Exactly when and how plate tectonics started, however, is a matter of debate. Now, in a study published March 19 in the ...

Scientists say they have uncovered new clues in Australia about when plate tectonics began on Earth, the only known planet to ...

Continental clues: Modern continental rocks carry chemical signatures from the very start of our planet’s history, challenging current theories about plate tectonics. Researchers have made a new ...

A study published in Nature on April 2 upended conventional views about Earth’s earliest geological evolution. The research revealed that Earth’s first crust, formed about 4.5 billion years ago, ...

An artistic reconstruction of Earth during the Hadean eon (~4.5 billion years ago). Intense volcanic activity, heat from accretion, and frequent impacts kept the young Earth in a molten state. This ...

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge in Iceland. This area is the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which move apart ~ 2.5 cm/year. Subduction and the formation of continents, a ...

Earth’s earliest crust, formed over 4.5 billion years ago, has long been thought to have lacked the complex chemical features associated with continental crust. However, a recent study published in ...

Earth's surface is a turbulent place. Mountains rise, continents merge and split, and earthquakes shake the ground. All of these processes result from plate tectonics, the movement of enormous chunks ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Understanding the Earth’s journey through the Milky Way is tricky, but a new study used neutral hydrogen and zircon crystals to dig up details of ...