Far beneath the ocean's surface, where mountain belts rise and ancient oceanic crust lies hidden, a long-lost tectonic plate ...

The Earth's oceanic crust covers an enormous expanse, and is mostly buried beneath a thick layer of mud that cuts it off from the surface world. Scientists now document life deep within the ...

It suggests that vast portions of the oceanic crust may harbor complex life forms, dramatically expanding the potential habitats for deep-sea creatures.

Earth scientists have found strong evidence that the geological processes that lead to the formation of oceanic crust are not as uniformly passive as believed. They found centers of dynamic ...

Oceanic crust is primarily composed of dark basalt rocks rich in elements such as silicon and magnesium whereas continental crust is made of light-colored granite rocks containing oxygen and silicon.

The oldest patch of undisturbed oceanic crust on Earth may lie deep beneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea – and at about 340 million years old, it beats the previous record by more than 100 ...

When plates collide, oceanic crust will be subducted under continental crust, recycling it back into the mantle. Therefore, oceanic crust never gets to age as much as continental crust, which almost ...

The strength of Earth’s magnetic field and the amount of oxygen in its atmosphere seem to be correlated—and scientists want to know why ...

How did those chunks of oceanic crust get into that layer? The lithosphere is Earth's rigid outer layer, encompassing a cracked crust and hot upper mantle. The hot mantle churns and circulates ...