Earth’s early history told by 3.9-billion-year-old rocks from northern China

November 11, 2026 · 12:10 am 3 sources

Image: Nature

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Wires & papers of record

• Earth’s early history told by 3.9-billion-year-old rocks from northern China
  Nature · November 11, 2026 00:00
  Nature, Published online: 11 November 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03499-w Ancient rocks in northern China reveal that by 3.95 billion years ago, surface-altered oceanic crust had been buried rapidly to depths greater than 50 kilometres and partly melted. This crust was derived from a mantle…
• Hadean mantle depletion and 3.95-Gyr subduction implied by North China rocks
  Nature · November 11, 2026 00:00
  Nature, Published online: 11 November 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11280-2 Analysis of a 3.95-Gyr-old trondhjemitic gneiss from eastern Hebei, China, reveals a composition suggesting a low-temperature altered basaltic source, that originated from a mantle depleted in the Hadean, was most likely…

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• Ancient rocks reveal when Earth's tectonic engine 'switched on'
  Phys.org · November 11, 2026 00:10
  Scientists have identified a major turning point in Earth's geological history, when the processes shaping the planet's crust changed dramatically and began to resemble the plate tectonics we see today—about 2.5 billion years ago.