The Pacific Ocean is by far the world's largest ocean, more than five times wider than our moon. But why is the Pacific so ...

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth. (Representative Image: iStock) No matter how many times you've been on a plane-whether it's once or a hundred times-that aerial view of the Earth ...

Due to this phenomenon, the Pacific Ocean basin is currently shrinking by about 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, averaging about 0.52 square kilometres (0.20 square miles) per year.

We argue that the widely held view of the early Earth as a hotter place, free of earthquakes and with a surface so weak it was unable to form rigid plates is wrong.