Much of the seafloor is mountainous and uneven, even more so than the earth's surface. As oceanographers first began mapping the ocean bottom, they discovered that often near the center of ocean basins the seafloor is dominated by a linear mountain...

The ocean floor is mountainous and uneven, much like Earth's surface. As oceanographers began mapping the ocean bottom, they discovered that the sea floor is full of vast rising slopes, or ridges, and dramatic open valleys, or rifts. During...

USGS image Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory In geology, a rift is a place where the Earth's crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart. Typical features are a central linear downdropped fault segment, called a...

The Anglicans' spiritual leader, faced with a deepening rift over homosexuality and scripture in the worldwide Anglican Communion, called Sunday for humility among bishops as the conflict threatens to fracture the church.Leaders of the world's 77 million Anglicans, meeting in Tanzania for a conference that...

A rift between The Coca-Cola Co. and some bottlers has been eased as the world's largest beverage maker announced Monday that several suits over its plan to distribute Powerade to Wal-Mart stores directly through the retailer's warehouses were being dropped. Coca-Cola also said it will...

A growing rift between the Omaha Archdiocese and a Jesuit university here has been inflamed over a best-selling author's invitation to speak at the school even though she supports assisted suicide.Creighton University officials said they invited Anne Lamott to speak before her book "Grace (Eventually):...

Russia is pressing for more time to examine a U.N. proposal for the future of Kosovo, Western and Russian officials said Friday, underscoring a widening rift between Moscow _ a key ally of Serbia _ and the United States and its European allies."Russia wants a...