Geologists Raise the Speed Limit for How Fast Continental Crust can Form

Scientists have thought that the Earth's mountain ranges are formed through this process over many millions of years. But MIT geologists have now found that the planet can generate new land far more quickly than previously thought. In a paper published in the journal Geology, the team shows that parts of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California rose up surprisingly fast, over a period of just 1.39 million years—more than twice as fast as expected for the region. The researchers attribute the rapid formation of land to a massive flare-up of magma.- Phys.Org