New research has dramatically reshaped our understanding of Earth’s early geological history, overturning traditional beliefs about how the planet’s first continents came into being. Researchers from ...

Scientists recently published new ideas about why Earth’s toughest, oldest continents persist. These continents, known as cratons, have been on earth for more than two billion years. Andrew Zuza, an ...

For billions of years, Earth’s continents have stood firm, forming the foundation for mountains, rivers, and life itself. But what gave these massive slabs of rock their remarkable stability has long ...

New research reveals that Earth’s continents owe their stability to searing heat deep in the planet’s crust. At more than 900°C, radioactive elements shifted upward, cooling and strengthening the ...

Researchers discovered that continents don’t just split at the surface—they also peel from below, feeding volcanic activity in the oceans. Simulations reveal that slow mantle waves strip continental ...

Relative plate motions and plate boundary geometries are from Cao et al. (2024), with plate motions placed in a mantle reference frame. Continents are light grey, with continental margins shown in ...

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 ...

Across the planet, water makes up 71% of Earth's surface. The remaining space is covered by land—continents and islands. Before Earth's land formed the seven continents in the present day, all the ...

A new study of the chemical components of rocks led by researchers at Penn State and Columbia University provides the clearest evidence yet for how Earth's continents became and remained so stable — ...