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Soil eroded by glaciers may have kick-started plate tectonics

Scientists have long wondered how Earth’s global surface recycling system got its start

Grand Canyon

LOST TIME  Intense erosion, due to widespread glaciation about 750 million years ago, erased about 175 million years of the rock record in the Grand Canyon. A study proposes that such a huge influx of eroded sediments to the oceans could have sped up the movements of Earth’s plates.

Alex Demas/USGS

By Carolyn Gramling

- More than 2 years ago

Vast amounts of sediment eroded from Earth’s continents were necessary to lubricate the wheel of plate tectonics, scientists propose.