When and how did plate tectonics begin? Theoretical and empirical considerations

Abstract

Plate tectonics is the horizontal motion of Earth's thermal boundary layer (lithosphere) over the convecting mantle (asthenosphere) and is mostly driven by lithosphere sinking in subduction zones. Plate tectonics is an outstanding example of a self organizing, far from equilibrium complex system (SOFFECS), driven by the negative buoyancy of the thermal boundary layer and controlled by dissipation in the bending lithosphere and viscous mantle. Plate tectonics is an unusual way for a silicate planet to lose heat, as it exists on only one of the large five silicate bodies in the inner solar system. It is not known when this mode of tectonic activity and heat loss began on Earth. All silicate planets probably experienced a short-lived magma ocean stage. After this solidified, stagnant lid behavior is the common mode of planetary heat loss, with interior heat being lost by delamination and "hot spot" volcanism and shallow intrusions. Decompression melting in the hotter early Earth generated a different lithosphere than today, with thicker oceanic crust and thinner mantle lithosphere; such lithosphere would take much longer than at present to become negatively buoyant, suggesting that plate tectonics on the early Earth occurred sporadically if at all. Plate tectonics became sustainable (the modern style) when Earth cooled sufficiently that decompression melting beneath spreading ridges made thin oceanic crust, allowing oceanic lithosphere to become negatively buoyant after a few tens of millions of years. Ultimately the question of when plate tectonics began must be answered by information retrieved from the geologic record. Criteria for the operation of plate tectonics includes ophiolites, blueschist and ultra-high pressure metamorphic belts, eclogites, passive margins, transform faults, paleomagnetic demonstration of different motions of different cratons, and the presence of diagnostic geochemical and isotopic indicators in igneous rocks. This record must be interpreted individually; I interpret the record to indicate a progression of tectonic styles from active Archean tectonics and magmatism to something similar to plate tectonics at ~1.9 Ga to sustained, modern style plate tectonics with deep subduction--and powerful slab pull--beginning in Neoproterozoic time.

Geological understanding of plate tectonics: Basic concepts, illustrations, examples and new perspectives

“…When and how plate tectonics began on Earth has always been an intriguing question that remains unanswered (see Stern 2007). The fact that the plate tectonics only exists on planet Earth in the solar system suggests the possible connection with water (Niu et al 2003), but the nature of such connection is unknown.…”

Plate-tectonic evolution of the Earth: bottom-up and top-down mantle circulation

“…1 mid-Proterozoic and older continental orogens formed under prograde geothermal gradients of 30°C/km or greater, whereas younger belts recrystallized under a broader realm of P-T trajectories ranging from ϳ30 to ϳ5°C/km. The preserved Archean crust is typified by pillowed (i.e., subsea) greenstone belts invaded by granitic plutons, komatiitic basalts, and gray tonalitic gneiss terranes, but it lacks mafic alkaline igneous rocks, complete ophiolite sections, mature, multicycle clastic sediments, high-P blueschist + low-T eclogite belts, and UHP continental metamorphic complexes (Ernst 1972(Ernst , 2007Maruyama et al 1996;Rogers and Santosh 2004;Bailey and Woolley 2005;Stern 2005Stern , 2007Stern , 2008. Some of the distinctive lithologies readily assigned to Wilson-cycle plate-tectonic processes, such as blueschists, stratigraphically intact ophiolite suites (Peltonen and Kontinen 2004), and chemically-mineralogically-evolved, multicycle platform sedimentary strata (Fig.…”

“…But how and when did plate-tectonic processes commence, very early in Earth history (Kröner 1981;Ernst 1983;Sleep 1992Sleep , 2005Komiya et al 1999;Parman et al 2001;Polat et al 2002;Smithies et al 2003Smithies et al , 2005aCondie 2005;Cawood et al 2006;Dilek and Polat 2008;Nutman and Friend 2009;Sleep et al 2014;Turner et al 2014) or much later (Davies 1992;Hamilton 1998Hamilton , 2003Hamilton , 2007Stern 2005Stern , 2007Stern , 2008Dewey 2007;Brown 2008;Shirey and Richardson 2011;Shirey et al 2013)? In a sense, this is just a terminological problem, for the early, hot mantle must have circulated beneath a mobile outer rind since solidification of the postulated magma ocean.…”

A Brief Note on Mineral Evolution and Biochemistry

“…Evre: Levha Tektoni¤inin Bafllamas› (>>3.0 Milyar y›l)]. Bu jeodinamik süreçlerin ilk bafllang›c›ndaki olaylar halen bilim camias›nda tart›fl›lmaktad›r (Rogers, 1996;Stern, 2007). Bu sürece ait baz› olaylar 4 Milyar y›ldan biraz daha yak›n dönemde bafllam›fl olsa da, jeodinamik süreçler 3 milyar y›l dolay›nda çok daha net olarak gözlenmektedir (fiekil 1).…”