What created the continents? New evidence points to giant asteroids
Earth is the only planet we know of with continents, the giant landmasses that provide homes to humankind and most of Earth's biomass.
Earth is the only planet we know of with continents, the giant landmasses that provide homes to humankind and most of Earth's biomass.
Earth Sciences
Aug 11, 2022
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In between Earth's rigid tectonic plates above and its convecting mantle below is a hot and soft layer known as the asthenosphere. At mid-ocean ridges, upwelling of the hot asthenosphere to the surface of the seafloor forms ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2022
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The breakup of the South Atlantic region, which led to the separation of the African and South American continents, is a well-known global phenomenon. In fact, the famous continental drift theory put forth by the German climatologist, ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 28, 2022
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The Atlantic Ocean was born roughly 200 million years ago when the supercontinent Pangea began to break apart. As continental crust stretched and fractured, oceanic crust took its place. To investigate this rifting process, ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 25, 2022
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Home to some of the highest mountains in the world, including the legendary Mount Everest, the vast Himalayan-Tibetan plateau is often referred to as the "Roof of the World." With an average elevation of 4500 meters above ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 26, 2021
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Geochemical and geological records provide key insights into Earth's tectonic history, but in the case of mountains during the Proterozoic eon, records conflict with each other: Geochemical evidence says that the crust was ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 7, 2021
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A University of Wyoming professor has used computer modeling to propose that sand and mud subducted off the coast of California around 75 million years ago returned to the Earth's crust by rising up through the mantle as ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 4, 2021
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Academics believe they have identified a remarkable geological secret: A sunken continent hidden under Iceland and the surrounding ocean,which they have dubbed "Icelandia."
Earth Sciences
Jun 30, 2021
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The Earth has a 4.6-billion-year history; since about 1.9 billion years ago, it has been punctuated by a quasi-cyclic formation and break up of supercontinents—large landmasses that comprised the majority of the Earth's ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 28, 2021
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The first emergence and persistence of continental crust on Earth during the Archaean (4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) has important implications for plate tectonics, ocean chemistry and biological evolution. This happened ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 26, 2021
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