The first land breaks the surface
Enough crust thickens to stand above the ocean, and Earth acquires shorelines.
- When
- Known to
- ± 150 million years
- Era
- Paleoarchean, Archean
Cratons grow thick and buoyant enough to rise above sea level, producing the first persistent land. Weathering of exposed rock begins delivering nutrients to the oceans, and the sediment produced is what later fills the Moodies basin. How much land existed is debated — estimates for Archean emergent area run from a few percent of today's to nearly none.