Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited?
Interpretation of Earth’s oldest preserved crustal archive, the Jack Hills zircon of Western Australia, has been controversial in terms of the onset of plate tectonics. We conduct timeseries analysis on hafnium isotopes of the Jack Hills zircon and reveal an array of statistically significant cycles...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL150100133 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90464 |
| _version_ | 1848765380963598336 |
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| author | Mitchell, R.N. Spencer, Christopher Kirscher, Uwe Wilde, Simon |
| author_facet | Mitchell, R.N. Spencer, Christopher Kirscher, Uwe Wilde, Simon |
| author_sort | Mitchell, R.N. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Interpretation of Earth’s oldest preserved crustal archive, the Jack Hills zircon of Western Australia, has been controversial in terms of the onset of plate tectonics. We conduct timeseries analysis on hafnium isotopes of the Jack Hills zircon and reveal an array of statistically significant cycles that are reminiscent of plate-tectonic subduction. At face value, such cycles may suggest early Earth conditions similar to those of today—the uniformitarian hypothesis that plate tectonics was essentially operational since “day one”. On the other hand, in the context of expected secular changes due to planetary evolution and geological observations, the cycles could instead imply that modern plate-tectonic subduction inherited mantle convective harmonics already facilitated by an early phase of stagnant-lid delamination—the “lid-toplates” hypothesis. Either way, any model for the nature of plate tectonics must incorporate conditions operating during Hadean time, either by initiation of plate tectonics then or by later inheritance of preexisting cycles of mantle convection. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:34:20Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90464 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:34:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-904642023-03-20T02:11:14Z Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? Mitchell, R.N. Spencer, Christopher Kirscher, Uwe Wilde, Simon Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geology ARCHEAN CRUSTAL EVOLUTION HILLS ZIRCON SOURCE JACK HILLS CONTINENTAL-CRUST HAFNIUM ISOTOPES DETRITAL ZIRCONS LU-HF MANTLE CONSTRAINTS SYSTEMATICS Interpretation of Earth’s oldest preserved crustal archive, the Jack Hills zircon of Western Australia, has been controversial in terms of the onset of plate tectonics. We conduct timeseries analysis on hafnium isotopes of the Jack Hills zircon and reveal an array of statistically significant cycles that are reminiscent of plate-tectonic subduction. At face value, such cycles may suggest early Earth conditions similar to those of today—the uniformitarian hypothesis that plate tectonics was essentially operational since “day one”. On the other hand, in the context of expected secular changes due to planetary evolution and geological observations, the cycles could instead imply that modern plate-tectonic subduction inherited mantle convective harmonics already facilitated by an early phase of stagnant-lid delamination—the “lid-toplates” hypothesis. Either way, any model for the nature of plate tectonics must incorporate conditions operating during Hadean time, either by initiation of plate tectonics then or by later inheritance of preexisting cycles of mantle convection. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90464 10.1130/G49939.1 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL150100133 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geology ARCHEAN CRUSTAL EVOLUTION HILLS ZIRCON SOURCE JACK HILLS CONTINENTAL-CRUST HAFNIUM ISOTOPES DETRITAL ZIRCONS LU-HF MANTLE CONSTRAINTS SYSTEMATICS Mitchell, R.N. Spencer, Christopher Kirscher, Uwe Wilde, Simon Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? |
| title | Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? |
| title_full | Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? |
| title_fullStr | Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? |
| title_short | Plate tectonic–like cycles since the Hadean: Initiated or inherited? |
| title_sort | plate tectonic–like cycles since the hadean: initiated or inherited? |
| topic | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Geology ARCHEAN CRUSTAL EVOLUTION HILLS ZIRCON SOURCE JACK HILLS CONTINENTAL-CRUST HAFNIUM ISOTOPES DETRITAL ZIRCONS LU-HF MANTLE CONSTRAINTS SYSTEMATICS |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL150100133 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90464 |