24 June, causing widespread damage to buildings, likely spurring landslides, and killing at least 164 people, though the full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Posted inNews
Weak Faults Play a Strong Role in the Tibetan Plateau’s Deformation
Ten years’ worth of data reveal that two theories about how the Tibetan Plateau deforms are both probably right.
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.