Growth of early continental crust by partial melting of eclogite

• Published in: Nature Vol. 425; no. 6958; pp. 605 - 609
• Main Authors: Rapp, Robert P, Shimizu, Nobumichi, Norman, Marc D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 09.10.2003; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Accretion; Basalt; Continental crust; Crystalline rocks; Dehydration; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecology; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental petrology; Geochemistry; Granite; Island arcs; Melting; Plate tectonics; Rocks; Soil and rock geochemistry; Trace elements; experimental studies; eclogite; gneisses; schists; tonalite; continental accretion; basaltic composition; Precambrian; imbrication; granites; Terranes; dehydration; thrust sheets; trondhjemite; granodiorites; granitoids; igneous rocks; metamorphic rocks; partial melting; greenstone; crustal growth; subduction; island arcs; plutonic rocks; tectonic setting; Archean; plate convergence

The tectonic setting in which the first continental crust formed, and the extent to which modern processes of arc magmatism at convergent plate margins were operative on the early Earth, are matters of debate. Geochemical studies have shown that felsic rocks in both Archaean high-grade metamorphic (...