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09.03.2026 16:08
Earth’s Crust Was Restless Even in Its Early Stages
How has our planet evolved over time? The further back we look, the more challenging it is to form a clear picture of Earth’s origins. Now, an international research team has presented evidence that opposing tectonic regimes were already in effect during the Hadean eon, more than four billion years ago. Their publication in the journal Nature suggests that the tectonic conditions on the remarkably early Earth were far more variable than previously thought.
Scientists are continually refining our understanding of Earth’s earliest history, and new research published March 9, 2026, indicates that the planet’s crust was far from stable in its infancy. The study reveals that during the Hadean eon, some areas of the early Earth exhibited a rigid crust, while others experienced subduction – a process where one tectonic plate slides under another. This finding challenges previous assumptions of a uniformly stable or uniformly active early Earth.
The research team, led by John Valley of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, arrived at these conclusions through comprehensive geochemical analyses of a unique collection of zircons from the Jack Hills in Australia. These zircons are over four billion years aged, offering a window into the planet’s primordial conditions. Trace elements within the zircons provide clues about the geological processes the surrounding rocks were subjected to, in this case, subduction.
Comparing the geochemical signature of the Australian zircons with those from other ancient rock formations in South Africa, researchers found that some showed no evidence of subduction. Stephan Sobolev of the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences explained, “Our research suggests that during the Hadean, opposing and variable tectonic regimes operated in different parts of Earth over time. Geodynamic modeling conducted at the GFZ supports the tectonic interpretations of these results, showing that subduction-dominated and non-subduction-dominated tectonic regimes likely alternated spatially, and temporally.”
The study is the result of the MEET project, which explores the evolution of our planet from over 4.4 billion years ago to the present day. The project, funded by a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council, focuses on two key questions: how has the chemical composition of Earth evolved over time, and what physical processes underlie these changes? The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence suggesting a more dynamic and complex early Earth than previously imagined.
More information about the MEET project can be found here. Additional details about the project, including a second Synergy Grant, are available on the GFZ website.
Scientific Contact:
Prof. Dr. Stephan Sobolev (Head of the Geodynamic Modelling Section at the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences)
Original Publication:
John W. Valley et al.: Contemporaneous mobile- and stagnant-lid tectonics on the Hadean Earth; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-10066-2
Images
Photo of the zircon find site in Jack Hills, Australia, and a false-color microscopic image of a roughly four-billion-year-old zircon.
Source: John Valley
Copyright: John Valley, CCBY 4.0
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Journalists
Geosciences
regional
Research results
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