Deep mantle movements help explain Earth’s mysterious bulges

Tectonic movement creates most basins and ridges, but study finds deep mantle temperatures also have a role

The constant movement of Earth’s tectonic plates reshapes our planet on a daily basis, but deep mantle processes also play a role, recent research shows.

Many of Earth’s most significant features sit on plate boundaries: mountain ranges such as the Himalayas appear where continental plates collide; volcanoes and ocean trenches like those around the Pacific Ocean occur where ocean plates dive beneath continental ones. But our planet also has many surface features that sit far from tectonic plate boundaries and cannot be explained so easily.

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