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Tectonics is the study of the structural geology of the Earth and other planetary bodies, and the local and regional processes that created that rock geometry. This includes the movements of the Earth’s tectonic plates that result in the creation, destruction and rearrangement of the Earth’s crust and lithosphere.
High-resolution numerical simulations show that subduction of the Indian plate peeled off the mantle lithosphere from the Tibetan Plateau. This process successfully explains first-order observations of the stepwise growth of the plateau, the migration of magmatism in the region and its seismic properties.
The high oxygen fugacities and water contents recorded by zircons from Archaean granitoids can be explained by partial melting at the base of overthickened oceanic crust without requiring subduction, according to a phase equilibrium modelling study.
The authors map extensive plains terrains in the Moon’s south polar region, which originate from impact basin ejecta materials. These plains serve as attractive landing sites for future exploration of lunar polar volatiles and early bombardment history.
Delamination of the lithospheric mantle from the overriding Eurasian plate below the Tibetan Plateau is consistent with topographic, magmatic and seismic observations, according to numerical simulations of the geodynamic evolution of the plateau.
Folding-related brittle deformation structures in accretionary wedges may contribute to shallow seismicity in subduction zones, according to a compilation of structural evidence.
High-resolution numerical simulations show that subduction of the Indian plate peeled off the mantle lithosphere from the Tibetan Plateau. This process successfully explains first-order observations of the stepwise growth of the plateau, the migration of magmatism in the region and its seismic properties.
The fate of water carried by subducted slabs to the deep Earth remains unclear. Experiments suggest that water is unlikely to escape the slabs when they reach the core–mantle boundary despite high pressures and temperatures.
In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO2 from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO2 release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.
A model investigating the build-up of the atmosphere of Venus shows that it could have originated from a vigorous phase akin to plate tectonics during the first billion years of its evolution.
There are two competing hypotheses for the origin of oceanic plateaus: plume versus plate. Thermodynamic modelling of magmatism at Shatsky Rise, in the Pacific Ocean, now suggests that neither mechanism is adequate on its own and in fact plume–ridge interaction is required to explain the formation of this ocean plateau.