The present solid Earth is actually active, with new plates generating in the mid-ocean ridges and some old plates sinking back into the interior through subduction zones. Subduction is thus a key ...

Earth’s crust looks solid from the surface, but it is broken into a shifting mosaic of slabs that slowly rearrange oceans and continents. Understanding how those tectonic plates first formed is one of ...

The mid-ocean ridge runs through the oceans like a suture. Where Earth's plates move apart, new oceanic crust is continuously formed. This is often accompanied by magmatism and hydrothermal activity.

A program designed to study the mid-ocean ridge system and enhance understanding of the relationship between the geological processes that lead to planetary renewal in the deep ocean and life forms ...

The human-occupied vehicle Alvin, during a dive on the East Pacific Rise, collected samples and recovered instruments placed at the vents during previous expeditions. Woods Hole, Mass (October 13, ...

The mid-ocean ridge runs through the oceans like a suture. Where the Earth's plates move apart, new oceanic crust is continuously formed. This is ...

Image: Tiny crystals called zircons are used to date oceanic crust. A newly developed method that detects tiny bits of zircon in rock reliably predicts the age of ocean crust more than 99 percent of ...