Archean continental crust formed by magma hybridization and voluminous partial melting.

ABSTRACT: Archean (4.0-2.5 Ga) tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) terranes represent fragments of Earth's first continents that formed via high-grade metamorphism and partial melting of hydrated basaltic crust. While a range of geodynamic regimes can explain the production of TTG magmas, the processes by which they separated from their source and acquired distinctive geochemical signatures remain uncertain. This limits our understanding of how the continental crust internally differentiates, which in turn controls its potential for long-term stabilization as cratonic nuclei. Here, we show via petrological modeling that hydrous Archean mafic crust metamorphosed in a non-plate tectonic regime produces individual pulses of magma with major-, minor-, and trace-element signatures resembling-but not

SUBMITTER: Hernandez-Montenegro JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7933273 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature