Earth's crust ranges from 5 to 70 kilometers in thickness and serves as the planet's outermost layer. This thin shell represents less than one percent of Earth's total mass, yet it's the only layer we ...

The Earth with the upper mantle exposed. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered a previously unknown layer of partly molten rock approximately 100 miles beneath the Earth's ...

The Earth’s crust is constantly changing. It’s currently made of many huge rock slabs called tectonic plates—seven major ones ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. The discovery could ...

The layer, located 100 miles below the Earth's surface, could help shed light on how the tectonic plates move. Reading time 2 minutes Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are a result of the movement of ...

Earth is the planet we have the best opportunity to understand in detail—helping us see how other rocky planets behave, even ...

Hell, or something like it, may be a little closer than we thought. As a new study published in Nature Geoscience reveals, geologists at Cornell and the University of Texas have discovered a “hidden” ...

Earth's inner layers have just got a bit more complicated, with scientists discovering a whole new inner core within the center of the planet. Research released on February 21 in the journal Nature ...

Geology runs in order, as sediments pile up over time, with older material buried deeper and younger layers added on top. The sequence allows scientists to read Earth’s past like a timeline. It ...

One of geology’s basic principles is that the Earth is made up of four layers: the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. But this may be squashed in light of a new study that suggests ...

Like a moth in a cocoon, the metamorphosis of Earth's crust from molten goop to solid land is hidden from view, leaving scientists to guess at how the eons-long process unfolds. Using nearly four ...

Researchers have detected a previously unknown layer of partially molten rock beneath Earth’s crust. The discovery could help scientists learn more about the movements of Earth’s tectonic plates, ...