“This early crust was reshaped and made richer in silica ... Plate tectonics then fell into a continuous, self-sustaining pattern. “This discovery completely changes our understanding of Earth's ...

Water from both volcanic rocks and deep mantle melted Earth's crust 1.6 billion years ago. This long-lasting melting formed ...

The study also provides a new approach to solving one of the biggest enduring scientific mysteries: when did plate tectonics begin?

Earth's crust today has a surprisingly similar composition to the planet's first outer shell, or "protocrust," new research ...

“This discovery has major implications for how ... The new model demonstrated that Earth’s early crust fractured, with portions thickening into the precursors of continents while the molten ...

They examined a rare type of meteorite — known as an enstatite chondrite — that was built similarly to early Earth 4.5 billion years ago and the team discovered hydrogen present in the chemical. The ...

The study potentially upends our understanding of early Earth, but the discovery of hydrogen in the meteorite doesn’t mean that life would have necessarily evolved sooner, Barrett said.

"This early crust was reshaped and made richer ... self-sustaining pattern. "This discovery completely changes our understanding of Earth's earliest geological processes," says Professor Turner.