Greenstone burial–exhumation cycles at the late Archean transition to plate tectonics

Converging lines of evidence suggest that, during the late Archean, Earth completed its transition from a stagnant-lid to a plate tectonics regime,although how and when this transition occurred is debated. The geological record indicates that some form of subduction, a key component of plate tectonics—has operated since the Mesoarchean, even though the tectonic style and timescales of burial and exhumation cycles within ancient convergent margins are poorly constrained.Here, we present a Neoarchean pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) path from supracrustal rocks of the transpressional Yilgarn orogen (Western Australia), which documents how sea-floor-altered rocks underwent deep burial then exhumation during shortening that was unrelated to the episode of burial. Archean subduction, even if generally short-lived, was capable of producing eclogites along converging lithosphere boundaries, although exhumation processes in those environments were likely less efficient than today, such that return of high-pressure rocks to the surface was rare

Spatial and temporal control of Archean tectonomagmatic regimes

Secular trends in plutonic whole-rock geochemistry pose critical, although non-unique, constraints to early Earth tectonics. Here, we present a large whole-rock geochemical (879 collated samples) dataset for granitoids from the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, applying it to test the link between secular trends and proposed tectonic mechanisms. We show that the spatio-temporal distribution of granitoid trace element geochemistry is constrained within discrete lithotectonic blocks supporting the reconstruction of its tectonomagmatic evolution. Time-sliced geochemical contour mapping of key petrogenetic ratios indicates the craton underwent rifting ∼3.2 Ga (billion years ago), marking a transition from predominantly sodic magmatism to a broader magmatic compositional spectrum. Our results demonstrate that rift-assisted breakup of proto-cratons is a viable craton growth mechanism. We identify a possible evolutionary sequence beginning with drips and upwellings below a Paleoarchean mafic plateau, which is subsequently dismembered by rifting. These plateau fragments form rigid blocks in the Mesoarchean, between which weaker, thinner crust accommodates minor convergence and divergence manifested as short-lived mobile lid-like features before stabilization. We conclude that these features do not require an active lid, plate tectonic regime

The stability of cratons is controlled by lithospheric thickness, as evidenced by Rb-Sr overprint ages in granitoids

The ancient cores of modern continents, cratons, are the oldest blocks of “stable” lithosphere on Earth. Their long-term survival relies on the resistance of their underlying thick, strong, and buoyant mantle keels to subsequent recycling. However, the effect of substantial geographical variations in keel thickness on the post-assembly behaviour and mass movement within these continental cores remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the spatial distribution of fluid-reset in-situ Rb-Sr ages for Paleo-Mesoarchean (3.6–2.8 billion years ago; Ga) granitoids of the Pilbara Craton, Australia shows remarkable correlation with independently-constrained lithospheric thickness models. Without craton-wide heating/magmatic events, these anomalously young Rb-Sr ages document episodes of fluid infiltration into granitoid complexes as a response to lithospheric reactivation by far-field stresses. This correlation implies that craton-wide fluid mobilization triggered by extra-cratonic Neoarchean to Mesoproterozoic (2.8–1.0 Ga) tectonic events is facilitated by variations in lithospheric strength and thickness. Compared to areas of older overprints, the two-thirds of the craton comprised of younger reset ages is underlain by comparatively thin lithosphere with higher susceptibility to reactivation-assisted fluid flow. We propose that even the strongest, most pristine cratons are less stable and impermeable than previously thought, as demonstrated by the role of granitoid complexes and cratons as selective lithospheric “sponges” in response to minor tectonic forces. Therefore, variations in lithospheric thickness, likely attained before cratonization, exert a crucial control on billions of years of fluid movement, elemental redistribution and mineralization within ancient continental nuclei

A linked evolution for granite-greenstone terranes of the Pilbara Craton from Nd and Hf isotopes, with implications for Archean continental growth

In felsic igneous rocks, the parent and daughter elements in the widely used Sm–Nd and Lu–Hf isotope tracer systems are mainly hosted in accessory phases. Recrystallisation and/or breakdown of these minerals during metamorphism, deformation and weathering potentially compromises the chemical and isotopic composition of the respective whole rocks, impeding the utility of such information for deducing the timing, rates and processes of crust-mantle differentiation in the early Earth. The different abilities of zircon and REE-rich minerals to withstand metamorphism have been suggested as a reason for the decoupling of the Lu–Hf and Sm–Nd isotope systems observed in a number of ancient gneiss terranes. The controls on element mobility and subsequent isotopic disturbance during recrystallisation and breakdown of LREE-rich accessory minerals are, however incompletely understood. Here, we use petrography, element mapping, and microanalysis of accessory minerals, in tandem with whole rock Sm–Nd data, to assess the reliability of the Sm–Nd system in the 3.59–3.58 Ga Mount Webber Gabbros, the oldest rocks in the Pilbara Craton (Western Australia). We show that despite multiple thermal events, which reset the mineral Sm–Nd systematics, and decomposition of the REE-rich mineral allanite, the Mount Webber rocks retained the Sm–Nd isotope signatures of their magmatic protoliths at the whole-rock scale. We show that the allanite breakdown occurred during modern, near-surface weathering processes at low temperature, such that the REE were sequestered into secondary minerals rather than escaping in higher temperature metamorphic fluids. The whole rock Sm–Nd, and zircon O–Hf signatures, together with new 142Nd isotope data, suggest derivation of the Mount Webber rocks from undifferentiated mantle sources that preserve no evidence for Hadean silicate Earth differentiation. This study highlights the benefits of a combined analytical approach using both in-situ and whole-rock isotope analyses to obtain a more complete record of the source and thermal evolution of ancient, highly metamorphosed igneous rocks

Fluid processes in the early Earth and the growth of continents

Water is an essential ingredient in transforming primitive mantle-derived (mafic) rocks into buoyant (felsic) continental crust, thereby driving the irreversible differentiation of Earth's lithosphere. The occurrence in Archaean cratons of sodic granites of the tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) series, high-MgO variolitic basalts, high-Mg diorites (sanukitoids) and diamonds with harzburgitic inclusion assemblages, all require the presence of hydrous fluids in Earth's deep crust and upper (lithospheric) mantle since at least the Paleoarchaean (3.6–3.2 billion years ago). However, despite its importance, where and how water was stored in Archaean crust, and how some water was transported into the upper mantle, are poorly understood. Here, we investigate Archaean crustal fluid budgets through calculated phase equilibria for three protolith compositions — a low-MgO mafic (basaltic) composition, a high-MgO (picritic) composition and an ultrahigh-MgO ultramafic (komatiitic) composition — that are representative of mafic to ultramafic magmatic rocks in Archaean greenstone belts. We show that the mode and stability of hydrous minerals, in particular chlorite, is positively correlated with protolith MgO content, such that high-MgO basalts can store up to twice the amount of crystal-bound H2O than low-MgO basalts. Importantly, ultrahigh-MgO rocks such as komatiite can store four times as much H2O, most of which is retained until temperatures exceeding 700 °C. Warmer geotherms in the early Archaean favoured dehydration of hydrated high-MgO and ultramafic rocks in the deep crust, leading to hydration and/or fluid-fluxed melting of overlying basaltic rocks to produce ‘high-pressure’ TTG magmas. Burial of Archaean mafic–ultramafic crust along cooler geotherms resulted in dehydration of ultramafic material within the lithospheric mantle, providing the source of enriched Archaean basalt that was parental to large volumes of ancient TTG-dominated continental crust

Earth's first stable continents did not form by subduction

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 Archaean eon (4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) comprises tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite rocks (TTGs) that were formed through partial melting of hydrated low-magnesium basaltic rocks; notably, these TTGs have 'arc-like' signatures of trace elements and thus resemble the continental crust produced in modern subduction settings. In the East Pilbara Terrane, Western Australia, low-magnesium basalts of the Coucal Formation at the base of the Pilbara Supergroup have trace-element compositions that are consistent with these being source rocks for TTGs. These basalts may be the remnants of a thick (more than 35 kilometres thick), ancient (more than 3.5 billion years old) basaltic crust that is predicted to have existed if Archaean mantle temperatures were much hotter than today's. Here, using phase equilibria modelling of the Coucal basalts, we confirm their suitability as TTG 'parents', and suggest that TTGs were produced by around 20 per cent to 30 per cent melting of the Coucal basalts along high geothermal gradients (of more than 700 degrees Celsius per gigapascal). We also analyse the trace-element composition of the Coucal basalts, and propose that these rocks were themselves derived from an earlier generation of high-magnesium basaltic rocks, suggesting that the arc-like signature in Archaean TTGs was inherited from an ancestral source lineage. This protracted, multistage process for the production and stabilization of the first continents - coupled with the high geothermal gradients - is incompatible with modern-style plate tectonics, and favours instead the formation of TTGs near the base of thick, plateau-like basaltic crust. Thus subduction was not required to produce TTGs in the early Archaean eon.</p

Trace element contents of mantle-derived magmas through time

Abstract A large compilation of quality-curated major and trace element data has been assembled to investigate how trace element patterns of mafic and ultramafic magmas have varied with time through particular settings from the Archean to the Phanerozoic, the primary objective being to recognise at what times particular patterns of variation emerge, and how similar these are to baseline data sets representing tectonic settings in the modern Earth. The most informative element combinations involve Nb, Th and the REE, where REE are represented by ‘lambda’ parameters describing slope and shape of patterns. Combinations of the ratios of Th, Nb, La and lambda values from Archean and early Proterozoic basalts and komatiites reveal a distinctive pattern that is common in most well-sampled terranes, defining a roughly linear trend in multi-dimensional space from compositions intermediate between modern n-MORB and primitive mantle at one end, towards compositions approximating middle-to-upper continental crust at the other. We ascribe this ‘Variable Th/Nb’ trend in most instances to varying degrees of crustal contamination of magmas with similar compositions to modern oceanic plateau basalts. Komatiites had slightly more depleted sources than basalts, consistent with the hypothesis of derivation from plume tails and heads, respectively. The most significant difference between Precambrian and Phanerozoic plume-derived basalts is that the distinctive OIB-like enriched source component appears to be largely missing from the Archean and Proterozoic geologic record, although isolated examples of OIB-like trace element characteristics are evident in datasets from even the oldest preserved greenstones. Phanerozoic intra-cratonic LIPs, such as the 260 Ma Emeishan LIP in China, have fundamentally different geochemical characteristics to Archean and Paleoproterozoic assemblages; the oldest Proterozoic LIP we have identified that has this type of ‘modern’ signal is the Midcontinent Rift at 1100 Ma. The data are consistent with plume tail sources having changed from being dominantly depleted in the Archean Earth to dominantly enriched in the Phanerozoic Earth, while plume head sources have hardly changed at all. Trace element patterns considered to be diagnostic of subduction are locally present but rare in Archean terranes and become more prevalent through the Proterozoic, although this conclusion is tempered by the large degree of overlap in compositional space between continental arc magmas and continental flood basalts. This overlap reflects the difficulty of distinguishing the effects of supra-subduction metasomatizm and flux melting from those of crustal contamination. Additional factors must also be borne in mind, particularly that trace element partitioning systematics may have been different in all environments in a hotter planet, and large-scale asthenospheric overturns might have been predominant over modern-style plumes in the Archean Earth. Some basaltic suites in particular Archean terranes, notably the western parts of both the Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons in Western Australia and parts of the Superior Craton, have restricted, but locally predominant, suites of basalts with characteristics akin to modern oceanic arcs, suggesting that some process similar to modern subduction was preserved in these particular belts. Ferropicrite magmas with distinctive characteristics typical of modern OIBs and some continental LIPs (notably Emeishan) are rare but locally predominant in some Archean and early Proterozoic terranes, implying that plume sources were beginning to be fertilised by enriched, probably subducted, components as far back as the Mesoarchean. We see no evidence for discontinuous secular changes in mantle-derived magmatism with time that could be ascribed to major mantle reorganisation events. The Archean–Proterozoic transition appears to be entirely gradational from this standpoint. The transition from Archean-style to Phanerozoic-style plume magmatism took place somewhere between 1900 Ma (age of the Circum-Superior komatiitic basalt suites) and 1100 Ma (the age of the Midcontinent Rift LIP)

Progressive mixing of meteoritic veneer into the early Earth’s deep mantle

Komatiites are ancient volcanic rocks, mostly over 2.7 billion years old (from the Archaean era), that formed through high degrees of partial melting of the mantle and therefore provide reliable information on bulk mantle compositions1. In particular, the platinum group element (PGE) contents of komatiites provide a unique source of information on core formation, mantle differentiation and possibly core–mantle interaction2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Most of the available PGE data on komatiites are from late Archaean (~2.7–2.9 Gyr old) or early Proterozoic (2.0–2.5 Gyr old) samples. Here we show that most early Archaean (3.5–3.2 Gyr old) komatiites from the Barberton greenstone belt of South Africa and the Pilbara craton of Western Australia are depleted in PGE relative to late Archaean and younger komatiites. Early Archaean komatiites record a signal of PGE depletion in the lower mantle, resulting from core formation. This signal diminishes with time owing to progressive mixing-in to the deep mantle of PGE-enriched cosmic material that the Earth accreted as the ‘late veneer’ during the Early Archaean (4.5–3.8 Gyr ago) meteorite bombardment

Making it thick : a volcanic plateau origin of Palaeoarchean continental lithosphere of the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons

How and when continents grew and plate tectonics started on Earth remain poorly constrained. Most researchers apply the modern plate tectonic paradigm to problems of ancient crustal formation, but these are unsatisfactory because diagnostic criteria and actualistic plate configurations are lacking. Here, we show that 3.5-3.2 Ga continental nuclei in the Pilbara Craton, Australia, and the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, southern Africa, formed as thick volcanic plateaux built on a substrate of older continental lithosphere and did not accrete through horizontal tectonic processes. These nuclei survived because of the contemporaneous development of buoyant, nonsubductable mantle roots. This plateau-type of Archean continental crust is distinct from, but complementary to, Archean gneiss terranes formed over shallowly dipping zones of intraoceanic underplating (proto-subduction) on a vigorously convecting early Earth with smaller plates and primitive plate tectonics.29 page(s

Theoretical versus empirical secular change in zircon composition

International audienceWe generate theoretical curves for zircon growth during cooling of tonalitic and A-type granitic magmas and compare these with empirical Ti-in-zircon populations from the Paleoarchean Pilbara Craton, Australia, Mesoarchean Akia Terrane, Greenland, and the Mesoproterozoic Musgrave Province, Australia. Our models predict variable zircon growth rates on magma cooling dependant on magma composition, crystallizing assemblage, and zircon growth process. In most modelled magma compositions, higher-temperature grains growing close to the zircon saturation temperature are more abundant, with yields decreasing continuously thereafter. However, there are important dissimilarities in the cumulative zircon growth curve for different magma compositions and whether zircon growth is by equilibrium or disequilibrium processes. For a given starting melt Zr concentration, A-type granite magmas grow zircon at higher temperatures than tonalitic magmas. This compositional distinction is most pronounced at lower starting melt Zr concentrations, and in low Zr tonalite the rate of zircon growth may even increase on cooling. The dependence of zircon growth on magma composition and crystallization process leads to predictive differences in cumulative Ti-in-zircon distributions. Greater disequilibrium growth yields more sigmoidal cumulative growth curves that are dissimilar to predictions from phase equilibrium models. When applied to Mesoarchean-aged zircon grains from the Akia Terrane, calculated Ti-in-zircon temperatures decrease over the 3100-2900 Ma interval. This magmatic episode also reveals a change in cumulative zircon growth curve topology from steeper to shallower, consistent with a reduction in the relative proportion of disequilibrium growth, greater crystal-liquid communication, and enhanced infracrustal reworking. The temporal variability in cumulative zircon growth and its implication for melt interconnectedness are powerful tools in understanding magmatic processes and indicate an important secular change point at c. 3.0 Ga in the Akia Terrane where zircon growth dynamics changed