The rough picture of Earth’s interior — a crust, mantle, and core — is well-known, but the details of its inner structure are more difficult to pin down. A recent Keep reading
Tag: mantle convection
Inside the Earth’s Mantle
Plate tectonics is a relatively young scientific theory, only gaining traction among geologists in the late 60s and early 70s. One key tenet of the theory is subduction where plates meet and one Keep reading
Martian Mantle Convection
Over geological timescales – on the order of millions of years – even hard substances like rock can flow like a fluid. Heat from the Earth’s core drives convection inside Keep reading
Fissures in Africa
Pictures of an enormous fissure in Kenya’s East African Rift Valley have gone viral in recent weeks along with breathless reports about how part of the African continent is splitting Keep reading
Plate Tectonics
We don’t typically think of the ground beneath our feet as anything but solid, but over geologically long time scales, even mountains can flow. Buoyant convection inside the Earth’s mantle Keep reading
Pluto: Subsurface Convection
Pluto’s rich and unexpected surface features indicate the dwarf planet is still geologically active. This is one of the largest surprises of the New Horizons mission because it was assumed Keep reading