When the Earth formed, it was covered by a hot magma ocean. So when and how did thick, silica-rich continental lithosphere form? Were the first, ancient continents similar to the present-day continents? And did the continents form in a burst of activity at a certain point, or was it a gradual build-up over Earth history?

In the podcast, Renée Tamblyn addresses these questions, as well as how early geological processes created molecular hydrogen that may have powered the first forms of life. In her own research, she has focused on the critical role played by water released from hydrous minerals that formed within oceanic lithosphere on the sea floor.

Tamblyn is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bern.