For the first time, scientists use GPS to measure the displacement rate of the subducting Pacific Plate near the source of disastrous shaking in 2011.
plate tectonics
Posted inNews
Subtle Seismic Movements May Help Forecast Large Earthquakes
Where a plate of Earth's crust slides under another and when frequent episodes of plate slippage occur without noticeable earthquakes, large temblors will more likely strike, a new study finds.
Posted inScience Updates
UAE-Oman Mountains Give Clues to Oceanic Crust and Mantle Rocks
When oceanic plates meet continental plates, the continental plates usually come out on top. Cases where this is reversed provide valuable access to oceanic crust and mantle materials.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Wharton Basin Earthquakes: Evidence for a New Plate Boundary?
The largest ever strike-slip earthquake may have occurred on a newly developing boundary between the Indian and Australian plates.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Bending Plate Provides Unexpected Heat Source
Scientists discover the causes for heat flow anomalies near the Japan Trench.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Insights into the Formation of Old Norwegian Mountains
Researchers look to minerals in rocks from Norway's Western Gneiss Region to determine when the mountain-making period came to a close in the region.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Overriding Plate's Properties Affect Subduction
The properties of the plate that does not sink may strongly control subduction zone dynamics.
Posted inNews
Tiny Mineral Grains Could Drive Plate Tectonics
Scientists turn to granular scales to explain how plate tectonics may have evolved billions of years ago.
Posted inScience Updates
Earthquake Monitoring Gets Boost from New Satellite
Europe's Sentinel-1A spacecraft and its extraordinary images of slip from the South Napa earthquake herald a new era of space-based surveillance of faults.
Posted inNews
Pacific Plate's Underbelly Revealed Through Explosive Means
Scientists produce their own seismic waves—via explosives—to image the bottom region of the plate subducting under the New Zealand.