Subaerial crust emergence hindered by phase-driven lower crust densification on early Earth.

ABSTRACT: Earth owes much of its dynamic surface to its bimodal hypsometry, manifested by high-riding continents and low-riding ocean basins. The thickness of the crust in the lithosphere exerts the dominant control on the long-wavelength elevations of continents. However, there is a limit to how high elevations can rise by crustal thickening. With continuous crustal thickening, the mafic lower crust eventually undergoes a densifying phase transition, arresting further elevation gain-an effect clearly observed in modern orogenic belts. On early Earth, lower crust densification should also limit how high a thickening crust can rise, regardless of the thickening mechanisms. We suggest that lower crust densification combined with a thicker oceanic crust in the Archean may have limited the whole-Earth t

SUBMITTER: Tang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11389787 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature