Plate tectonics in the Archean:Observations versus interpretations  

作　　者：YongFei ZHENG 

机构地区：[1]School of Earth and Space Sciences,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei 230026,China [2]Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environment,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Hefei 230026,China [3]Center of Excellence for Comparative Planetology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Hefei 230026,China

出　　处：《Science China Earth Sciences》2024年第1期1-30,共30页中国科学（地球科学英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.92155306).

摘　　要：Plate tectonics theory,established in the 1960s,has been successful in explaining many geological phenomena,processes and events that occurred in the Phanerozoic.However,the theory has often struggled to provide a coherent framework in interpreting geological records in continental interior and Precambrian period.In dealing with the relationship between plate tectonics and continental geology,continental interior tectonics was often separated from continental margin tectonics in the inheritance and development of their structure and composition.This separation led to the illusion that the plate tectonics theory is not applicable to Precambrian geology,particularly in explaining the fundamental geological characteristics of Archean cratons.Although this illusion does not mean that the Archean continental crust did not originate from a regime of plate tectonics,it led to the development of alternative tectonic models,often involving vertical movements under a regime of stagnant lid tectonics,including not only endogenous processes such as gravitational sagduction,mantle plumes and heat pipes but also exogenous processes such as bolide impacts.These vertical processes were not unique to the Archean but persisted into the Phanerozoic.They result from mantle poloidal convection at different depths,not specific to any particular period.Upgrading the plate tectonics theory from the traditional kinematic model in the 20th century to a holistic kinematic-dynamic model in the 21st century and systematically examining the vertical transport of matter and energy at plate margins,it is evident that plate tectonics can explain the common geological characteristics of Archean cratons,such as lithological associations,structural patterns and metamorphic evolution.By deciphering the structure and composition of convergent plate margins as well as their dynamics,the formation and evolution of continental crust since the Archean can be divided into ancient plate tectonics in the Precambrian and modern plate tectonics in the Phanero

关 键 词：Plate tectonics Archean geology Continental origin Crustal reworking Plate interior Plate margin 

分 类 号：P534.2[天文地球—古生物学与地层学] P542[天文地球—地质学]