Ar degassing and the origin of the sialic crust

The degassing of radiogenic Ar⁴⁰ is defined as coherent if only the Ar⁴⁰ associated with parent K is degassed as K is transferred from the mantle to crust. Coherency predicts, for a 4.55 b.y. Earth, a sialic crust with 2.50 per cent K, using only the Ar content of the atmosphere and present crust (from a Hurley and Rand, 1969, age distribution). This is a maximum limit to K content of the sialic crust if the age of the Earth is no younger than 4.55 b.y. A K content of the sialic crust of 1.9 per cent (Holland and Lambert, 1972) implies an efficiency (E) less than 100 per cent for K transfer from oceanic basalt to sialic crust in subduction zones and/or some non-coherent (preferential) degassing of Ar from the mantle.K, Ar coherence for mantle differentiation to crust is supported however, by the agreement of the predicted oceanic He flux and radiogenic He-Ar ratios of volcanic gases with the observed limits if the best estimate of K, U, Th influx rates at oceanic ridges is used.Assuming K, Ar coherence, various sea-floor spreading rates as functions of time, and limiting K contents of the sialic crust, computed models give E and the portion of the sialic crust derived from melting oceanic basalt in subduction zones. Except for models with very high spreading rates in the Precambrian, they also predict that a significant part of the sialic crust was derived from vertical differentiation of the mantle, presumably early in Earth history. The results are in accord with Armstrong's model of an early sialic crust that is recycled to give a Hurley-type age pattern with the proviso that the ‘vertical’ sial K_υis formed early in Earth history for models with a high K_υcomponent.The coherent K, Ar models with preferred estimates of input parameters are also consistent with a limited mixing model (only old and new sial are equilibrated) for Sr isotopic evolution and the probable average $\text{Sr}{}^{87}\text{Sr}{}^{86}$ ratio now of the sialic crust.