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 ...

Plate tectonics is unique in that the entire surface is divided into shells, or plates that have sharp boundaries.

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

Modelling suggests the giant impact that formed the moon also left behind material deep inside Earth that may have helped kick off plate tectonics.

Billion-year-old rocks in South Africa hold evidence for the onset of plate tectonics early in Earth’s history.