The News
A fluid theory on lands' mobility
By Katy Human Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 01/18/2007 10:09:52 PM MST

Earth's continents drift on rock softened by a chemical process involving water and minerals - not because of pressure and heat from the planet's interior as thought for decades - according to a new study co-written by University of Colorado at Boulder geologist Joseph Smyth. The water is pressed out of certain minerals and helps soften a deep rock layer.
The finding - reported in the journal Science - helps explain how mountains form and continents move on the planet.

The Research
Read the research behind this story in the journal Science.
Read a perspective about this research in the journal Science.