Earth's plate tectonics traced back to 'tipping point' 3.2 billion years ago

The fingerprints of Earth's plate tectonics have been found in deposits dating back 3.2 billion years. (Image credit: visdia/Getty Images)

Earth's surface is ever-changing, with tectonic plates grinding and shifting, building mountain ranges, pulling apart sea floors and causing dramatic earthquakes. 

Now, new research adds to the growing body of evidence that these dynamics started 3.2 billion years ago. While there is controversy within the geoscience community about exactly when Earth became more than just a blob of hot, undifferentiated rock, the new study suggests that this transition happened about 1.3 billion years after the planet formed.