Deep under Ethiopia, scientists have found rhythmic surges of molten rock that are slowly pulling Africa apart. These pulses ...

Cratons are the most ancient, stable pieces of tectonic plates, but even these geological formations can change over time. A new study details how the North American plate is “dripping” into the ...

Artist impression of two types of lithospheric drip. One type produces thickening and uplift of Earth’s crust, while the other results in the formation of a basin at the surface without horizontal ...

About 56 million years ago, Europe and North America began pulling apart to form what became the ever-expanding North Atlantic Ocean. Vast amounts of molten rock from Earth's mantle reached the ocean ...

The oceanic lithosphere forms at the summit of ocean ridges during seafloor spreading. Still, the formation of ocean basins is complex, influenced by smaller-scale convection, stagnated pieces of the ...

For billions of years, the continents have cruised across Earth’s surface like tectonic vessels, but they have not survived unscathed. Waves in the underlying layer known as the mantle can scour off ...

The oldest crust on Earth, known to be unchanging, is actually being altered in real time. The North American continent is "dripping" rock into the lower layers of the Earth, new research says, and in ...