According To Spaceref, "the Earth's Crust Is Composed Of About 15 Moving Crust," Which Has Formed The Existing Continent And Unique Landform After Millions Of Years Of Movement. Tectonic Plate Theory Is Widely Accepted, But It Has Always Been A Hot Topic, That Is, When The Movement Of These Huge Plates Began To Transform The Earth From A Sphere Of Rock And Lava To Today's Livable Planet A New Study Shows That These Movements First Began About 3.8 Billion Years Ago
In AGU Advances 》In A Paper Published On, Scientists At Harvard University Studied Zircon Crystals (almost Indestructible Crystals Known To Last Billions Of Years And Serve As A Geological Time Capsule) And Noted That Their Geochemistry Had Changed Significantly About 3.8 Billion Years Ago. The Team Studied The Composition Of Hafnium Isotopes, Oxygen Isotopes And Trace Elements Of These Zircon Crystals Collected From South Africa In 2017.
Of The 3936 Samples Collected, 33 Are At Least 4 Billion Years Old, Which Is An Impressive Feat Because Zircons So Old Are Quite Rare. The Analysis Of These Crystals Shows That The Rate Of Crystal Formation Accelerated About 3.8 Billion Years Ago. Zircons With The Above Age Characteristics Have Geochemical Properties Similar To Crystals Formed In The Subduction Area, Which Is The Area Where Tectonic Plates Collide, In Which One Plate Slides Under Another Plate And Enters The Earth's Mantle Layer.
The Team Also Included Experts From Stanford University And Louisiana State University. They Studied The Chemical Composition Of Hafnium Isotopes In Zircon Crystals And Noted That All Zircon Crystals Witnessed Geochemical Changes About 3.6 Billion To 3.8 Billion Years Ago. Although Scientists Are Not Sure Whether Subduction Zones Existed 3.8 Billion Years Ago, The Chemical Composition Of Crustal Materials Is A Clear Sign That Tectonic Plate Movement Takes Place In Some Form.
This Study Is Of Great Significance Because The Geochemical Samples Involved Were Apparently Produced At The End Of The Pluto Paleozoic, The First 500 Million Years Of Life On Earth. Almost No Known Pre Pluto Material Has Survived, Making The Zircon Tested One Of The Oldest Known Traces Of Earth Evolution. The Study Found The Characteristics Of The "protocrust", Which Is Said To Have Been Formed Due To The First Tectonic Plate Movement On Earth.
"The Earth's Early Crustal Process May Have Undergone Permanent Changes Between 3.8 And 3.6 GA," The Study Concluded In Its Statement Of Conclusions. In Contrast, It Was Published In [scientific Progress] In 2020( Https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz8670 ) 》A Study On Suggests That The Earth's Tectonic Plates Began To Move 3.2 Billion Years Ago. Some Studies Claim That Tectonic Movement Has Been Taking Place Since The Beginning Of The Existence Of The Earth.