A 1&rcolon;5000 scale mapping was performed in the Isukasia area of the ca. 3.8-Ga Isua supracrustal belt, southern West Greenland. The mapped area is divided into three units bounded by low-angle thrusts: the Northern, Middle, and Southern Units. The Southern Unit, the best exposed, is composed of 14 subunits (horses) with similar lithostratigraphy, bound by layer-parallel thrusts. Duplex structures are widespread in the Isua belt and vary in scale from a few meters to kilometers. Duplexing proceeded from south to north and is well documented in the relationship between link- and roof-thrusts. The reconstructed lithostratigraphy of each horse reveals a simple pattern, in ascending order, of greenstone with low-K tholeiitic composition with or without pillow lava structures, chert/banded iron-formation, and turbidites. The cherts and underlying low-K tholeiites do not contain continent- or arc-derived material. The lithostratigraphy is quite similar to Phanerozoic "oceanic plate stratigraphy," except for the abundance of mafic material in the turbidites. The evidence of duplex structures and oceanic plate stratigraphy indicates that the Isua supracrustal belt is the oldest accretionary complex in the world. The dominantly mafic turbidite composition suggests that the accretionary complex was formed in an intraoceanic environment comparable to the present-day western Pacific Ocean. The duplex polarity suggests that an older accretionary complex should occur to the south of the Isua complex. Moreover, the presence of seawater (documented by a thick, pillow, lava unit at the bottom of oceanic plate stratigraphy) indicates that the surface temperature was less than ca. 100 degrees C in the Early Archean. The oceanic geotherm for the Early Archean lithosphere as a function of age was calculated based on a model of transient half-space cooling at given parameters of surface and mantle temperatures of 100 degrees and 1450 degrees C, respectively, suggesting that the Archean oceanic lithosphere was rigid. These conclusions-rigidity and lateral plate movement-support the idea that the modern style of plate tectonics was in operation only 0.7-0.8 G.yr. after the formation of the Earth.

Lawsonite is an important water reservoir in subducting oceanic crust below the amphibole dehydration depth ϳ70 km. To determine the maximum pressure stability of lawsonite in the MORBϩH 2 O system, experiments were carried out using a 1000 ton uniaxial multi-anvil apparatus (SPI-1000). Mixtures of synthetic gelϩ2wt% H 2 O were used for the starting materials with the average MORB composition. Experimental P-T conditions were T ϭ 700-900 ЊC and P ϭ 5.5-13.5 GPa. Run durations were 12 and 24 h.Lawsonite was synthesized stably up to 10 GPa and T Ͻ 700 ЊC in the stishovite stability field, and Ͻ900 ЊC at 8 GPa and 750 ЊC at 5.5 GPa in the coesite stability field, with a steep positive slope for the lawsonite-out reaction. The lawsonite-out reaction in the coesite stability field changes to have a gentle negative slope in the stishovite stability field. The reaction leading to the disappearance of lawsonite is a continuous reaction due to the compositional enlargement of garnet toward the grossular end-member with increasing T and P. Lawsonite disappears when the tie line connecting grossular-rich garnet with omphacitic clinopyroxene reaches the bulk composition on the conventional AC(FM) ternary diagram.

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In order to decipher the origin of eclogite in the high‐P/T Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, SHRIMP U–Pb ages of zircons from quartz‐bearing eclogite and associated quartz‐rich rock (metasandstone) were determined. One zircon core of the quartz‐rich rock yields an extremely old provenance age of 1899 ± 79 Ma, suggesting that the core is of detrital origin. Eight other core ages are in the 148–134 Ma range, and are older than the estimated age for trench sedimentation as indicated by the youngest radiolarian fossil age of 139–135 Ma from the Sanbagawa schists. Ages of metamorphic zircon rims (132–112 Ma) from the quartz‐rich rock are consistent with metamorphic zircon ages from the quartz‐bearing eclogite, indicating that eclogite facies metamorphism peaked at 120–110 Ma. These new data are consistent with both the Iratsu eclogite body and surrounding highest‐grade Sanbagawa schists undergoing coeval subduction‐zone metamorphism, and subsequent re‐equilibration under epidote amphibolite facies conditions during exhumation.

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