doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady3258
Credibility: 989
#Ediacaran
About 630 to 540 million years ago, during the Ediacaran period, Earth experienced a phase very different from what we know today
While for most of the planet’s history tectonic plates moved relatively steadily, the climate remained balanced, and the magnetic field rotated smoothly around the poles (with occasional reversals), the Ediacaran was marked by extreme and irregular changes in the magnetic signals preserved in rocks.
This intrigued scientists for decades, as it made it nearly impossible to reconstruct the position and movement of the continents at that time using paleomagnetic records.
Many researchers have tried to explain this mystery by suggesting that tectonic plates may have shifted at incredible speeds or that the entire planet may have “flipped” on its axis of rotation, a phenomenon called true polar drift.
However, new research published in the journal “Science Advances” proposes a different view: instead of random chaos, those magnetic signals may have followed a global pattern with an organized structure.
A team led by scientists from Yale analyzed layers of very well-preserved volcanic rocks in the Anti-Atlas region of Morocco.
They collected carefully oriented samples and used high-precision instruments to measure magnetic variations layer by layer.
Unlike previous studies, which assumed that Earth’s magnetic field has always behaved as it does today, the researchers adopted a new and detailed approach, combined with precise dating provided by other groups from Dartmouth, Switzerland, and Germany.
The results showed that the changes in the magnetic field occurred over thousands of years-not millions-ruling out previous explanations of rapid plate movements or polar drift.
Furthermore, the variations were not entirely random: they followed an unusual, but structured, pattern.
Based on this, the team developed a new statistical method to track the movement of the magnetic poles, suggesting that they moved across the globe in a more complex way than a simple swing around the axis of rotation.
According to Professor David Evans of Yale University, “we are proposing a model that finds structure in the variability of the magnetic field, rather than dismissing it as random chaos.” This advance may finally allow for the creation of reliable maps of the Ediacaran continents and oceans, connecting ancient geological records with more recent ones and offering a continuous view of the history of plate tectonics over billions of years.
This discovery represents an important step towards deciphering one of Earth’s most enigmatic periods, helping us to better understand how our planet evolved before the emergence of the complex life we “”know.
Published in 03/25/2026 00h54
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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