How plankton helped form the Earth's mountains 2 billion years ago

Dec 10, 2021

mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas pictured here, were not always a part of Earth's geography

Primitive mountains helped to introduce mountains, like these ones here, to our planet. Image: UNSPLASH/Steven Lasry

John Parnell

Professor of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen

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a diagram showing the formation of life on Earth

The formation of life on Earth. Image: Author provided

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A diagram showing slabs of rock stacked up by lubricating carbon, which creates mountains when tectonic plates collide; precise geometry is much more complex, and slabs may stack in the opposite direction. Image: J Bowie/University of Aberdeen, Author provided

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