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 formation and preservation of cratons—the oldest parts of the continents, comprising
over 60 per cent of the continental landmass—remains an enduring problem. Key to craton …

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

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 …

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 …

Orogenic gold deposits of all ages, from Paleoarchean to Tertiary, show consistency in
chemical composition. They are the products of aqueous-carbonic fluids, with typically 5–20 …

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 …

The geodynamic environment in which Earth's first continents formed and were stabilized
remains controversial. Most exposed continental crust that can be dated back to the …