Nature 274, 544 - 548 (10 August 1978); doi:10.1038/274544a0

Composition and development of the continental tectosphere

Thomas H. Jordan

Geological Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093

Beneath the old continental nuclei are thick root zones which translate coherently during plate motions. These zones are apparently stabilised against convective disruption by the depletion of the continental upper mantle in a basalt-like component. Construction of this delicately balanced tectosphere is accomplished by the dynamic and magmatic processes of the Wilson cycle.

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