In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, Andrea Mundl-Petermeier and Sebastian Viehmann of the Department of Lithospheric Research at the University of Vienna have demonstrated that a new geochemical archive—182Tungsten in banded iron formations—can be used to simultaneously trace the evolution of both the Earth's mantle and continents throughout Earth's history. This offers new opportunities to better understand the Precambrian Earth in the future.