Earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, but understanding when it evolved from a sizzling hot ball to a planet that could host life is a little more difficult. Earth is estimated to be 4.5 ...

May 14 (UPI) --Modern plate tectonics, a defining feature of Earth and its unique ability to support life, first emerged roughly 3.6 billion years ago, according to research published Friday by the ...

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 ...

The tectonic plates are famous for their scientific theory, which made the Earth what it is now, and Harvard University researchers gathered up information to pinpoint exactly how long it has been ...

Researchers analyzing ancient deposits in Australia found evidence that Earth's layers started to get mixed up — a fingerprint of plate tectonics — about 1.3 billion years after the planet formed.

The plate tectonics that determine the shape of our continents may have originated from a huge impact billions of years ago. This huge collision with the Earth, thought to have occurred around 4.5 ...

Tiny crystals unearthed in South Africa contain evidence of a sudden transition on the planet's surface 3.8 billion years ago. These crystals, each no bigger than a grain of sand, show that around ...

A geologic map of the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia. The rocks exposed here range from 2.5 to 3.5 billion years ago, offering a uniquely well-preserved window into Earth's deep past. The authors ...

Our world’s surface is a jumble of jostling tectonic plates, with new ones emerging as others are pulled under. The ongoing cycle keeps our continents in motion and drives life on Earth. But what ...

The Earth with the upper mantle revealed. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered a previously unknown layer of partly molten rock in a key region just below the tectonic ...

For decades, scientists believed they understood how material moves deep inside the Earth. The basic theory seemed simple enough. Tectonic plates slowly shift across the planet, some slide beneath ...