The missing 500 million: Cosmic bombardment melted Earth's first crust
Summary
Scientists studied how Earth's first continents formed about four billion years ago. They found that many big asteroid impacts heated the planet’s early crust, helping thick continental landmasses to develop.Key Facts
- Earth’s continents began forming around 4 billion years ago.
- The earliest continental rocks date from the end of the Hadean eon (first 500 million years).
- Scientists are unsure exactly how the first continents formed.
- Two main ideas are tectonic plates moving or hot mantle plumes creating crust.
- Models before did not include heat from asteroid impacts.
- The Moon’s surface, with many craters but no plate tectonics, helps estimate impact rates.
- Earth was hit by thousands of asteroids larger than 10 kilometers early on.
- These impacts generated enough heat to keep Earth’s crust thin and allowed continents to form.
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