Scientists say they have found that Earth’s tectonic plates are now moving faster than at any other point in the last 2 billion years.Plate tectonics is the prevailing geologic process that shapes the planet.

It triggers most of the world’s strongest earthquakes and many volcanic eruptions, along with building mountains and moving continents.

While earlier research seemed to reveal that the massive tectonic plates are actually slowing down as Earth’s core cools, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology geochemist Kent Condie and colleagues say they have evidence of faster plate movements.

Writing in the journal Precambrian Research, the team says they looked at how often new mountain belts form when plates collide, and compared it to magnetic data from volcanic rocks.

That allowed them to determine where the rocks formed and how quickly the continents had moved.

Photo: U.S. Geological Survey

from:    http://www.earthweek.com/2014/ew140912/ew140912a.html