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An andesitic source for Jack Hills zircon supports onset of plate tectonics in the Hadean

Author

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  • Simon Turner

    (Macquarie University)

  • Simon Wilde

    (Curtin University)

  • Gerhard Wörner

    (Abteilung Geochemie, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum Göttingen (GZG))

  • Bruce Schaefer

    (Macquarie University)

  • Yi-Jen Lai

    (Macquarie University)

Abstract

The composition and origin of Earth’s early crust remains hotly debated. Here we use partition coefficients to invert the trace element composition of 4.3–3.3 Gyr Jack Hills zircons to calculate the composition of the melts from which they crystallised. Using this approach, the average SiO2 content of these melts was 59 ± 6 wt. % with Th/Nb, Dy/Yb and Sr/Y ratios of 2.7 ± 1.9, 0.9 ± 0.2 and 1.6 ± 0.7, respectively. Such features strongly indicate that the protolith for the Jack Hills zircons was not an intra-plate mafic rock, nor a TTG (tondjhemite-tonalite-granodiorite) or a Sudbury-like impact melt. Instead, the inferred equilibrium melts are much more similar to andesites formed in modern subduction settings. We find no evidence for any secular variation between 4.3 and 3.3 Gyr implying little change in the composition or tectonic affinity of the Earth’s early crust from the Hadean to Mesoarchaean.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Turner & Simon Wilde & Gerhard Wörner & Bruce Schaefer & Yi-Jen Lai, 2020. "An andesitic source for Jack Hills zircon supports onset of plate tectonics in the Hadean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-5, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14857-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14857-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Bo Huang & Tim E. Johnson & Simon A. Wilde & Ali Polat & Dong Fu & Timothy Kusky, 2022. "Coexisting divergent and convergent plate boundary assemblages indicate plate tectonics in the Neoarchean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Wriju Chowdhury & Dustin Trail & Martha Miller & Paul Savage, 2023. "Eoarchean and Hadean melts reveal arc-like trace element and isotopic signatures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

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