Tectonic activity on Earth, originated a few hundred million years after the birth of the planet.
Australian and American geologists have revealed the details of the origin of the first continents of Earth. A study published in the journal Nature, and briefly about it, reports the University of Maryland in College Park.
Scientists have shown that tectonic activity on Earth, originated a few hundred million years after the birth of the planet. Before that the lithosphere of the heavenly bodies were formed almost solid crust, divided into plates.
To such conclusions scientists have analyzed basaltic rocks contained in Pilbara shield of Western Australia. They may have formed in ancient times only in conditions of ultrahigh pressures and temperatures in the mantle, locked up solid lithosphere. This view also confirms the isotopic composition of the samples.
An alternative view is that tectonic activity occurred almost immediately after the birth of the planet. A new study refutes this view.
Currently, tectonic activity among celestial bodies discovered on Earth and probably mercury. Experts admit the presence of some tectonic processes on Europa — the icy moon of Jupiter and other celestial bodies with subsurface oceans.
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