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 …

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 …

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 …

Plate tectonics, involving a globally linked system of lateral motion of rigid surface plates, is
a characteristic feature of our planet, but estimates of how long it has been the modus …

Much of the current volume of Earth's continental crust had formed by the end of the
Archaean eon (2.5 billion years ago), through melting of hydrated basaltic rocks at depths of …

Models for the growth of continental crust rely on knowing the balance between the
generation of new crust and the reworking of old crust throughout Earth's history. The …

Continental crust is the archive of Earth history. The spatial and temporal distribution of
Earth's record of rock units and events is heterogeneous; for example, ages of igneous …

The oxygen content of the Earth's surface environment is thought to have increased in two
broad steps: the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) around the Archean–Proterozoic boundary …

Accretionary orogens form at intraoceanic and continental margin convergent plate
boundaries. They include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and back-arc …