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The Earth we see when we look outside our window never changes and yet the Earth itself is always changing as continents slowly drift together or apart over the course of hundreds of millions of years — a process Earth scientists call plate tectonics. Where the continents collide, they force the Earth’s crust to push skyward, forming mountain ranges like the Andes, Alps, and Rockies. Where they pull apart, they create the valleys that contain the world’s oceans. Mount Everest at 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) is the highest point on Earth, but the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean is 35,814 feet (10,935 meters) deep and could easily swallow Everest entirely with more than a mile to spare.
Earth scientists believe subduction — the sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate…
Read the full article originally published at cleantechnica.com.