The new research adds to the knowledge on supercontinent formation and its fragmentation into the present-day continents.
Life is unique to our planet. Or is it? Central to this question is the emergence of plate tectonics, which transported oxygen and water from the Earth’s interior to the atmosphere and formed mountain highs and deep oceans, where life thrived.
The geological record suggests this happened three to two-and-a-half billion years ago, but the record remains too sparse to explain how and why this occurred, according to Dr Fabio Capitanio, a researcher from the Monash School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment whose work has just been published in Geology, and in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
“We have reproduced the early evolution of the Earth in our numerical models, with its hotter interiors beneath a rigid cold surface,” said Dr Capitanio, who is also an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow.
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