Archean rifts and triple-junctions revealed by gravity modeling of the southern Superior Craton

The nature of Archean tectonics and the associated geodynamic regimes are much debated in modern geoscience, despite decades of research. In this study, we present a geophysical model to show that, by the Neoarchean, convective forces from rising mantle plumes or early forms of plate subduction caused widespread extension, creating linear zones of crustal growth. These regimes can be identified as Archean rifts in the ancient rock record by the topography of the Moho, i.e., a shallowing of the boundary between the crust and the lithospheric mantle. Gravity data collected over the Abitibi greenstone belt, a particularly well-preserved portion of Neoarchean crust located in Canada’s Superior Province, was modeled to produce a topographic map of the Moho. The model shows corridors of shallow Moho surrounding islands of thick, intrusion-filled crust and is interpreted to be a snap-shot of microplate growth and breakup between 2.75 to 2.69 Ga. The connectivity of the interpreted relict rifts is possible evidence for the existence of Neoarchean plate boundaries and triple junctions and supports a model of at least local mobile-lid tectonics during this stage of Earth’s history.