Earth history, as a scientific topic, encompasses the reconstruction and analysis of the planet’s physical, chemical, and biological evolution from its formation ~4.54 billion years ago to the present. It integrates evidence from stratigraphy, geochronology, paleontology, geochemistry, and tectonics to delineate major intervals (eons, eras, periods, epochs) and events, such as crust formation, supercontinent cycles, ocean–atmosphere evolution, biotic radiations, and mass extinctions. Research in earth history focuses on quantifying rates and magnitudes of processes (e.g., plate motions, climate shifts, biogeochemical cycles) and constraining cause–effect relationships that link Earth’s interior, surface environments, and biosphere through deep time.
Researchers from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Columbia University, along with their collaborators, have analyzed sediments from the terrestrial Sangonghe Formation ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 2, 2025
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40
The Cambrian explosion was an extraordinary phenomenon in the evolution of life on the planet that led to the emergence of many animal phyla and the diversification of species. During this period, some 530 million years ago, ...
Evolution
Jun 26, 2025
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171
Humans have been reshaping the environment for at least 10,000 years. But the Anthropocene is the name given to the specific period of Earth history during which humans have had a global effect on the planet's climate and ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 19, 2025
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Deep sea sediments contain treasure troves of information about marine ecosystems and past climate scenarios, yet remain understudied clues into Earth's environmental future, according to researchers.
Earth Sciences
Jun 6, 2025
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88
Several key moments in Earth's history help us humans answer the question "How did we get here?" These moments also shed light on the question "Where are we going?" and offer scientists deeper insight into how organisms adapt ...
Earth Sciences
May 29, 2025
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137
Water reshapes Earth through slow, powerful erosion, carving intricate landscapes like caves and pinnacles in soluble rocks such as limestone. An international team from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, ...
Earth Sciences
May 28, 2025
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Geologists led by the University of Maryland and the University of Hawaiʻi finally connected the dots between one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history and its source deep beneath the Pacific Ocean.
Earth Sciences
Apr 30, 2025
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62
New Curtin-led research has revealed that water played a far bigger role than previously thought in shaping Earth's first continents, transforming the planet's early crust and helping to build the landmasses we see today.
Earth Sciences
Apr 15, 2025
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Nearly three-fourths of Earth is covered by oceans, making the planet look like a pale blue dot from space. But Japanese researchers have made a compelling case that Earth's oceans were once green, in a study published in ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 10, 2025
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40
Chengdu University of Technology-led research has established a high-resolution astrochronological framework spanning approximately 57.6 million years of the early Ediacaran Period. This calibrated timeline provides precise ...
