New Atlantic Subduction Zone

A newly formed crack in the Eurasian tectonic plate about 200 km off the southwestern coast of Portugal is the birth of a new subduction zone, splitting the plate into oceanic and continental sections that will cause the Atlantic Ocean to disappear in about 220 million years as Europe and North American drift toward one another.

Tectonic Plate Break-Up

Earthquakes of magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 occurring in the Indian Ocean the same day this past April is the latest evidence of geologic stresses pulling apart the Indo-Australian plate and the possible formation of a new tectonic structure for the region.

Plate Tectonics on Mars

Previously thought to exist nowhere else in the solar system but Earth, scientists have discovered evidence of plate tectonics on Mars in about a dozen satellite images of surface fault systems collected from orbiting spacecraft.

Ethiopia's Magnetic Stripes

Huge magnetic stripes mapped out in the Tendaho Graben of the Afar Depression of Ethiopia reveal a point where three of Earth's tectonic plates meet and are stretching apart to eventually form a new ocean, the first such stripes documented on land instead of occurring on the sea floor.

Rubbing Boulders of Atacama

Geologists have discovered the boulders of Chile's Atacama Desert have been rubbed smooth not by typical mechanisms of water or wind erosion but by the previously unknown method of jostling about by periodic earthquakes grinding stones against each other.

Ancient Mantle Plume

Evidence found in the African and Indian tectonic plates indicates a mantle plume originating about 67 million years ago propelled the Indian plate toward Asia for about 5 million years while at the same time slowing the motion of the African plate significantly.

Earthquake Shifts Japan

The March 11th earthquake near eastern Japan was so powerful that it moved the entire island nation down and out into the sea, with some towns such as Ishinomaki shifting 17 feet southeast and sinking by 4 feet, creating new tide schedules and flooding for many coastal towns.

Tectonic Plate Modeling

Researchers at Caltech have developed advanced computer algorithms that allow the simultaneous modeling of Earth's mantle flow, tectonic plate movements and fault zones to allow the simulation of the global interactive forces of plate tectonics with a resolution down to 1 km.

Rift to Become New Ocean

Seismic models reveal that a 35-mile long rift that formed in the desert of Ethiopia in 2005 will eventually expand to form a new ocean within several million years.

Formation of Andes Acted as "Species Pump"

A researcher at Gothenburg University’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences has proposed a new theory of the Andes mountain range acting as a driving force for the massive biodiversity of life located in South America.

Using DNA analysis of hundreds of South American plant and animal species, this scientist was able to piece together common ancestors, and when and where evolving life separated into distinct species. A strong connection was identified between the increase in geographic speciation and the uplift of the Andes mountains beginning some 23 million years ago. The result of this mountain range formation was a "species pump" that increased the biodiversity and spread of species across the continent and into Central America.

The Andes are formed by the subduction of the Nazca tectonic plate beneath the South American plate. The vertical rise of these mountains not only created microclimates and environments that contributed to species diversification, it also forced the retreat and elimination of Lago Pebas, a great inland sea in the middle of South America, which acted as a barrier to species movement across the continent.

These results are part of a doctoral thesis defended on November 28th at Gothenburg University.

Source: ScienceDaily; Photo: Wikipedia