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Earth’s continental plates were moving 3.48 billion years ago

Magnetic crystals provide the earliest evidence yet of the planet’s plate tectonics

A series of rusty-colored hills stretch into the distance. Rocks here hold the earliest known evidence of plate tectonics, a new study says.

The rocks of North Pole Dome in Australia formed from lava that erupted on the seafloor 3.5 billion years ago. These rocks hold the earliest known evidence on Earth of something resembling plate tectonics.

Alec Brenner, Harvard University/Yale University

By Douglas Fox

The arid hills of Western Australia’s Pilbara region contain the earliest evidence yet of tectonic plates sliding across Earth’s surface.