When Plate Tectonics Started

[Oxytropidoceras]

Scientists Pin Down When Earth’s Crust Cracked, Then Came to Life

New data indicating that Earth’s surface broke up about 3.2 billion years

ago helps clarify how plate tectonics drove the evolution of complex life.

The paper is:

 

Tusch, J., Münker, C., Hasenstab, E., Jansen, M., Marien, C.S., Kurzweil,

F., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Smithies, H., Maier, W. and Garbe-Schönberg,

D., 2021. Convective isolation of Hadean mantle reservoirs through

Archean time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 

118(2), no.e2012626118.

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.