Ancient zircon crystals found in South Africa hold the oldest evidence of subduction, a key element of plate tectonics, according to a new study.

Plate tectonics, the idea that the surface of the Earth is made up of plates that move apart and come back together, has been used to explain the locations of volcanoes and earthquakes since the 1960s ...

In fact, some scientists contend that plate tectonics was crucial to the origin of life. With such high stakes, it is easy to see why scientists are cautious about settling on a firm origin date.

Plate tectonics is the theory used to explain the structure of the Earth's crust and many of the associated phenomenon. The rigid lithosphere is split into 15 major plates that slowly move on top ...

Spohn found that the further he delved into the issue, the moreimportant plate tectonics seemed to be for life. For example, it is believedthat life developed by moving from the ocean to the kind ...

Since subduction is one of the main drivers behind today's plate tectonics, they looked for evidence of subduction as a sign of the beginning of ancient plate tectonics.

Plate tectonics affected by mantle hot spots Mantle plumes have long been thought to affect the motion of tectonic plates, … ...

Plate tectonics, in essence, was considered a key pre-requisite for life. But new findings by an international research team indicate that life could have preceded plate tectonics – and that life ...

New data indicating that the planet's surface broke up about 3.2 billion years ago helps clarify how shifting plates drove the evolution of complex life.

Continental crust may have differentiated from oceanic crust more than 3.5 billion years ago, pushing the origin of plate tectonics back half a billion years.

A new study suggests that plate tectonics -- a scientific theory that divides the earth into large chunks of crust that move slowly over hot viscous mantle rock -- could have been active from the ...

So Greber argues the high ratios of light-colored rocks discovered in his old sediments can only mean plate tectonics began early in our planet’s history. But 3.5 billion years is just a lower ...