A billion years in 40 seconds

Geoscientists have released a video that shows for the first time the uninterrupted movement of Earth’s tectonic plates over the past billion years.

The international effort provides a scientific framework for understanding planetary habitability and for finding the critical metal resources needed for a low-carbon future.

It reveals a planet in constant motion as land masses move around the Earth’s surface, showing for example that Antarctica was once at the equator.

The video is based on new research published in the March 2021 edition of Earth-Science Reviews.

Co-author and Academic Lead of the EarthByte Geoscience Group at the University of Sydney, Prof. Dietmar Müller, said: “Our team has created a whole new model of Earth’s evolution over the past billion years. .

“Our planet is unique in that it harbors life. But this is only possible because geological processes, like plate tectonics, provide a planetary survival system.”

Lead author and creator of the video, Dr Andrew Merdith began working on the project while a PhD student with Professor Müller at the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. He is now based at the University of Lyon in France.

Co-author Dr Michael Tetley, who also completed his doctorate at the University of Sydney, told Euronews: “For the first time, a complete model of tectonics has been built, including all boundaries”

“On a human scale, things move in centimeters per year, but as we can see from the animation, continents have been everywhere in time. a beautiful holiday destination at the equator. “

Co-author Dr Sabin Zahirovic, University of Sydney, said: “Planet Earth is incredibly dynamic, with a surface made up of ‘plates’ that constantly jostle each other in a way unique among known rocky planets. . These plates move at the speed nails grow, but when a billion years is condensed into 40 seconds, a fascinating dance unfolds.

“Oceans open and close, continents disperse and recombine periodically to form huge supercontinents.”

Earth scientists from every continent have collected and published data, often from inaccessible and remote areas, that Dr Andrew Merdith and colleagues have assimilated over the past four years to produce this billion-dollar model. years.

This will allow scientists to better understand how the Earth’s interior convects, chemically mixes, and loses heat through seabed propagation and volcanism. The model will help scientists understand how the climate has changed, how ocean currents have changed, and how nutrients have flowed from the depths of the Earth to stimulate biological evolution.

Professor Müller said: “Simply put, this comprehensive model will help explain how our home, planet Earth, has become habitable for complex creatures. Life on Earth would not exist without plate tectonics. With this new model, we are closer to understanding how much this beautiful blue planet has become our cradle. ”