Researchers discover Earth's first crust, formed 4.5 billion years ago, had chemical features similar to modern continental crust. (photo credit: Tanya Kalian. Via Shutterstock) A study published ...

The study also provides a new approach to solving one of the biggest enduring scientific mysteries: when did plate tectonics begin?

"We do not currently have a consensus [on] whether Earth could avoid being engulfed by the red giant sun in 6 billion years," lead author Keming Zhang, of the University of California San Diego ...

Precambrian time covers the vast bulk of the Earth's history, starting with the planet's creation about 4.5 billion years ago and ending with the emergence of complex, multicelled life-forms ...

Few topics have been as contentious among both scientists and laypeople as the age of the Earth. Many scientists ... originating some 3.4 billion years ago. Stromatolites are sedimentary ...

Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Scientists think that by 4.3 billion years ago, Earth may have developed conditions suitable to support life. The oldest known fossils, however, are only 3.7 ...