The theory of Plate tectonics – developed from Alfred Wegener’s theory of Continental Drift to explain the movement of the continents – has become the prevailing theory underpinning our understanding ...

It’s right there in the name: “plate tectonics.” Geology’s organizing theory hinges on plates—thin, interlocking pieces of Earth’s rocky skin. Plates’ movements explain earthquakes, volcanoes, ...

Along submarine mountain ranges, the mid-ocean ridges, forces from the Earth's interior push tectonic plates apart, forming new ocean floor and thus moving continents about. However, many features of ...

As an undergrad at MIT in the 1950s, Lynn Sykes ’59, SM ’60, became interested in the theory of continental drift, which held that the world’s great landmasses had wandered across Earth over time. The ...

Work go on NARRATORS: MG: Mott Greene, RM: Roger McCoy NO: Naomi Oreskes START: TITLE CARD: ANIMATED LIFE: ALFRED WEGENER’S DRIFTING CONTINENTS (title TBA) MG: Hardly anyone in the early 20th century ...

Why do Africa and South America fit together? Anyone who’s ever looked at a map can see that Earth’s continents are kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. The idea that continents are constantly moving and ...

Fuzzy timings over a plate-tectonics anniversary highlight the rolling nature of scientific discovery. The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI. This week, the Geological ...

IT WAS 1967, and a profound shift in our understanding of the planet was taking place. In San Francisco, hippies gathered to celebrate counterculture and jolt our social consciousness. Meanwhile, in ...

New data indicating that Earth’s surface broke up about 3.2 billion years ago helps clarify how plate tectonics drove the evolution of complex life. In 2016, the geochemists Jonas Tusch and Carsten ...

Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, subduction and continental collisions form the conventional theory of plate tectonics to explain non-rigid behaviour at plate boundaries. However, the theory does ...