Life on Earth impacts the movement of tectonic plates

It’s hard to imagine that the world’s tectonic plates, the movement of which causes earthquakes and continental drift, could be influenced by sediment made up of the skeletal remains of microscopic organisms. But researchers from the University of Texas at Austin discovered that sediment full of dead organic matter might play a role in regulating the speed at which tectonic plates move. Previously, it had been thought that sediment only influenced seismic activity and earthquakes. But this new study provides compelling evidence that sediment moving under …