Deep continental roots and cratons

D. Graham Pearson (), James M. Scott, Jingao Liu, Andrew Schaeffer, Lawrence Hongliang Wang, Jeroen Hunen, Kristoffer Szilas, Thomas Chacko and Peter B. Kelemen
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D. Graham Pearson: University of Alberta
James M. Scott: University of Otago
Jingao Liu: China University of Geosciences
Andrew Schaeffer: Pacific Division, Natural Resources Canada
Lawrence Hongliang Wang: Department of Environmental Analyses, Institute of Energy Technology
Jeroen Hunen: Durham University
Kristoffer Szilas: University of Copenhagen
Thomas Chacko: University of Alberta
Peter B. Kelemen: Columbia University

Nature, 2021, vol. 596, issue 7871, 199-210

Abstract: Abstract The formation and preservation of cratons—the oldest parts of the continents, comprising over 60 per cent of the continental landmass—remains an enduring problem. Key to craton development is how and when the thick strong mantle roots that underlie these regions formed and evolved. Peridotite melting residues forming cratonic lithospheric roots mostly originated via relatively low-pressure melting and were subsequently transported to greater depth by thickening produced by lateral accretion and compression. The longest-lived cratons were assembled during Mesoarchean and Palaeoproterozoic times, creating the stable mantle roots 150 to 250 kilometres thick that are critical to preserving Earth’s early continents and central to defining the cratons, although we extend the definition of cratons to include extensive regions of long-stable Mesoproterozoic crust also underpinned by thick lithospheric roots. The production of widespread thick and strong lithosphere via the process of orogenic thickening, possibly in several cycles, was fundamental to the eventual emergence of extensive continental landmasses—the cratons.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03600-5

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