Through the analyses of gases and fluids preserved within salt crystals, the team extended the direct record of Earth’s ...

More than a billion years ago, in a shallow basin across what is now northern Ontario, a subtropical lake much like ...

Scientists have traced the origins of complex life to the breakup of the supercontinent Nuna 1.5 billion years ago. This tectonic shift reduced volcanic carbon emissions, expanded shallow seas, and ...

For decades, geologists labeled a billion-year stretch of Earth’s history—from 1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago—as the “Boring Billion.” They assumed not much occurred during the time: mountain building ...

Fresh evidence suggests early Earth wasn’t locked under a rigid stagnant lid but was already experiencing intense subduction. Ancient melt inclusions and advanced simulations point to continents ...

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 ...

The 'Boring Billion' – a period in Earth's history between 1.8 billion and 850 million years ago – wasn't so boring after all, scientists reveal. In fact, the billion-year period paved the way for ...