WHEN DID THE PLATE TECTONICS BEGIN? THE INCEPTION OF PLATE TECTONICS BASED ON THE EXISTENCE OF KOMATIITES AND THEIR MgO VARIATIONS

Year 2017, Volume: 155 Issue: 155, 255 - 260, 03.12.2017

Anıl Ardahanlıoğlu , Efe Demirci

https://doi.org/10.19111/bulletinofmre.314227

Abstract

The geoscientists have always wondered what evolutionary processes the Early Earth went through until
it reached today. The beginning of the plate tectonics poses another matter of debate in these processes.
Yet, the debates on when the plate tectonics began have not been resolved. In this sense, especially
the lack of records regarding the period of time before the Cambrian Era is considered the biggest
obstacle against resolution of these debates. The geoscientists have befi tted from various methods to
come up with different proposals about the beginning of the plate tectonics. The most notable rock type
among the ones produced by the mantle is the komatiites. While the oldest datable komatiite is 3.82
Ga; the youngest is 0.086 Ga. With the high content of magnesium they contain, their special texture
and the geological setting, the komatiites are not similar to any other rock groups which can currently
be examined. Though they were produced in different geological times, no up to date forms of these
rocks have been observed. Given the formation conditions of komatiites, recorded time intervals and the
content of magnesium they contain, they might indicate when the plate tectonics began.

Keywords

Crust, Plate Tectonic, Continental Crust, Earth, Komatiite

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