Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS FEATURE

Geology’s biggest mystery: when did plate tectonics start to reshape Earth?

Researchers have spent decades hunting for clues about the origins of the process that moves the continents around. Its deep history is finally starting to come into focus.
  1. Michael Marshall

    1. Michael Marshall is a science journalist in Devon, UK.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Conceptual illustration showing scientist building an Earth jigsaw puzzle.

Illustration by Karol Banach

Earth’s outer shell suffered a catastrophic break on 6 February last year, when a major fault came to life in southern Turkey. The Anatolian peninsula suddenly lurched to the southwest by as much as 11 metres relative to the Arabian peninsula. Nearly 60,000 people died in one of the most devastating earthquakes of modern times.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 632, 490-492 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02602-3

References

  1. Hasenstab, E. et al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 553, 116627 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tang, M., Chen, K. & Rudnick, R. L. Science 351, 372–375 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Dhuime, B., Wuestefeld, A. & Hawkesworth, C. J. Nature Geosci. 8, 552–555 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Greber, N. D. et al. Science 357, 1271–1274 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Brenner, A. R., Fu, R. R., Kylander-Clark, A. R. C., Hudak, G. J. & Foley, B. J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 119, e2210258119 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Drabon, N. et al. AGU Adv. 3, e2021AV000520 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. O’Neill, C., Marchi, S., Zhang, S. & Bottke, W. Nature Geosci. 10, 793–797 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Huang, G., Mitchell, R. N., Palin, R. M., Spencer, C. J. & Guo, J. Nature Commun. 13, 6553 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Brown, M., Johnson, T. & Gardiner, N. J. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 48, 291–320 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cawood, P. A. et al. Rev. Geophys. 60, e2022RG000789 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Drabon, N., Kirkpatrick, H. M., Byerly, G. R. & Wooden, J. L. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 373, 136–150 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Nebel, O. et al. Precambrian Res. 408, 107431 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Faculty Positions at SUSTech School of Medicine

    SUSTech School of Medicine offers equal opportunities and welcome applicants from the world with all ethnic backgrounds.

    Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

    Southern University of Science and Technology, School of Medicine

  • Postdoctoral Fellowships Worldwide

    IBSA Foundation for scientific research offers 6 fellowships offers of € 32.000 to young researchers under 40 years.

    The call is open to people from research institutes and universities from all over the world.

    IBSA Foundation for scientific research

  • Staff Scientist - Immunology

    Staff Scientist- Immunology

    Houston, Texas (US)

    Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)

  • Institute for Systems Genetics, Tenure Track Faculty Positions

    The Institute for Systems Genetics at NYU Langone Health has tenure track faculty positions (assistant professor level) at the new SynBioMed Center.

    New York City, New York (US)

    NYU Langone Health

  • Faculty Position

    The Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology (ICOB), Academia Sinica, Taiwan, is seeking candidates to fill multiple tenure-track faculty position

    Taipei (TW)

    Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links