A slow geological shift deep beneath the Earth’s surface millions of years ago may have shaped the path of life as we know it. Based on new research published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, a plume of rising hot rock helped lift the terrain across what is now the Arabian Peninsula and Anatolia. This gradual uplift eventually created a land bridge that allowed animals, including elephants, to cross from Africa to Asia, marking a turning point in the movement and evolution of many species.
That connection, formed around 20 million years ago, ended nearly 75 million years of isolation for the African continent.
Underground activity set the stage for landscape shifts
Researchers say the geological chain of events began between 50 and 60 million years ago, when a large slab of rock sank into the Earth. This movement triggered a slow upward flow of hot material, pushing the land above it higher over time. Around 30 million years later, the combination of rising heat and shifting land masses led to the closure of the ancient Tethys Sea.
Once a major marine corridor, the sea eventually split into the Mediterranean and Arabian seas. As land emerged in its place, a natural land bridge took shape, linking the continents of Asia and Africa.
Eivind Straume, a researcher at the NORCE Norwegian Research Centre and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, led the study. His team combined computer models from the University of Texas at Austin and the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences with previous geological findings. The results show that this shift changed the continents’ layouts and influenced global climate patterns and ocean circulation.
Straume notes that the timing of the land bridge’s formation was key. If it had occurred just a million years later, the migration of species, including the primates that eventually gave rise to humans, could have taken a different route or not happened.
Early primates migrated, evolved, and returned
Based on the study, early primates arrived in Africa from Asia a few million years before the bridge was fully formed. While their Asian relatives went extinct, the African populations survived and evolved. When the bridge became passable again, some of their descendants returned to Asia.
Researchers state that this back-and-forth movement played a vital role in the spread and survival of many species. Straume described the findings as a clear example of how slow geological changes underground can have lasting effects on life above the surface.
The study adds to growing evidence that Earth’s internal activity can influence more than just earthquakes and volcanoes—it can also steer the course of evolution.
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