These ancient buried "super-continents"—known to scientists as large low-seismic-velocity provinces (LLSVPs)—were found lurking below Africa and the Pacific Ocean, entombed some 1,200 miles below the ...

Discover interesting facts about how big earthquakes can get, why earthquakes happen, and why they're so hard to predict.

Schematic representation of the process of subduction of tectonic plates and of a mantle plume rising from an LLSVP. In the latter, the mineral grains are larger than those in the subducted plates.

Plate tectonics give Earth its mountains, earthquakes, continental drift and maybe even helped give rise to life itself. But do other planets in the solar system have them too?

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The modern understanding of the plate tectonic cycle predicts that remnants of submerged plates will be ...

These movements, called convection, are responsible for plate tectonics. Oceanic plates, being denser, plunge into the mantle at subduction zones, while hot material rises to the surface. This cycle ...

This indicates the regions are much hotter than the surrounding mantle. "These two large islands are surrounded by a ...

The modern understanding of the plate tectonic cycle predicts that remnants of submerged plates will be found near subduction zones. However, a new high-resolution model shows that these remnants ...

Why do we need a new I-5 bridge? "Pressure is mounting for another Cascadia Subduction Zone megathrust. At risk are the two ...