Earth’s plate tectonics began earlier than 4 billion years ago
New research suggests that plate tectonics began earlier than 4 billion years ago — shortly after Earth formed. New research suggests that plate tectonics, which causes earthquakes, mountain formation and the separation of continents, may have begun when Earth was just forming — much earlier than many scientists thought.
The earth’s crust is unstable
The Earth is starting to shake because of global warming. Tectonic plates are moving apart regardless of warming: the giant tectonic plate under the Indian Ocean is splitting apart, the Dead Sea Fault in the Middle East is moving about twice as fast, or 0.2 inches (0.4 cm) per year, while the San Andreas Fault in California is moving about 10 times faster, about 0.7 inches (1.8 cm) per year.