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Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics Articles, Theory, Plate Diagrams, Maps, Teaching Ideas

Sun & Moon Triggers?

Can the Sun and Moon Trigger Faults? Minute stresses might be triggers.

Mariana Trench

Exploring the Mariana Trench: A robotic vehicle dives 6.8 miles down - a new world record!

San Andreas Map

Google Map of the San Andreas Fault: Zoom in to see the fault trace plotted atop of a map or satellite images.

Great Rift Valley

The East Africa Rift System: Learn about the East Africa Rift.

San Andreas Article

What is the San Andreas Fault? Map, photos and description of the fault by Dr. David Lynch.

Tsunami Causes

What Causes a Tsunami? Learn how plate motions trigger earthquakes and tsunamis.

Volcanoes

Volcanoes: A page that links to all of our volcano articles and to the best volcano information that we could find.

If it is not grown, it is mined.

Ocean Rifting on Land

Ocean Rifting on Land: A new rift in Ethiopia is analogous to an ocean basin rift.

Dynamic Earth

Earth's Core & Magnetic Field: Exploring Earth's internal structure & magnetic field.

Salton Sea Earthquake

San Andreas Fault Hazard: Faults transfer strain below the Salton Sea.

Carbonatite Lava

Carbonatite Lava Flows at Oldoinyo Lengai: These carbon dioxide-rich lavas are some of the most fluid in the world. They flow like motor oil.

Teaching Tectonics

Teaching Plate Tectonics with Easy-to-Draw Illustrations: Most students love to draw and are visual learners. Take advantage of that in a draw-with-me lesson.

Guatemala Jade

Tectonic History In Jade: Dates of metamorphism and fault motion locked in jade.

Oil is found first in the mind.

Cities Moved by Quake

South American cities move during earthquake.

South American Cities Moved by Earthquake: Some moved ten feet westward.

Supervolcano In Italy

Supervolcano in Italy: A fossil supervolcano beneath the Italian Alps.

Strange Fault Behavior

Fault Behavior: Some faults appear strong but behave like weak faults.

Pacific Tsunami Threat

Pacific Tsunami Threat: Alaska earthquakes can impact the Pacific Basin.

New Madrid

New Madrid Seismic Zone: An earthquake hazard review for the NMSZ..

Drilling To The Moho

Drilling to Earth's Mantle: New technology might make drilling to the Moho possible.

Age Of The Andes

How Old Are The Andes Mountains? New research suggests that the growth of the Andes Mountains began much earlier than 7 MYA.

Magma Formation

Depth of Magma Formation in Subduction Zones: Chlorite reveals the depth of magma formation in subuction zones.

The present is the key to the past.

Plate Tectonic News

New Data on San Andreas Carrizo Plain: Researchers are gaining a new understanding of the...

Turkey's North Anatolian Fault: The North Anatolian Fault in Turkey has been...

South American Cities Moved Ten Feet West in Quake: "The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the...

Summer 2010 Teacher Trip: Iceland: The Geological Society of America has announced an...

Most Powerful Earthquake: The recent magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile was...

Tsunami Warning for Hawaii: The Pacific Tsunami Center has issued the following...

Port-au-Prince: Rebuild or Relocate?: When a city is severely affected by a...

New View on Jurassic Primate Evolution: Michael Heads, Ph.D., of the Buffalo Museum of...

GSA Gives Free Access to Enriquillo-Plaintain Fault Papers: "In response to the recent, tragic earthquake that...

United States Earthquake Risk: The Cascadia subduction zone along the United States...

What Is The Moho?

What is the Moho? Learn about the Mohorovicic Discontinuity.

Plate Boundaries

Zoom In On Plate Boundaries: Explore divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries with satellite images and maps.

Geology underlies it all.