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  • 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.
By
  1. Michael Marshall

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

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.

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Nature 632, 490-492 (2024)

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

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