The first continents on Earth formed between 3 and 2.5 billion years ago. Geologists studying the oldest rocks found on Earth believe that partial melting, fueled by the heat released during the decay ...

The formation of Earth’s continents billions of years ago set the stage for life to thrive. But scientists disagree over how those land masses formed and if it was through geological processes we ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Scientists know that the world’s continents emerged during the Archean eon, which stretched from about 4 ...

The history of Earth's continents might be different from what we first thought. The most popular theory of how the continents formed billions of years ago may not be right, according to a paper in ...

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 ...

Geoscientists have uncovered a missing link in the enigmatic story of how the continents developed- - a revised origin story that doesn't require the start of plate tectonics or any external factor to ...

Pangea may have vanished 200 million years ago, but it left a trail of clues in rocks, fossils, and even magnetic fields that still stitch the continents together. From identical mountain belts to ...

Parts of ancient Earth may have formed continents and recycled crust through subduction far earlier than previously thought. New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has ...

These ancient metamorphic rocks called gneisses, found on the Arctic Coast, represent the roots of the continents now exposed at the surface. The scientists said sedimentary rocks interlayered in ...

The building blocks of the first continents are comprised of three types of granitoid rocks—tonalite, trondhjemite and granodiorite (TTG). Credit: Jaana Halla Geoscientists have uncovered a missing ...