Initiation of plate tectonics in the Hadean: Eclogitization triggered by the ABEL Bombardment

When plate tectonics began on the Earth has been long debated and here we argue this topic based on the records of Earth-Moon geology and asteroid belt to conclude that the onset of plate tectonics was during the middle Hadean(4.37-4.20 Ga). The trigger of the initiation of plate tectonics is the ABEL Bombardment, which delivered oceanic and atmospheric components on a completely dry reductive Earth, originally comprised of enstatite chondrite-like materials. Through the accretion of volatiles, shock metamorphism processed with vaporization of both CI chondrite and supracrustal rocks at the bombarded location, and significant recrystallization went through under wet conditions, caused considerable eclogitization in the primordial continents composed of felsic upper crust of 21 km thick anorthosite, and 50 km or even thicker KREEP lower crust. Eclogitization must have yielded a powerful slab-pull force to initiate plate tectonics in the middle Hadean. Another important factor is the size of the bombardment. By creating Pacific Ocean class crater by 1000 km across impactor, rigid plate operating stagnant lid tectonics since the early Hadean was severely destroyed, and oceanic lithosphere was generated to have bi-modal lithosphere on the Earth to enable the operation of plate tectonics.Considering the importance of the ABEL Bombardment event which initiated plate tectonics including the appearance of ocean and atmosphere, we propose that the Hadean Eon can be subdivided into three periods:(1) early Hadean(4.57-4.37 Ga),(2) middle Hadean(4.37-4.20 Ga), and(3) late Hadean(4.20-4.00 Ga).     

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2016.07.005

The Hadean history of Earth is shrouded in mystery and it is considered that the planet was born dry with no water or atmosphere. The Earth-Moon system had many features in common during the birth stage. Solidification of the dry magma ocean at 4.53 Ga generated primordial continents with komatiite. We speculate that the upper crust was composed of fractionated gabbros and the middle felsic crust by anorthosite at ca. 21 km depth boundary, underlain by meta-anorthosite (grossular + kyanite + quartz) down to 50–60 km in depth. The thickness of the mafic KREEP basalt in the lower crust, separating it from the underlying upper mantle is not well-constrained and might have been up to ca. 100–200 km depending on the degree of fractionation and gravitational stability versus surrounding mantle density. The primordial continents must have been composed of the final residue of dry magma ocean and enriched in several critical elements including Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, P, K, and Cl which were exposed on the surface of the dry Earth. Around 190 million years after the solidification of the magma ocean, “ABEL bombardment” delivered volatiles including H₂O, CO₂, N₂ as well as silicate components through the addition of icy asteroids. This event continued for 200 Myr with subordinate bombardments until 3.9 Ga, preparing the Earth for the prebiotic chemical evolution and as the cradle of first life. Due to vigorous convection arising from high mantle potential temperatures, the primordial continents disintegrated and were dragged down to the deep mantle, marking the onset of Hadean plate tectonics.     

Not so rare Earth? New developments in understanding the origin of the Earth and Moon

A widely accepted model for the origin of the Earth and Moon has been a somewhat specific giant impact scenario involving an impactor to proto-Earth mass ratio of 3:7, occurring 50-60 Ma after T₀, when the Earth was only half-accreted, with the majority of Earth's water then accreted after the main stage of growth, perhaps from comets. There have been many changes to this specific scenario, due to advances in isotopic and trace element geochemistry, more detailed, improved, and realistic giant impact and terrestrial planet accretion modeling, and consideration of terrestrial water sources other than high D/H comets. The current scenario is that the Earth accreted faster and differentiated quickly, the Moon-forming impact could have been mid- to late in the accretion process, and water may have been present during accretion. These new developments have broadened the range of conditions required to make an Earth-Moon system, and suggests there may be many new fruitful avenues of research. There are also some classic and unresolved problems such as the significance of the identical O isotopic composition of the Earth and Moon, the depletion of volatiles on the lunar mantle relative to Earth's, the relative contribution of the impactor and proto-Earth to the Moon's mass, and the timing of Earth's possible atmospheric loss relative to the giant impact.     

Accretion of Moon and Earth and the emergence of life.

The discrepancy between the impact records on the Earth and Moon in the time period, 4.0-3.5 Ga calls for a re-evaluation of the cause and localization of the late lunar bombardment. As one possible explanation, we propose that the time coverage in the ancient rock record is sufficiently fragmentary, so that the effects of giant, sterilizing impacts throughout the inner solar system, caused by marauding asteroids, could have escaped detection in terrestrial and Martian records. Alternatively, the lunar impact record may reflect collisions of the receding Moon with a series of small, original satellites of the Earth and their debris in the time period about 4.0-3.5 Ga. The effects on Earth of such encounters could have been comparatively small. The location of these tellurian moonlets has been estimated to have been in the region around 40 Earth radii. Calculations presented here, indicate that this is the region that the Moon would traverse at 4.0-3.5 Ga, when the heavy and declining lunar bombardment took place. The ultimate time limit for the emergence of life on Earth is determined by the effects of planetary accretion--existing models offer a variety of scenarios, ranging from low average surface temperature at slow accretion of the mantle, to complete melting of the planet followed by protracted cooling. The choice of accretion model affects the habitability of the planet by dictating the early evolution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere. Further exploration of the sedimentary record on Earth and Mars, and of the chemical composition of impact-generated ejecta on the Moon, may determine the choice between the different interpretations of the late lunar bombardment and cast additional light on the time and conditions for the emergence of life.     

Magmatism and metallogeny of the Early Earth as a reflection of its geologic evolution

The paper is focused on the evolution of the Earth starting with the planetary accretion and differentiation of the primordial material (similar in composition to CI chondrites) into the core and mantle and the formation of the Moon as a result of the impact of the Earth with a smaller cosmic body. The features of the Hadean eon (ca. 4500–4000 Ma) are described in detail. Frequent meteorite-asteroid bombardments which the Earth experienced in the Hadean could have caused the generation of mafic/ultramafic primary magmas. These magmas also differentiated to produce some granitic magmas, from which zircons crystallized. The repeated meteorite bombardments destroyed the protocrust, which submerged into the mantle to remelt, leaving refractory zircons, indicators of the Early Earth’s geologic conditions, behind.The mantle convection that started in the Archean could possibly be responsible for the Earth’s subsequent endogenous evolution. Long-living deep-seated mantle plumes could have promoted the generation of basalt-komatiitic crust, which, thickening, could have submerged into the mantle as a result of sagduction, where it remelted. Partial melting of the thick crust, leaving eclogite as a residue, could have yielded tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) melts. TTG rocks are believed to compose the Earth’s protocrust. Banded iron bodies, the only mineral deposits of that time, were produced in the oceans that covered the Earth.This environment, recognized as LID tectonics combined with plume tectonics, probably existed on the Earth prior to the transitional period, which was marked by a series of new geologic processes and led to a modern-style tectonics, involving plate tectonics and plume tectonics mechanisms, by 2 Ga. The transitional period was likely to be initiated at about 3.4 Ga, with the segregation of outer and inner cores, which terminated by 3.1 Ga. Other rocks series (calc-alkaline volcanic and intrusive) rather than TTGs were produced at that time. Beginning from 3.4-3.3 Ga, mineral deposits became more diverse; noble and siderophile metal occurrences were predominant among ore deposits. Carbonatites, hosting rare-metal mineralization, could have formed only by 2.0 Ga. From 3.1 to 2.7 Ga, there was a period of “small-plate” tectonics and first subduction and spreading processes, which resulted in the first supercontinent by 2.7 Ga. Its amalgamation indicates the start of superplume-supercontinent cycles.Between 2.7 and 2.0 Ga, the D″ layer formed at the core-mantle interface. It became a kind of thermal regulator for the ascending already tholeiitic mantle plume magmas. All deep-seated layers of the Earth and large low-velocity shear provinces, called mantle hot fields, partially melted enriched EM-I and EM-II mantles, and the depleted recent asthenosphere mantle, which is parental for midocean-ridge basalts, were finally generated by 2 Ga. Therefore, an interaction of all Earth’s layers began from that time.     

月球物质的Re-Os同位素组成研究：对月球后期增生历史的指示

Re-Os同位素体系是理解月球强亲铁元素的分布规律和示踪月球的后期增生历史的重要手段。目前人们对月球物质Re-Os同位素成分的了解还是十分有限的,已有的Re-Os同位素数据显示一些能代表月幔成分特征的月海玄武岩具有很低的Re和Os的浓度,以及类似于球粒陨石的187Os／188Os成分特征,而月球火山玻璃和月壤等表现出相对高的Re-Os丰度和相对富放射成因Re-Os同位素成分。一般认为月球月幔的Re、0s和其他强亲铁元素相对球粒陨石是非常亏损的,而地球地幔则具有相对较高的强亲铁元素丰度（0．008倍CI球粒陨石的丰度）。新的Re-Os同位素结果证明月幔确实是亏损的,但是月球和地球在太阳系演化的较晚时期都有外来的球粒陨石物质的大量加入,即后期增生（late accretion）过程,导致了月球和地球上部物质（如月球火山玻璃、月壤等）相对地富集Os同位素和强亲铁元素,这些外来物质的后期增生可能是长期和持续的,增生过程主要发生在3．9～4．4Ga。但目前仍不清楚后期增生的陨石物质是被逐渐加入的,还是在一个相对较短的时期大量加入的,因此尚需对更多的月球物质做进一步的Re-Os同位素和强亲铁元素成分的研究。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001272

Our blue planet Earth has long been regarded to carry full of nutrients for hosting life since the birth of the planet.Here we speculate the processes that led to the birth of early life on Earth and its aftermath, finally leading to the evolution of metazoans.We evaluate:（1） the source of nutrients,（2） the chemistry of primordial ocean,（3） the initial mass of ocean,and（4） the size of planet.Among the life-building nutrients,phosphorus and potassium play a key role.Only three types of rocks can serve as an adequate source of nutrients:（a） continent-forming TTG（granite）,enabling the evolution of primitive life to metazoans;（b） primordial continents carrying anorthosite with KREEP（Potassium,Rare Earth Elements, and Phosphorus） basalts,which is a key to bear life;（c） carbonatite magma,enriched in radiogenic elements such as U and Th,which can cause mutation to speed up evolution and promote the birth of new species in continental rift settings.The second important factor is ocean chemistry.The primordial ocean was extremely acidic（pH = 1-2） and enriched in halogens（CI,F and others）,S,N and metallic elements（Cd,Cu,Zn,and others）,inhibiting the birth of life.Plate tectonics cleaned up these elements which interfered with RNA.Blue ocean finally appeared in the Phanerozoic with pH = 7 through extensive interaction with surface continental crust by weathering,erosion and transportation into ocean.The initial ocean mass was also important.The birth of life and aftermath of evolution was possible in the habitable zone with 3-5 km deep ocean which was able to supply sufficient nutrients. Without a huge landmass,nutrients cannot be supplied into the ocean only by ridge-hydrothermal circulation in the Hadean.Finally,the size of the planet plays a crucial role.Cooling of massive planets is less efficient than smaller ones,so that return-flow of seawater into mantle does not occur until central stars finish their main sequence.Due to the suitable size of Earth,the dawn of Phanerozoic witnessed the initiation of return-flow of seawater into the mantle,leading to the emergence of huge landmass above sea-level,and the distribution of nutrients on a global scale.Oxygen pump also played a critical role to keep high-PO₂ in atmosphere since then,leading to the emergence of ozone layer and enabling animals and plants to invade the land. To satisfy the tight conditions to make the Earth habitable,the formation mechanism of primordial Earth is an important factor.At first,a ’dry Earth’ must be made through giant impact,followed by magma ocean to float nutrient-enriched primordial continents（anorthosite + KREEP）.Late bombardment from asteroid belt supplied water to make 3-5 km thick ocean,and not from icy meteorites from Kuiper belt beyond cool Jupiter.It was essential to meet the above conditions that enabled the Earth as a habitable planet with evolved life forms.The tight constraints that we evaluate for birth and evolution of life on Earth would provide important guidelines for planetary scientists hunting for life in the exosolar planets.     

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2016.06.011

We present a new united theory of planet formation,which includes magneto-rotational instability(MRl) and porous aggregation of solid particles in a consistent way.We show that the "tandem planet formation" regime is likely to result in solar system-like planetary systems.In the tandem planet formation regime,planetesimals form at two distinct sites:the outer and inner edges of the MRl suppressed region.The former is likely to be the source of the outer gas giants,and the latter is the source for the inner volatile-free rocky planets.Our study spans disks with a various range of accretion rates,and we find that tandem planet formation can occur for M = 10~(7.3)- 10~(-6.9)M_⊙yr~(-1).The rocky planets form between 0.4-2 AU,while the icy planets form between 6-30 All;no planets form in 2—6 AU region for any accretion rate.This is consistent with the gap in the solid component distribution in the solar system,which has only a relatively small Mars and a very small amount of material in the main asteroid belt from 2-6 AU.The tandem regime is consistent with the idea that the Earth was initially formed as a completely volatile-free planet.Water and other volatile elements came later through the accretion of icy material by occasional inward scattering from the outer regions.Reactions between reductive minerals,such as schreibersite(Fe-jP),and water are essential to supply energy and nutrients for primitive life on Earth.     

When did plate tectonics begin?

The plate tectonic paradigm has been the dominant model for understanding the solid Earth for over 40 years. However, although the model is hugely successful, there is still great uncertainty as to when the plate tectonic process began. Two recent papers have highlighted this difficulty by proposing two very different start times for plate tectonics. One model argues that plate tectonic processes took over from an earlier (unspecified) tectonic regime in a hotter, younger Earth at 1.0 Ga, whereas the other proposes a much earlier start at 4.4–4.5 Ga, and within a 100 Ma of planetary accretion. This feature discusses the evidence for the early and late start hypotheses and argues for a middle position in which plate tectonic processes began during the Archaean (>2.5 Ga ago).     

The Kotuikan ring structure as possible evidence for a large impact event in the northern Siberian craton

Remote-sensing, cosmogeological, tectonic, geophysical, structural, compositional, isotopic, and geochronological criteria permit identifying the Kotuikan ring structure in the northern Siberian Platform as a Paleoproterozoic large astrobleme, close in age to the Vredefort and Sudbury impact structures. Also, indirect evidence for two more large impact structures was obtained here. This confirms widely hypothesized massive bombardment of the early Earth by asteroids and a possible effect of large impact events on the Earth's mantle dynamics and rotation regime, that is, the tectonic evolution of our planet, including plate tectonics.     

前寒武纪重大地质事件

本文概括性地阐述我国前寒武纪冥古宙、太古宙、元古宙三大地史阶段的重大地质事件,粗略勾绘前寒武纪地球演化的轨迹,期望了解我国与全球变化的异同,进一步突出我国前寒武纪三大地史阶段中新太古代超级地质事件及元古宙时期中国大陆块体对哥伦比亚及罗迪尼亚两个超大陆形成与破裂的地质响应。冥古宙是地球最早期的地史阶段,从太阳系形成的4 567 Ma至地球上最老的4 030 Ma的Acasta片麻杂岩。碎屑锆石保存最好的地点是西澳的Mt. Narryer和Jack Hills。目前在中国大陆至少有7个地点发现具有罕见的约4.0 Ga的碎屑锆石,这些地点并不位于克拉通区,而是赋存于造山系新元古代至古生代以碎屑岩为主的地层中。太古宙(4 030~2 420 Ma)定义为从最古老的岩石出现(4 030 Ma Acasta片麻岩)至冰碛层首次广泛分布的寒冷期之间的一段地史。最古老的岩石为英云闪长片麻岩,构成加拿大西北斯拉夫克拉通4.03~3.94 Ga Acasta片麻岩的一部分。西南格陵兰Isua带保存全球有最老的表壳岩,形成于3 810 Ma。太古宙最重大的地质事件莫过于2 780~2 420 Ma时期的新太古代超级事件。值得指出的是华北克拉通最古老、也是中国最古老的岩石出露在中国辽宁鞍山地区,约3.80 Ga英云闪长岩奧长花岗质片麻岩和3.30 Ga的表壳岩已被识别。华北克拉通太古宙有与世界各地太古宙相似的演化历史和特点,包括花岗岩绿岩带及高级变质片麻岩带、广泛的英云闪长岩奧长花岗岩花岗闪长岩(TTG)片麻岩、古陆壳的出露(略老于3.8 Ga)、广泛分布的BIF等。我国太古宙花岗岩绿岩带虽然在华北克拉通分布较广,但与南非、格陵兰、加拿大、西澳等地经典的花岗岩绿岩带相比,时代偏新,仅以新太古代为主,规模偏小,缺少大面积分布的科马提岩,且变质程度偏高,主要为角闪岩相麻粒岩相变质。演化到元古宙(2 420~541 Ma),则进入成熟的、较冷的、刚性程度较高的地球,以现代样式板块构造、超大陆旋回和更复杂的疑源类(eukaryotic)生命的发育为特征。这种变化大致出现在2 420 Ma左右,与哈默斯利型BIF的消失及地史中首次广泛出现的冰川沉积物年代相近。古元古代早期十分重要的“休伦冰川事件”、指示大氧化事件的古老红层在我国尚未被发现,与Lomagundi Jatuli (LJE) δ13C的同位素漂移有关的关门山组古元古代沉积地层的同位素年代学依据不足;古元古代磷矿和具有巨大石油潜力的2.01 Ga Shunga事件也未能鉴别。但中国最大特色是发育了与哥伦比亚和罗迪尼亚超大陆汇聚与裂解有关的良好地质记录,特别是华北克拉通保存了古元古代与哥伦比亚超大陆汇聚有关的超高温、高压麻粒岩等变质及岩浆事件,1 780 Ma以后的中元古代又保存了与哥伦比亚超大陆裂解有关的裂谷沉积及岩浆活动;而在扬子和塔里木陆块区则保存了与新元古代早期与罗迪尼亚超大陆汇聚有关的蛇绿岩、混杂岩、洋内弧、俯冲增生杂岩及大陆边缘弧,在约800 Ma以后则发育了与罗迪尼亚超大陆裂解有关的沉积及岩浆活动的地质记录,为中国和全球地质学者研究这一时期地球系统变化和成矿作用提供了客观的野外实验室和良好的范例。     

Is plate tectonics needed to evolve technological species on exoplanets?

As we continue searching for exoplanets,we wonder if life and technological species capable of communicating with us exists on any of them.As geoscientists,we can also wonder how important is the presence or absence of plate tectonics for the evolution of technological species.This essay considers this question,focusing on tectonically active rocky(silicate) planets,like Earth,Venus,and Mars.The development of technological species on Earth provides key insights for understanding evolution on exoplanets,including the likely role that plate tectonics may play.An Earth-sized silicate planet is likely to experience several tectonic styles over its lifetime,as it cools and its lithosphere thickens,strengthens,and becomes denser.These include magma ocean,various styles of stagnant lid,and perhaps plate tectonics.Abundant liquid water favors both life and plate tectonics.Ocean is required for early evolution of diverse single-celled organisms,then colonies of cells which specialized further to form guts,appendages,and sensory organisms up to the complexity of fish(central nervous system,appendages,eyes).Large expanses of dry land also begin in the ocean,today produced above subduction zones in juvenile arcs and by their coalescence to form continents,although it is not clear that plate tectonics was required to create continental crust on Earth.Dry land of continents is required for further evolution of technological species,where modification of appendages for grasping and manipulating,and improvement of eyes and central nervous system could be perfected.These bioassets allowed intelligent creatures to examine the night sky and wonder,the beginning of abstract thinking,including religion and science.Technology arises from the exigencies of daily living such as tool-making,agriculture,clothing,and weapons,but the pace of innovation accelerates once it is allied with science.Finally,the importance of plate tectonics for developing a technological species is examined via a thought experiment using two otherwise identical planets:one with plate tectonics and the other without.A planet with oceans,continents,and plate tectonics maximizes opportunities for speciation and natural selection,whereas a similar planet without plate tectonics provides fewer such opportunities.Plate tectonics exerts environmental pressures that drive evolution without being capable of extinguishing all life.Plate tectonic processes such as the redistribution of continents,growth of mountain ranges,formation of land bridges,and opening and closing of oceans provide a continuous but moderate environmental pressure that stimulates populations to adapt and evolve.Plate tectonics may not be needed in order for life to begin,but evolution of technological species is favored on planets with oceans,continents,plate tectonics,and intermittently clear night sky.     

行星地球不均一成因和演化的理论框架初探

地球是太阳系的一部分 ,研究地球的成因和演化必须要与太阳系的形成结合起来。文章在综合最新的地球化学、地球物理和天体化学研究资料的基础上 ,对地球的不均一成因进行了理论上的推导。对星子学说、地球的多阶段堆积模型和地球化学不均一性以及它们的相互关系进行了论述 ,从行星演化的角度阐述地球不均一成因的理论框架。根据行星起源的星子学说 ,以及天体化学、地球化学和深部地质地球化学和地球物理资料的多重限制 ,行星地球的增生经历了两个主要阶段 ,即原地球的形成阶段和晚期星子堆积形成上地幔镶饰层阶段。早前寒武纪岩石的铅、钕、氧同位素的研究表明 ,在地球形成的初期就存在化学不均一性 ,而这种不均一性很可能代表初始堆积星子化学组成的差异     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711200148X

The Earth was born from a giant impact at 4.56 Ga. It is generally thought that the Earth subsequently cooled, and hence shrunk, over geologic time. However, if the Earth's convection was double-layered, there must have been a peak of expansion during uni-directional cooling. We computed the expansion-contraction effect using first principles mineral physics data. The result shows a radius about 120 km larger than that of the present Earth immediately after the consolidation of the magma-ocean on the surface, and subsequent shrinkage of about 110 km in radius within about 10 m.y., followed by gradual expansion of 11 km in radius due to radiogenic heating in the lower mantle in spite of cooling in the upper mantle in the Archean. This was due to double-layered convection in the Archean with final collapse of overturn with contraction of about 8 km in radius, presumably by the end of the Archean. Since then, the Earth has gradually cooled down to reduce its radius by around 12 km. Geologic evidence supports the late Archean mantle overturn ca. 2.6 Ga, such as the global distribution of super-liquidus flood basalts on nearly all cratonic fragments (>35 examples). If our inference is correct, the surface environment of the Earth must have undergone extensive volcanism and emergence of local landmasses, because of the thin ocean cover (3–5 km thickness). Global unconformity appeared in cratonic fragments with stromatolite back to 2.9 Ga with a peak at 2.6 Ga. The global magmatism brought extensive crustal melting to yield explosive felsic volcanism to transport volcanic ash into the stratosphere during the catastrophic mantle overturn. This event seems to be recorded by sulfur mass-independent fractionation (SMIF) at 2.6 Ga. During the mantle overturn, a number of mantle plumes penetrated into the upper mantle and caused local upward doming of by ca. 2–3 km which raised local landmasses above sea-level. The consequent increase of atmospheric oxygen enabled life evolution from prokaryotes to eukaryotes by 2.1 Ga, or even earlier in the Earth history.     

统一构造理论初探

以地球系统科学为指导思想,提出统一构造理论的新观点和理论基础,初步建立了理论体系框架。提出统一引力场表示理论,用Ｎｅｗｔｏｎ位算子将地球内、外扰动引力场统一。通过对地球不同圈层水平速度矢量场的对比分析,提出不同圈层的水平运动速度矢量场具有高度的相似性和统一性,且与地球自转密切相关的认识。根据观测数据,探讨板块的统一动力源。研究了幔柱构造特征,提出地幔热柱构造的动力学模型。利用积分关系法求出地表热流与岩石圈厚度的关系,提出大陆岩石圈的统一热模式和大陆地表热流经验关系式。     

地球系统多圈层构造观的基本内涵

地球系统多圈层构造观的基本点是,把地球作为一个活的天体放在宇宙系统之中,更多地考虑地球深部壳-幔-核之间的相互作用,考虑地外天体对地球运动的作用和影响。这一构造观认为:构造运动并不仅仅是岩石圈板块之间的相互作用,而是地球系统的全球动力作用过程;陆与洋是对立统一相互转化的,单纯的大陆增生说是不正确的;地幔对流说至今未被证实,陆块是活动的,但不能大规模漂移;大陆地壳不是单纯地侧向或垂向增生,而是多旋回构造-岩浆作用叠合的产物;地球的构造不是均变式向前发展,而是非均变、非线性、旋回式向前演化的;地球表层在不同地史阶段,均有其受相应深断裂体系控制的不同的构造格局,大西洋-印度洋-太平洋式大洋盆体制,只是在中生代晚期以来才出现的。      

月球起源研究进展

月球是地球唯一的天然卫星,早期学者认为地月系统是普遍存在的行星一卫星系统的一员,但是月球又有许多特征,如质量异常大,挥发分和Fe元素亏损等,传统理论难以解释这些特征.因此,针对月球的起源提出了四种学说:捕获理论,共增生理论,分裂理论和大碰撞假说.目前对大碰撞假说研究较多,但研究者们始终无法较好解释地月系统氧同位素的高度一致等特征.本文试探性提出新的月球起源分裂模型,能较好的解释某些月球特征,引起研究者们对月球起源新的思考.     

Changes in the manner of tectonic movements under the Earth’s evolution

Variations in the O, Sr, Nd, and Hf isotopic compositions in rocks of various ages, minerals, and mantle temperature in the geological history are considered. Two periods in the Earth’s history are studied: the beginning of the formation of the planet until the turn of (3.4) 2.7–2.5 Ga and the tectonic movement period in the last 2 Ga, and also the transitional period within 2.7–2.0 Ga.     

The geological history and geodynamics of the Earth

The Earth formed through a hot accretion process. Almost simultaneously, the core and the mantle were separated from each other. At the final stages of the accretion process, the outer layer approximately 2000 km thick was molten, thus representing a magma ocean. This magma ocean produced the primary crust of the Earth. Surface waters were precipitated from the atmosphere and released from the crystallizing magma ocean. The plate tectonic processes started at around 4.3 to 4 Ga BP. In the Archean, the overall tectonic mechanism was quite specific, due to substantially higher mantle temperature and thicker oceanic crust. The normal plate tectonics acted during the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic with the periodic assembly of continents, which are known as supercontinent cycles.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000309

In the early 1980s, evidence that crustal rocks had reached temperatures 〉1000 ℃ at normal lower crustal pressures while others had followed low thermal gradients to record pressures characteristic of mantle conditions began to appear in the literature, and the importance of melting in the tectonic evolution of orogens and metamorphic-metasomatic reworking of the lithospheric mantle was realized. In parallel, new developments in instrumentation, the expansion of in situ analysis of geological ma- terials and increases in computing power opened up new fields of investigation. The robust quantifi- cation of pressure （P）, temperature （T） and time （t） that followed these advances has provided reliable data to benchmark geodynamic models and to investigate secular change in the thermal state of the lithosphere as registered by metamorphism through time. As a result, the last 30 years have seen sig- nificant progress in our understanding of lithospheric evolution, particularly as it relates to Precambrian geodynamics.