Earth’s Plate Dance Could Be a Major Climate Driver

A new study using computer models shows that Earth's plate tectonics—especially mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts—play a larger role in shaping global climate than previously thought by guiding the deep carbon cycle: carbon stored in seafloor sediments is buried and later released via subduction, driving greenhouse and icehouse periods over the last 540 million years and challenging the view that volcanic arcs are the primary CO2 source, with implications for future climate models.