Lime-stone formation at the Changinola river, Panama. Photo: Kaj Hoernle, GEOMAR

How continents grow from the oceans

An international research team including scientists from GEOMAR elucidates how continental crust can be formed in oceanic arcs even at the present

10 April 2015 / Blacksburg, Kiel. The outer shell of the earth consists of oceanic and continental crust. However, it is not yet fully understood when and how the continental crust formed. An international research team including scientists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel elucidates processes leading to the formation of continental crust. These processes have influenced life and the climate on earth even in the recent geological past. The study has been published in the international journal Nature Geoscience

Read more on the website of Virginia Tech University

Lime-stone formation at the Changinola river, Panama. Photo: Kaj Hoernle, GEOMAR

Geological Panama is quite young. Here scientists found evidence for the formation of continental crust. Photo: Kaj Hoernle, GEOMAR

Field work on the central-american land bridge. Often the scientists had to use boats to reach the sampling sites. Photo: Kaj Hoernle, GEOMAR

A witness of subduction processes: the Póas volcano in Costa Rica. PHoto: Kaj Hoernle, GEOMAR

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