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 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 …

Archean cratons have map patterns and rock associations that are diagnostic of the Wilson
Cycle. The North China Craton (NCC) consists of several distinctly different tectonic units …

Geological and geophysical data indicate that the Precambrian basement of the North China
Craton (NCC) formed by amalgamation of a number of micro-continental blocks. The …

The North China Craton (NCC) consists of Archean to Paleoproterozoic basement overlain
by Mesoproterozoic to Cenozoic cover. Minor Eoarchean to Mesoarchean basement rocks …

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 …

A recently proposed model for the evolution of the North China Craton envisages discrete
Eastern and Western Blocks that developed independently during the Archean and collided …

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

The inception of plate tectonics on Earth and its subsequent evolution are discussed on the
basis of theoretical considerations and observational constraints. The likelihood of plate …

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 …