Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth ... magma from deep in the Earth's mantle rises toward the surface and pushes apart two or more plates. Mountains and volcanoes rise along the seam.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. A research team including a University of Michigan scientist has ...

The Earth's interior is composed of four layers, three solid and one liquid—not magma but molten metal, nearly as hot as the surface of the sun. The deepest layer is a solid iron ball, about ...