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 …

Supercontinents signify self-organization in plate tectonics. Over the past~ 2 billion years,
three major supercontinents have been identified, with increasing age: Pangaea, Rodinia …

Generation of continental crust in collision zones reflect the interplay between oceanic
subduction and continental collision. The Gangdese continental crust in southern Tibet …

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 …

Despite accounting for a significant portion of the Earth's prokaryotic biomass, controls on
the abundance and biodiversity of microorganisms residing in the continental subsurface …

One of the most contentious areas of Earth Science today is when, or whether or not modern-
style plate tectonics was in operation in the Archean Eon. In this review we present evidence …

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

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 …

Magma reservoirs play a key role in controlling numerous processes in planetary evolution,
including igneous differentiation and degassing, crustal construction, and volcanism. For …

The end of the Archean aeon (3.0–2.5 Ga) was a period of fundamental change in many
aspects of the geological record. In Archean cratons, this timespan is marked by a …