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Growth of early continental crust by partial melting of eclogite

Nature volume 425, pages 605–609 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The tectonic setting in which the first continental crust formed, and the extent to which modern processes of arc magmatism at convergent plate margins were operative on the early Earth, are matters of debate1,2. Geochemical studies have shown that felsic rocks in both Archaean high-grade metamorphic (‘grey gneiss’) and low-grade granite-greenstone terranes are comprised dominantly of sodium-rich granitoids of the tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) suite of rocks3,4,5,6,7. Here we present direct experimental evidence showing that partial melting of hydrous basalt in the eclogite facies produces granitoid liquids with major- and trace-element compositions equivalent to Archaean TTG, including the low Nb/Ta and high Zr/Sm ratios of ‘average’ Archaean TTG8, but from a source with initially subchondritic Nb/Ta. In modern environments, basalts with low Nb/Ta form by partial melting of subduction-modified depleted mantle9,10, notably in intraoceanic arc settings in the forearc11,12 and back-arc13,14 regimes. These observations suggest that TTG magmatism may have taken place beneath granite-greenstone complexes developing along Archaean intraoceanic island arcs by imbricate thrust-stacking15 and tectonic accretion16 of a diversity of subduction-related terranes. Partial melting accompanying dehydration of these generally basaltic source materials at the base of thickened, ‘arc-like’ crust would produce compositionally appropriate TTG granitoids in equilibrium with eclogite residues.

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Figure 1: Selected trace-element ratios in early–mid-Archaean TTG and late Archaean sanukitoids1–7 match those of experimental liquids in equilibrium with eclogite.
Figure 2: Variations of Th/U versus U in Archaean TTG are also consistent with their equilibration with eclogitic residues.
Figure 3: Niobium/tantalum versus zirconium/samarium ratios suggest a compositionally variable oceanic basaltic source for early–late-Archaean TTG magmas.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Science Foundation grants to R.P.R. and the Mineral Physics Institute at Stony Brook. We thank M. Defant for critical comments. Discussions with H. Martin, A. Polat, H. Rollinson, M. Rosing, H. Smithies and M. de Wit helped to improve the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Robert P. Rapp

    Present address: Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, 790-8577, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mineral Physics Institute and Department of Geosciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, 11794-2100, USA

    Robert P. Rapp

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    Nobumichi Shimizu

  3. Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Marc D. Norman

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Correspondence to Robert P. Rapp.

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Rapp, R., Shimizu, N. & Norman, M. Growth of early continental crust by partial melting of eclogite. Nature 425, 605–609 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02031

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