The properties of the plate that does not sink may strongly control subduction zone dynamics.
plate tectonics
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.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mapping Seismic Activity in the Pamir Mountains
Researchers plot deformation from 6000 seismic events across the central Asian mountain range to better understand its tectonic history.
Posted inScience Updates
Reading History From Afar
A look at the sedimentary record in northern Ethiopia tells the story of oceans past—and maybe future.
Posted inAGU News
Bryan L. Isacks Receives 2014 Walter H. Bucher Medal
Bryan L. Isacks was awarded the 2014 Walter H. Bucher Medal at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 17 December 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. The medal is for “original contributions to the basic knowledge of the crust and lithosphere.”
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Using Rivers to Investigate Rock Uplift in Taiwan
Researchers use change of slope in a dense river network to investigate rock uplift rates of Taiwan.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
River Slope Connects Modern Topography with Ancient Tectonics
Scientists create models to help them figure out how the slope of a river can record ancient tectonic activity.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Measuring Small-scale Changes Along a Fault as Plates Slip
A see-through plastic fault lets researchers directly measure how earthquake stresses affect fault properties.