OutcropWhere it formed
Pick a rock on the geologic map to see where on Earth it formed, on a map of its time, as far back as 1.8 billion years ago. Then ride its plate to today.
Or start with one of these
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Formed
The crust here hadn’t formed yet
About these maps
Before 540 Ma, we draw maps in Scotese’s style using Cao et al.’s (2024) plate model. Switching models at 540 Ma can shift the spot thousands of kilometers.
- From the model: continents, plate boundaries, seafloor ages.
- Inferred: ocean depth from seafloor age, sea level from the ocean’s depth back to 1,000 Ma, trench deeps, mountains and island arcs along trenches, the mountains wearing down after.
- From the rock record: seas and land where Macrostrat, the Paleobiology Database and DM-SED record marine or land rock of the age.
- Illustrative: hills, shelf widths, mountain texture, where an arc’s islands lie.
1,800 MaToday
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