Scientists have long held the belief that the fracturing of the Earth's brittle outer shell into faults along the deep ocean's mountainous landscape occurs only during long periods when no magma has ...

One of the Earth's best-ever baby pictures reveals how crust forms at the biggest volcanic feature on the planet. The detailed look at molten magma beneath a mid-ocean ridge, one of the giant undersea ...

The Earth's surface is constantly reshaped by the movement of tectonic plates, which make up the continental crust on which we are living. These tectonic plates are in continuous motion, and when one ...

Some of the highest quality images ever taken of the Earth's lower crust reveal that the upper and lower crust form in two distinctly different ways. A team led by researchers from Columbia University ...

THE theory of ocean floor spreading requires that oceanic crust be generated at mid-ocean ridges. Evidence from a variety of sources suggests that the new crust is made largely of basalt and gabbro, ...