Most volcanoes form at the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates, which are huge slabs of crust and upper mantle that fit together like puzzle pieces. Think of these plates as massive rafts floating ...

Over millions of years, the Earth’s upper layers have performed a dance that has created mountains, volcanoes, continents, ridges and ocean trenches. Tectonic plates play a key role in this process.

Scientists have wondered what happens to the organic and inorganic carbon that Earth’s Pacific Plate carries with it as it slides into the planet’s interior along the volcano-studded Ring of Fire. A ...