A multi-institution team found evidence that the Earth's magnetic field was stable 3.9 to 3.4 billion years ago when life is thought to have emerged, suggesting that continents were fixed rather than experiencing plate tectonics, thereby challenging the belief that mobile plate tectonics is essentia
A study from the University of Rochester, using zircon crystals, found that plate tectonics was inactive during the period when life first appeared on Earth. Instead, a "stagnant lid" mechanism was operating, releasing heat through surface cracks. This discovery challenges the traditional belief tha
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