If we accept that a critical condition for plate tectonics is the creation and maintenance of a
global network of narrow boundaries separating multiple plates, then to argue for plate …

On the contemporary Earth, distinct plate tectonic settings are characterized by differences in
heat flow that are recorded in metamorphic rocks as differences in apparent thermal …

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 lower plate is the dominant agent in modern convergent margins characterized by
active subduction, as negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere …

This work examines the global distribution of Archaean and modern igneous rock's
compositions, without relying on preconceptions about the link between rock compositions …

The coexistence of divergent (spreading ridge) and convergent (subduction zone) plate
boundaries at which lithosphere is respectively generated and destroyed is the hallmark of …

To understand how plate tectonics became Earth's dominant mode of convection, we need
to address three related problems.(i) What was Earth's tectonic regime before the present …

Earth's mantle convection, which facilitates planetary heat loss, is manifested at the surface
as present-day plate tectonics. When plate tectonics emerged and how it has evolved …

Many geological and geochemical changes are recorded on Earth between 3 and 2 Ga.
Among the more important of these are the following:(1) increasing proportion of basalts with …

When plate tectonics started to occur on Earth and how it has evolved through time are two
of the most fundamental questions in earth sciences. While gravity-driven subducting has …