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The emergence of Earth's first continental nuclei marks one of the most transformative events in our planet's history. Continental crust shaped the long-term evolution of the lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere, created stable landmasses, regulated global geochemical cycles, and ultimately provided the environmental framework within which complex life evolved. Unravelling the processes that gave rise to the first continental nuclei is therefore fundamental not only to reconstructing Earth's geological evolution, but also to understanding how our planet became habitable. Yet despite more than fifty years of intensive research, there is still no generally accepted hypothesis for the formation of Earth's first continental nuclei.