Despite workshops and seminars and conference sessions and Zoom colloquia, of which Geraldine has attended many, one big question remains in geophysics: What drives plate tectonics? Dear Geraldine, Slab pull? Ridge push? Mantle drag? Continental keels? Super plumes? Mantle wind? Expanding Earth? God? Nope, there is only one explanation that truly fits the data and passes the common sense test: The ...[Read More]
This week in News & Views, dr. Marzieh Baes from GFZ Potsdam introduces us to the mechanisms behind subduction initiation. Moreover, she discusses the different types of subduction initiation in reaction to plume-lithosphere interaction that she observed in her recent 3-d numerical modelling study. Possible scenarios of subduction initiation According to plate tectonics, oceanic plates are for ...[Read More]
Plate tectonics is a key geological process on Earth, shaping its surface, and making it unique among the planets in the Solar System. Yet, how plate tectonics emerged and which factors controlled its evolution remain controversial. The recently published paper in Nature by Sobolev and Brown suggests new ideas to solve this problem…. What makes plate tectonics possible on contemporary Earth? It is ...[Read More]
Subduction zones are ubiquitous features on Earth, and an integral part of plate tectonics. They are known to have a very important role in modulating climate on Earth, and are believed to have played an essential part in making the Earth’s surface habitable, a role that extends to present-day. This week, Antoniette Greta Grima writes about the ongoing debate on how subduction zones form and persi ...[Read More]
