Exactly when and how plate tectonics started, however, is a matter of debate. Now, in a study published March 19 in the journal Science, rock samples from Western Australia hint that the Earth’s crust may have been moving as early as 3.48 billion years ago, roughly one billion years after our planet formed.

DNA from a distance

A new analysis of meteorite isotopes challenges long-held ideas about Earth’s origins, suggesting our planet may have formed almost entirely from nearby material rather than distant sources. Planetary scientists have long debated the origin of the material that formed Earth.

For years, planetary scientists have argued that some of the material that built Earth must have drifted in from beyond Jupiter, carrying water and other volatile ingredients with it. Estimates often put that outer Solar System share somewhere between 6 percent and 40 percent.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, Earth’s magnetic field behaved in a way that has long baffled scientists, showing wild and seemingly chaotic shifts unlike anything seen before or since. A new study suggests this chaos may actually hide a deeper pattern: instead of random fluctuations,

Ice cores, tree rings, and satellite data converge on a striking truth: Earth’s rapid changes today are unlike anything seen in human history. When most people hear the term Earth science, they think of fossils tucked into stone, or perhaps the study of ...

Composite of Earth and the Moon from Galileo data. (NASA/JPL/USGS) The constant, omnidirectional hail of cosmic rays that stream through the Solar System from the galaxy beyond may not be as uniform as we thought.

Scientists have discovered fossils showing that complex animals existed millions of years before the Cambrian explosion, reshaping the timeline of life on Earth. The finds reveal a strange, diverse ecosystem where early versions of modern animals were already evolving.

Scientists say they have uncovered new clues in Australia about when plate tectonics began on Earth, the only known planet to have the geological process.

The Artemis II astronauts have captured Earth’s brilliant blue beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon .