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New “unprecedented” animations of the Earth show how the planet’s surface has shifted and changed over the past 100 million years. 

These animations are the most detailed view of the history of Earth’s topography ever, depicting the rise of mountains, the development of basins, and the transport of large masses of sediments around the globe through erosion.  

The animations show the movements of tectonic plates, the large rafts of crust that bump up against each other to form mountain ranges and pull apart to form ocean basins. When these plates dive into the mantle, or Earth’s middle layer, at subduction zones they give rise to planet-shaping volcanoes and earthquakes. But there are other forces shaping the surface, too: Precipitation erodes away the surface, while the rate of weathering alters levels of carbon dioxide in the air, creating a feedback loop that links the land to the atmosphere. 

“While the dance of the continents has been studied extensively, we are still limited in our understanding and representation of how the Earth’s surface has evolved,” said Tristan Salles (opens in new tab) , a senior lecturer in geosciences at the University of Sydney and the lead author of a new paper describing the model, which was published March 2 in the journal Science (opens in new tab) .

“What we bring with this new model,” Salles wrote in an email to Live Science, “is a way to evaluate how this surface has changed (globally and over geological time scales) shaped by its interactions with the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the tectonic and mantle dynamics.”

Related: A tiny magma blob may rewrite Earth’s history of plate tectonics

The model begins 100 million years ago in the midst of the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, which started to occur around 200 million years ago. In the beginning of the animation, the continents that will become Africa and South America are already recognizable, with the Northern Hemisphere continents coming together tens of millions of years later. Blue shows the flow of water, while red shows the intensity of the deposition of new sediments by erosion. 

“This unprecedented high-resolution model of Earth’s recent past will equip geoscientists with a more complete and dynamic understanding of the Earth’s surface,” study co-author Laurent Husson (opens in new tab) , a geologist at the Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTerre) in Grenoble, France, said in a statement (opens in new tab) .

Putting together all of these different pressures on the evolution of Earth, from the movements of the plates to the flow of water to the slow changes in the mantle, provides a new way to ask questions about everything from the regulation of the climate to the ways the circulation of the atmosphere affect erosion on land. Related Stories —Oldest evidence of tectonic plates unearthed, sealed in ancient crystals

—Plate tectonics are 3.6 billion years old, oldest mineral on Earth reveals

—Evidence of ‘modern’ plate tectonics dating to 2.5 billion years ago found in China 

The researchers found that the rate of sediment movement across the globe was likely much larger than what scientists believe based on observation, probably because the sedimentary record is fragmented. Overall erosion rates have been fairly steady for the past 100 million years, Salles said, but there have been changes in whether the sediment ends up trapped in low-elevation basins on land or ultimately flows out to sea. For example, there was a doubling of sediment flow to the oceans between about 60 million and 30 million years ago, which was likely associated with the rise of the Himalaya Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau, the researchers wrote. 

Such nuances could be important, Salles said. For example, some of the earliest life formed in shallow marine environments, where microorganisms harnessed photosynthesis for the first time and left behind mineralized formations known as stromatolites. 

“It is thought that sedimentation flux may have provided a source of nutrients to these early organisms, allowing them to thrive and evolve over time,” Salles said. “We envision that our model could be used to test such long-standing hypotheses regarding the origin of life on Earth.”

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Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’

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Trump 'very disappointed' in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to 'sit down and sign a deal'

Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.

The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.

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From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral

Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.

“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.

“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.

However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.

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He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.

“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.

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It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.

State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.

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KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”

It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.

Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.

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From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit

The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.

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40 killed in blast at Iran’s biggest port as Tehran denies explosion ‘linked to fuel for missiles’

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40 killed in blast at Iran's biggest port as Tehran denies explosion 'linked to fuel for missiles'

At least 40 people have been killed and several hundred more injured after an explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, according to state media.

The blast, at the Shahid Rajaei container hub near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, happened on Saturday as Iran held a third round of talks with the US in Oman about Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Shipping containers burned, goods inside were badly damaged and the explosion was so powerful that windows several miles away were shattered, reports said.

Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters
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Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters

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The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the US met for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the blaze and by Sunday afternoon it was 90% extinguished, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media.

Officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaei.

Out of the 752 people who had received treatment for their injuries, 190 were still being treated in medical centres on Sunday, according to Iran’s crisis management organisation.

Chemicals at the port were suspected to have worsened the blast, but the exact cause of the explosion was not clear.

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Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the explosion may be connected to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.

The reports were “aligned with enemy psyops [psychological operations]”, according to a ministry spokesperson, who told state TV the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.

Firefighters work to extinguish the fire. Pic: AP
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Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

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According to the Associated Press, British security company Ambrey said that the port in March received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and the mishandling of which could have led to the explosion.

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The Financial Times previously reported two Iranian vessels had shipped from China enough of the ingredient to propel up to 260 mid-range missiles.

It was reportedly to help Tehran replenish stocks after its missile attacks on Israel in 2024.

Iran’s military has sought to deny the delivery of sodium perchlorate from China.

Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide help.

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Pilgrims travel to Pope Francis’s tomb to remember the late pontiff

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Pilgrims travel to Pope Francis's tomb to remember the late pontiff

Anna and Irene have already been queuing for an hour or so, and they know they have a long wait still to come.

“Two hours, three hours, ten hours – what does it matter?” says Irena. “This is about eternity.”

They have come to Rome from Slovenia, Catholics who felt “Papa Francis would have wanted us to be here”.

People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica.
Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini
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People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica. Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini

A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican
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A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican

And under the sun outside Santa Maria Maggiore, they are awaiting the opportunity to visit his tomb.

Francis, says Irena, “was like a rainbow” who lit up the world. Anna nods along: “We are so happy to be here.”

The Pope’s tomb has become a new source of pilgrimage.

More than 30,000 people came to view it during the first morning after the Pope’s funeral, the queue snaking from the front of the mighty basilica and then up and down across the square at the back.

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Some were curious visitors, others were devout followers – priests and nuns mixing in the queue with tourists and devoted locals.

All of these admired Francis; a very few actually knew him.

Father Alessandro Masseroni is a deacon who came to Rome to train to become a priest. On his phone, he shows me a photo of him and Francis, with the Pope offering words of encouragement.

Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope
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Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope

He says: “I had the honour to serve Pope Francis and to talk to him many times and it was a special experience. I understand why he was so loved by all the people – he was simple and direct.

“He was sunny. St Francis was his role model and when I saw the first picture of the Pope’s tomb, the first thing I thought was of the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.

“Pope Francis will leave a legacy – it doesn’t end with his death but will continue.”

People attend the funeral Mass of Pope Francis at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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People attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Pic: Reuters/Yara Nardi

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Video shows Pope’s tomb

What are your emotions now, as you wait to visit his tomb, I ask. Father Alessandro pauses and smiles.

“Many emotions of course, but mainly, I think… thankfulness.”

That has been a recurring aspect among so many of the people we have met in Rome over the past week – the sense that sadness for Francis’s death is outweighed by the sense that his was a life that should be celebrated.

Volodymyr Borysyak flew in from London on the morning of the Pope’s funeral to make his third pilgrimage to Rome.

Barely had he arrived than his phone was stolen, a crime he responded to by praying for the thief.

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Volodymyr is a refugee from western Ukraine who worries that his home country’s plight is being forgotten by some of the world.

Now, the Pope who inspired him has died.

You might imagine that he would be resentful and angry. Instead, he is full of smiles.

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The farewell to Pope Francis

“We are happy to be the pilgrims of the world and this is a special day,” he tells me. “I know the pope used to pray in this basilica so that is why we will stay so long here to visit Santa Maria Maggiore.

“I think Pope Francis was, is and will be the pope for the world, because of the mercy of his heart and his love for everybody.”

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