ISLAMABAD-Curtin University research has uncovered the first solid clues about the very beginning of the supercontinent cycle of Earth, finding it was kick-started two billion years ago. Detailed in a paper published in Geology, a team of researchers from Curtin’s Earth Dynamics Research Group found that plate tectonics operated differently before two billion years ago, and the 600 million years supercontinent cycle likely only started during the second half of Earth’s life. Lead researcher Dr. Yebo Liu from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences said that the shift in plate tectonics marked a regime change in the Earth System. “This regime change impacted on the eventual emergence of complex life and even how Earth resources are formed and preserved,” Dr. Liu said. “Pangea was the first supercontinent scientists discovered early last century that existed some 300 million years ago and lasted until the age of the dinosaurs.