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.
About Author
More Stories
As a geneticist, I will not mourn 23andMe and its jumble of useless health information | Adam Rutherford
Amazon’s satellite launch designed to compete with Musk’s Starlink cancelled
Tesla stops taking orders in China for two models imported from US