"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 crust looks solid from the surface, but it is broken into a shifting mosaic of slabs that slowly rearrange oceans and ...

Geologist Dan Murray points at a section of the rock-lined shore edge below Beavertail lighthouse in Jamestown, R.I. JAMESTOWN, R.I. -- For years, scientists have come to a flat, tail-shaped patch of ...

The dance of the continents has been reshaping Earth for billions of years, creating the landscapes we walk on today. Scientists are unlocking secrets about how plate tectonics forged our modern world ...

New Curtin research has provided the strongest evidence yet that Earth’s continents were formed by giant meteorite impacts that were particularly prevalent during the first billion years or so of our ...

Formed millions to billions of years ago, diamonds can shine light into the darkest and oldest parts of the Earth's mantle. The analysis of ancient, superdeep diamonds dug up from mines in Brazil and ...

Continental clues: Modern continental rocks carry chemical signatures from the very start of our planet’s history, challenging current theories about plate tectonics. Researchers have made a new ...

In fact, it may be how the continents first formed. Continental crust sits higher and lasts longer than oceanic crust because it's less dense. Foundering might be the way lighter materials in the ...

Holly has a degree in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Leicester. Her scientific interests include genomics, personalized medicine, and bioethics.View full profile Holly has a degree in ...

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. We have discovered the oldest meteorite impact crater on Earth, in the very ...