Understanding of secular evolution of the Earth system is based largely on the rock and
mineral archive preserved in the continental lithosphere. Based on the frequency and range …

The Earth as a planetary system has experienced significant change since its formation c.
4.54 Gyr ago. Some of these changes have been gradual, such as secular cooling of the …

The Earth is the only known planet where plate tectonics is active, and different studies have
concluded that plate tectonics commenced at times from the early Hadean to 700 Ma. Many …

The dynamics and evolution of Venus' mantle are of first-order relevance for the origin and
modification of the tectonic and volcanic structures we observe on Venus today. Solid-state …

The formation of the continental crust in the early Earth, and the geodynamics that drove it,
are fundamental to understanding the evolution of our planet, but remain intensely debated …

The earliest evidence for subduction, which could have been localized, does not signify
when plate tectonics became a global phenomenon. To test the antiquity of global …

The redox evolution of Archean upper mantle impacted mantle melting and the nature of
chemical equilibrium between mantle, ocean and atmosphere of the early Earth. Yet, the …

Venus today is inhospitable at the surface, its average temperature of 750 K being
incompatible to the existence of life as we know it. However, the potential for past surface …

During the past five decades, numerical modeling of subduction, one of the most
challenging and captivating geodynamic processes, remained in the core of geodynamic …

Geologists have speculated when plate tectonics began since the dawn of that revolution,
with recent estimates ranging from the last 20% of Earth history to within the first 5%. All such …