New study helps pinpoint when Earth’s tectonic plates began

Every year, earthquakes shake the ground and volcanoes erupt around the edges of tectonic plates-the massive pieces of Earth's crust that slide slowly across the planet, creating and destroying mountains and oceans on the scale of eons. But the question of when this plate subduction actually began has been a hotly contested debate in earth sciences. A new study from scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the University of Chicago sheds light on this burning question. According to findings published Dec. 9 in the journal Science Advances , this process could have started 3.75 billion years ago, reshaping Earth's surface and setting the stage for a planet hospitable to life. For study lead author and Scripps Asst. Prof. Sarah Aarons, the clues to Earth's earliest habitability lie in the elements that ancient rocks are composed of-specifically, titanium.