The Earth's interior is composed of four layers, three solid and one liquid—not magma but molten metal, nearly as hot as the surface of the sun. The deepest layer is a solid iron ball, about ...

One explanation for plate movements is slab pull. Plates are extremely heavy so gravity acts upon them, pulling them apart. Alternatively, as shown in the diagram, convection currents under the ...

Crust and lithospheric mantle—the thinnest and thickest layers of the Earth's lithosphere—and a wide range of dynamic processes that deform them can be studied by using high precision geodetic ...

The heterogeneous composition of the lithosphere affects the way it deforms under extension. This thesis investigates the effects of heterogeneities that introduce compositional, thermal, and ...