Plate Tectonics - Earth Discover

An artist's depiction of a solar storm impacting Mars and removing ions from the planet's upper atmosphere. Could Earth face a similar fate billions of years from now when our planet's magnetic field weakens or disappears?

~2-3 Billion: The Solidification of Earth’s Core – Future Implications

As Earth's core cools and solidifies over the next few billion years, the cessation of its magnetic field will lead to significant atmospheric and geological changes, fundamentally altering the planet's environment

If the current directions of plate movement persist, it is estimated that within approximately 250 million years, the continents will reunite, forming what is often referred to as "Pangea Proxima" or "Pangea Ultima."

~250 Million: Pangea Proxima – Envisioning Earth’s Future Supercontinent

"Pangea Proxima" explores the potential future formation of a supercontinent due to Earth's shifting tectonic plates, a continuation of the planet's dynamic geological evolution

World maps depicting the ages of seafloor crust. Red indicates the youngest regions, including the currently forming crust, while blue represents the oldest oceanic crust still in existence, formed approximately 150 to 180 million years ago.

1973: Seafloor Spreading – Tanya Atwater’s Contributions to Plate Tectonics

Tanya Atwater’s groundbreaking research in the 1970s provided key insights into seafloor spreading, contributing significantly to the understanding of plate tectonics and the geological history of Earth

Part of the ruins of the city of Valdivia, Chile, after the massive earthquake on May 21, 1960.

1960: The 1960 Valdivia Earthquake – A Record-Breaking Seismic Event

The 1960 Valdivia Earthquake in Chile, with a moment magnitude between 9.4 and 9.6, stands as the most powerful recorded earthquake, leading to advances in seismic monitoring and tsunami predictions

Top: Marie Tharp in 2001. Bottom: Section of a contemporary map illustrating the topography of the seafloor in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

1957: Marie Tharp’s Legacy – Unveiling the Mysteries of the Seafloor

Marie Tharp's pioneering work in seafloor mapping provided critical insights into ocean topography and played a crucial role in developing plate tectonics theory

Illustrative cross-section demonstrating a higher-density plate (right) diving or subducting beneath a lower-density plate (left), resulting in a region of earthquakes and volcanoes along the collision zone. On a spherical planet, these volcanoes form an arc-shaped pattern across the surface.

1949: Uncovering Earth’s Seismic Patterns – Wadati and Benioff’s Contributions

Kiyoo Wadati and Hugo Benioff's research into deep seismic activity laid the groundwork for understanding island arcs and contributed significantly to plate tectonics theory

A hand sample of lodestone, a rock containing the mineral magnetite, with small nails sticking to its surface due to its powerful magnetism

c. 2000 BCE: Magnetite – The Ancient and Versatile Mineral

Magnetite, an iron oxide mineral with remarkable magnetic properties, has played a pivotal role in ancient navigation, geological studies, and modern technology, reflecting its enduring significance from antiquity to present-day applications

Salt-encrusted rocks along the shore of the slowly evaporating Dead Sea

c. 3 Million BCE: The Dead Sea – Earth’s Lowest and Saltiest Lake

The Dead Sea, situated in a rift valley created by plate interactions, is the lowest elevation lake on Earth. Hypersaline and with a history shaped by cycles of uplift and subsidence, it has minimal biodiversity [...]

A view from orbit of the Caspian Sea, captured by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite in 2003

c. 5.5 Million BCE: The Caspian and Black Seas – Remnants of Ancient Geography

The Caspian and Black Seas, formed from the closure of the Tethys Sea due to the collision of the African and Eurasian plates, are the largest inland lakes with unique characteristics, including salinity and anoxic [...]

An artistic rendering based on geophysical data, depicting the Mediterranean basin just before its separation from the Atlantic Ocean due to the collision between Africa and Southern Europe

c. 6.5 Million BCE: The Evolution of the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea formed from the closure of the Tethys Sea due to the collision of the African and Eurasian plates. This process led to significant volcanic activity and mountain building, followed by a drying [...]

Spectacular sand dunes in the Sahara Desert, the largest non-polar desert in the world

c. 7 Million BCE: The Sahara Desert – Earth’s Largest Hot Desert

The Sahara, Earth's largest non-polar desert, is characterized by extreme temperatures and low rainfall, formed due to the shifting of continental plates and the closing of the Tethys Sea, resulting in a landscape predominantly shaped [...]

A NASA satellite view of the Hawaiian Island chain, showing the Big Island of Hawaii in the southeast extending to Kauai and tiny Ni’ihau in the northwest, with a chain of smaller islands and atolls above sea level continuing over 620 miles (1000 km) northwest

c. 28 Million BCE: The Formation of the Hawaiian Islands – A Hotspot Story

The Hawaiian Islands' formation is linked to a stationary hotspot beneath the moving Pacific plate, a theory first proposed by John Tuzo Wilson in 1963. The islands' age progression from the youngest in the southeast [...]

An aerial view of the Cascade volcanic peaks in Oregon, with the Three Sisters in the foreground, and Mts. Washington, Jefferson, Hood, and Adams extending northward

c. 30-10 Million BCE: The Cascade Volcanoes – A Tectonic Phenomenon

The Cascade Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest are formed by the subduction of oceanic plates beneath the North American continental plate, resulting in a series of major volcanic peaks and vents along the Cascade volcanic [...]

An illustrative depiction showing the Earth's crust being split by plate tectonics in the East African Rift Zone, with the Horn of Africa and Somalia on the right, and the Nile River on the left, predicting the formation of a new ocean basin that will divide Africa into two plates in about 10 million years

c. 30 Million BCE: The East African Rift Zone – Earth’s Dynamic Crust

The East African Rift Zone, a result of continental rifting and mantle plume activity, is actively splitting the African continent, with predictions of forming two new plates and a new ocean basin in about 10 [...]

A summertime view of the geologically young and rugged Italian Alps, towering above stunning high mountain lakes

c. 65 Million BCE: The Formation of the Majestic Alps

The Alps were formed from the collision of the African and Eurasian plates following the breakup of Pangea, leading to the uplift of sedimentary deposits from the Tethys Sea and creating complex geological structures, including [...]

A scenic pastoral landscape in the Western Ghats Mountains of southern India, showcasing the layered volcanic hills of the Deccan Traps

c. 66 Million BCE: The Deccan Traps – A Volcanic Phenomenon

The Deccan Traps, an example of massive volcanic activity, dramatically altered Earth's landscape and climate, potentially contributing to the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, showcasing the interplay of gradual and catastrophic [...]

Albert Bierstadt's 1866 painting 'A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie' depicts the dramatic geological and meteorological features of the relatively young Rocky Mountains

c. 80 Million BCE: The Geological Formation of the Rocky Mountains

Explains the formation of the Rocky Mountains, a geological anomaly far from the North American plate's edge, initially formed by continental collisions 300 million years ago and later uplifted by the subducting Farallon plate around [...]

A seagull at sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, formed around 140 million years ago from a rift in Pangea that separated the North American and African tectonic plates

c. 140 Million BCE: Formation of the Atlantic Ocean – A Tectonic Tale

Explores the formation of the Atlantic Ocean as a result of Pangea's breakup, driven by lithospheric plate dynamics and massive volcanic eruptions, leading to the creation of the mid-Atlantic ridge and the largest mountain chain [...]

An artistic global map depicting the supercontinent Pangea around 250 to 300 million years ago, showing the initial separation of what would become North America from the northern edge of future Africa.

c. 300 Million BCE: Pangea – The Ancient Supercontinent

Delves into the formation of Pangea, the ancient supercontinent, over 300 million years ago, through a series of continent-continent collisions, highlighting the concept of continental drift proposed by Alfred Wegener and supporting evidence from fossils [...]

Ancient peaks and canyons characterize the Atlas Mountains, stretching about 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles) across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia

c. 300 Million BCE: The Geological Evolution of the Atlas Mountains

Explores the formation of the Atlas Mountains, originating from the Alleghenian orogeny 300 million years ago due to Africa and North America's collision, and their later reformation through African and European plate interactions, leading to [...]