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continents

Photo of a rock outcrop
Posted inEditors' Vox

The Seven-Ages of Earth as Seen Through the Continental Lens

by Peter A. Cawood and Priyadarshi Chowdhury 24 February 20236 March 2023

The 4.5-billion-year record contained in Earth’s continental crust reveals a seven-phase evolution, from an initial magma ocean to the present-day environment in which we live.

Three globes showing deep mantle structures in shades of red (hot structures) and blue (cold structures), with shading in each color family indicating depth. The first globe represents the mantle at 200 million years ago. The second shows the mantle at 100 million years ago. The third shows the present-day mantle. Superimposed atop the mantle structures are gray outlines of where a new model shows the continents were at each time. These globes show Asia and Australia on the left and the Pacific Ocean on the right.
Posted inNews

Billion-Year Rewind Tracks Supercontinents and Mantle Structures

by Alka Tripathy-Lang 12 October 202228 October 2022

Scientists have traced past pathways of tectonic plates back a billion years using computer models, with intriguing results. Incorporating geologic data as a check on model output, however, has proven tricky.

Vancouver Island rising above the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Posted inResearch Spotlights

Tracing Water Particles Back in Time

by Aaron Sidder 22 July 202222 July 2022

Every summer, a low-oxygen pool settles off Canada’s western coast. A new study uses robust modeling to track the origins of the dense water.

Cartoon illustrating the formation of depressed sedimentary basins and uplifted shoulder in continental rifts.
Posted inEditors' Highlights

The Lost Topography Around Continental Rifts

by Fabio A. Capitanio 28 April 202228 October 2022

Numerical models provide quantitative constraints on topography lost to erosion, showing how the sediment influx in a sedimentary basin reflects its tectonic and topographic evolution.

A large hot spring bubbles and steams in the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau.
Posted inNews

Hot Springs Suggest How the Tibetan Plateau Became the Roof of the World

by Saima May Sidik 20 April 202223 February 2023

Helium isotopes found in water samples provide a snapshot of what lies beneath the plateau and stimulate debate within the geosciences community.

A dog sits next to a backpack on a dirt road in a desert landscape.
Posted inFeatures

Incredible Journeys on the Crown of the Continent

by Mary Caperton Morton 15 April 202215 April 2022

Living in Geologic Time: The making, breaking, and backpacking of North America’s Continental Divide.

Photograph of the Sheep Mountain Anticline.
Posted inEditors' Vox

The Birth, Growth, and Death of Continents

by Rixiang Zhu, Guochun Zhao, Wenjiao Xiao, Ling Chen and Yanjie Tang 28 October 202128 January 2022

There are various explanations for how the Earth’s continents form, develop, and change but challenges remain in fully understanding the driving forces behind plate tectonics on our planet.

Fishermen work from a small boat on a river in southern India with large boulders in the background
Posted inFeatures

Cratons, Why Are You Still Here?

by J. Paul 25 March 202128 January 2022

How have these continental relics from Earth’s early history survived the plate tectonic mixing machine?

Aerial view Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia
Posted inScience Updates

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Especially for Continents

by L. L. Worthington, B. D. Shuck, A. Bécel, Z. C. Eilon and C. Lynner 24 March 202125 October 2022

A decade-long research collaboration has revealed that the split between Africa and North America roughly 200 million years ago was more drawn out than previously thought.

Close-up image of garnet lherzolite
Posted inNews

Modeling the Creation of Cratons, Earth’s Secret Keepers

by Jackie Rocheleau 12 January 20216 September 2022

Geoscientists have long been trying to answer the complicated questions of how and why Earth’s continents formed. New research suggests a solution that surprised even the investigators themselves.

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