Geoscientists have made a groundbreaking discovery in the mysterious tale of how the continents formed. The revised origin story, published in Nature Communications, reveals that the continents’ development was driven solely by internal geological forces within oceanic plateaus during the first few hundred million years of Earth’s history, without the need for plate tectonics or external factors.
Understanding the formation of TTGs and the magmas they originated from has been a challenging task due to the complex geological processes involved. Previous research focused on the trace element composition of these rocks in hopes of uncovering clues about TTG magmas and their source.
Dr. Matthijs Smit, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, explained that they tracked specific trace elements unaffected by alteration to trace the melt compositions back to their initial state and source, likely a type of gabbro.
Interestingly, Dr. Smit noted that many people have varieties of this rock as a kitchen countertop, highlighting the connection between everyday life and the geological processes that shaped the modern continents.
The Archean TTG crust still forms part of the continents today, with significant presence in North America, particularly in the Canadian Interior. Regions such as Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut are composed of Archean crustal fragments dominated by TTGs and their slightly younger and more evolved granite counterparts.
2024-01-31 17:41:03
Original from phys.org