100 Million Years of Earth History Animated in Unprecedented Detail

New animations of Earth's surface over the past 100 million years show the rise of mountains, development of basins, and transport of sediments through erosion. The animations depict the movements of tectonic plates and other forces shaping the surface, such as precipitation and weathering. The model provides a new way to understand the Earth's surface and ask questions about everything from climate regulation to the ways the circulation of the atmosphere affects erosion on land. The researchers found that the rate of sediment movement across the globe was likely much larger than previously believed, and the model could be used to test hypotheses regarding the origin of life on Earth.