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Composition and development of the continental tectosphere

Nature volume 274, pages 544–548 (1978)Cite this article

Abstract

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

    Thomas H. Jordan

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  1. Thomas H. Jordan
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Jordan, T. Composition and development of the continental tectosphere. Nature 274, 544–548 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/274544a0

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