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Carbonic metamorphism, granulites and crustal growth

Nature volume 288, pages 45–50 (1980)Cite this article

Abstract

Stabilization of early crust against melting by high radioactivity and against resorption into the mantle by fast convective overturn requires that water and heat producers were flushed upwards within 50 Myr of accretion. Creation of a refractory base of granulite by metamorphism associated with CO2 vapour explains CO2-rich fluid inclusions in ancient high-grade rocks, minor-element depletions and local phenomena of arrested development of charnockite in Precambrian terrains. The hot-spot and plate-tectonic models of Precambrian crustal evolution lead to different schemes for CO2 delivery to continental roots. New tectonic concepts may be needed to explain carbonic metamorphism and other features of early crustal evolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60637

    R. C. Newton & J. V. Smith

  2. Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    B. F. Windley

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  2. J. V. Smith
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  3. B. F. Windley
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Newton, R., Smith, J. & Windley, B. Carbonic metamorphism, granulites and crustal growth. Nature 288, 45–50 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/288045a0

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