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Researchers deploy remote sensors at the bottom of the Atlantic (University of Southampton)
Tectonic plates form deep beneath the oceans, making it very difficult for scientists to study their formation and evolution. In 2016, a research team went on a mission to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to explore the mysteries of plate tectonics. The mission, nicknamed PI-LAB, was to scan deep beneath the ridge using seismic imaging techniques. The analysis reveals that a geological phenomenon is widening the Atlantic Ocean. The seismologists found that an upsurge of matter from deep beneath the Earthâs crust could be pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa.