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 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 …

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 …

The crustal growth and stabilization of the North China Craton (NCC) relate to three major
geological events in the Precambrian:(1) a major phase of continental growth at ca. 2.7 …

The name of “adakite” is used to describe a far too large group of rocks, whose sole common
feature is high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios. However, such a signature can be achieved via …

The strong resilience of the mineral zircon and its ability to host a wealth of isotopic
information make it the best deep-time archive of Earth's continental crust. Zircon is found in …

The secular trend of seawater strontium isotope ratio (87 Sr/86 Sr) reflects changes in the
relative contributions of continental versus mantle reservoirs to ocean composition, and …

The record of the continental lithosphere is patchy and incomplete; no known rock is older
than 4.02 Ga, and less than 5% of the rocks preserved are older than 3 Ga. In addition, there …

Mineral systems with their core of ore deposits require a rare conjunction of geodynamic
settings, crustal or lithospheric fertility, crustal architecture and suitable host rocks, and …