Even the oldest and most stable of lithospheric structures can’t withstand geologic machinations deep within the Earth.

The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere. (This includes the crust and uppermost part of the mantle.) Churning currents in the molten rocks below propel them along like a ...

Lithospheric dripping occurs when the underside of Earth's rocky crust is heated to a certain temperature. As the rock melts, a drop starts to form, eventually becoming weighty enough to break off and ...

When the lithosphere is broken into a number of plates is called the Lithospheric plates. The plates are moving because they are floating on the molten magma inside the earth. The movement of ...

New research reveals a surprising link between the ancient tectonic history of oceanic plates and their fate as they subduct ...

The subsidence of the lithosphere indicates that something is ... This model helped scientists infer that the Farallon Plate, an oceanic tectonic plate that subducted beneath North America for ...

and the probable cause is lithospheric dripping. What's even more intriguing is what's causing it. Some 600 kilometers (373 miles) from the craton, the ancient Farallon tectonic plate is sliding ...