skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Potassic, High-Silica Hadean Crust.

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Understanding Hadean(>4 Ga) Earth requires knowledge of its crust. The composition of the crust and volatiles migrating through it directly influence the makeup of the atmosphere, the composition of seawater, and nutrient availability. Despite its importance, there is little known and less agreed upon regarding the nature of the Hadean crust. By analyzing the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio of apatite inclusions in Archean zircons from Nuvvuagittuq, Canada, we show that its protolith had formed a high (>1) Rb/Sr ratio reservoir by at least 4.2 Ga. This result implies that the early crust had a broad range of igneous rocks, extending from mafic to highly silicic compositions

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1571485
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, Issue 25
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (36)

Hadean Zircon Petrochronology journal February 2017
Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon journal October 2015
Hadean crustal evolution revisited: New constraints from Pb–Hf isotope systematics of the Jack Hills zircons journal July 2010
Widespread mixing and burial of Earth’s Hadean crust by asteroid impacts journal July 2014
Illusory Late Heavy Bombardments journal September 2016
Initiation and Evolution of Plate Tectonics on Earth: Theories and Observations journal May 2013
Evolution of Bishop Tuff Rhyolitic Magma Based on Melt and Magnetite Inclusions and Zoned Phenocrysts journal March 2000
Trace element partitioning between apatite and silicate melts journal September 2006
Heterogeneity of initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios within a single pluton: evidence from apatite strontium isotopic study journal September 2003
The use of apatite as a record of initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and indicator of magma processes in the Inagawa pluton, Ryoke belt, Japan journal October 2005
Metamorphic replacement of mineral inclusions in detrital zircon from Jack Hills, Australia: Implications for the Hadean Earth journal December 2011
Protoliths of enigmatic Archaean gneisses established from zircon inclusion studies: Case study of the Caozhuang quartzite, E. Hebei, China journal July 2014
Distinguishing primary and secondary inclusion assemblages in Jack Hills zircons journal October 2015
Preserved initial in apatite from altered felsic igneous rocks: A case study from the Middle Proterozoic of South Australia journal July 1992
A study of strontium diffusion in apatite using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and ion implantation journal October 1993
CHILI – the Chicago Instrument for Laser Ionization – a new tool for isotope measurements in cosmochemistry journal August 2016
Reduced, reused and recycled: Detrital zircons define a maximum age for the Eoarchean (ca. 3750–3780Ma) Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, Québec (Canada) journal January 2013
Neodymium-142 Evidence for Hadean Mafic Crust journal September 2008
Pre-3750 Ma supracrustal rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq supracrustal belt, northern Québec journal March 2007
Half a billion years of reworking of Hadean mafic crust to produce the Nuvvuagittuq Eoarchean felsic crust journal October 2013
A Shorter 146Sm Half-Life Measured and Implications for 146Sm-142Nd Chronology in the Solar System journal March 2012
Building Archean cratons from Hadean mafic crust journal March 2017
Eoarchean to Neoarchean evolution of the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal belt: New insights from U-Pb zircon geochronology journal November 2013
The control of alkalies and uranium in seawater by ocean crust alteration journal April 1982
The origin of KREEP journal January 1979
Zircon megacrysts from kimberlite: oxygen isotope variability among mantle melts journal October 1998
Modelling the petrogenesis of high Rb/Sr silicic magmas journal September 1991
Heterogeneous Hadean Hafnium: Evidence of Continental Crust at 4.4 to 4.5 Ga journal December 2005
Origin of first cells at terrestrial, anoxic geothermal fields journal February 2012
Thermal evolution and slip history of the Renbu Zedong Thrust, southeastern Tibet journal February 1997
Constraints on Hadean zircon protoliths from oxygen isotopes, Ti-thermometry, and rare earth elements: ZIRCON OXYGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS journal June 2007
Correlated Strontium and Barium Isotopic Compositions of Acid-Cleaned Single Mainstream Silicon Carbides from Murchison journal April 2015
Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of apatite reference materials used in U–Th–Pb geochronology journal October 2014
Mineral-Melt Partitioning of Uranium, Thorium and Their Daughters journal January 2003
Volcanic–plutonic parity and the differentiation of the continental crust journal July 2015
Geology and geochronology of the Spirit Mountain batholith, southern Nevada: Implications for timescales and physical processes of batholith construction journal November 2007

Cited By (5)

Probable Cold and Alkaline Surface Environment of the Hadean Earth Caused by Impact Ejecta Weathering journal January 2020
Resonance ionization of titanium: high useful yield and new autoionizing states journal January 2018
Archean granitoids of the Bastar Craton, Central India journal January 2019
Ideas and perspectives: Development of nascent autotrophic carbon fixation systems in various redox conditions of the fluid degassing on early Earth journal January 2019
Titanium isotopes as a tracer for the plume or island arc affinity of felsic rocks journal January 2019

Similar Records

Potassic, high-silica Hadean crust
Journal Article · Mon Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · OSTI ID:1571485

Potassic, high-silica Hadean crust
Journal Article · Fri May 04 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · OSTI ID:1571485

Isotopic composition of two Precambrian stratiform barite deposits from the Indian shield
Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (USA) · OSTI ID:1571485