The ChemCam laser instrument on NASA’s Curiosity rover has turned its beam onto some unusually light-colored rocks on Mars, and the results are surprisingly similar to Earth’s granitic continental ...

Models of North China Craton deformation since the middle Jurassic, showing phases of flat slab subduction (a, b) and rollback (c, d). Key: overriding plate (O), downgoing plate (D), trench (T), ...

A recent study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, reveals that the Earth’s continental crust could harbor enough hydrogen gas to meet humanity’s energy needs for at least 170,000 years.

Like a moth in a cocoon, the metamorphosis of Earth's crust from molten goop to solid land is hidden from view, leaving scientists to guess at how the eons-long process unfolds. Using nearly four ...

Our planet was born around 4.5 billion years ago. To understand this mind-bendingly long history, we need to study rocks and the minerals they are made of. The oldest rocks in Australia, which are ...

Continental crust and granitic plutons -- Chemical composition of continental crust and the primitive mantle -- Origin of magmas of the Bowen's series -- Search for the formation mechanism of ...

Continental clues: Modern continental rocks carry chemical signatures from the very start of our planet’s history, challenging current theories about plate tectonics. Researchers have made a new ...

Earth is the planet we have the best opportunity to understand in detail—helping us see how other rocky planets behave, even ...