New research from HKU geologists suggests that Earth's first continents were born not from plate tectonics, but from deep ...

Tectonic plates are massive slabs of Earth's lithosphere that float atop the semi-fluid mantle, constantly shifting and ...

Due to the radiative thermal conductivity of the mineral olivine, only oceanic plates over 60 million years old and ...

A study in Geology presents evidence that subduction can spread like a contagion, jumping from one oceanic plate to another — a hypothesis previously difficult to prove.

Subduction zones, where one tectonic plate dives underneath another, drive the world’s most devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. How do these danger zones come to be?

Scientists have mapped the deep forces at play beneath the Tonga Subduction Zone, exposing how mantle plumes, subducting slabs, and tectonic shifts fuel volcanic activity and plate motion.

Plate tectonics, or the recycling of Earth’s crust, may have begun much earlier than previously thought—and may be a big reason that our planet harbors life ...

Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over Earth's mantle.

Usually, plate subduction — the process where one tectonic plate slides under another — is key to recycling geological materials into the Earth’s core and also plays a role in volcanic activities on ...

The formation of Earth's continents billions of years ago set the stage for life to thrive. But scientists disagree over how ...

We know that other rocky bodies, such as Venus, are geologically active, too. But do they also have plate tectonics? And how common is plate tectonics in other bodies in the universe?

The movement of tectonic plates may have been kick-started by a huge object slamming into Earth around 4.5 billion years ago.