The Belomorian eclogite province: Unique evidence of Meso-Neoarchaean subduction and collision

Abstract

The Belomorian eclogite province (BEP) recently revealed in the eastern part of the Fennoscandian shield is a unique Archaean object. The age of the crust eclogites known in the world outside the BEP does not exceed two billion years [1], which corresponds to the middle of the Paleoproterozoic. Eclogites with an age not less than 2.72 Ga [2] were found for the first time within the Belomorian province. The studies of the BEP open principally new opportunities, first, for the reconstruction of the geodynamic processes in the his� tory of the Early Precambrian crust of the region, and second, for a more correct concept about the geody� namics of the Early Precambrian as a whole, because the lack of reliable findings of Archaean eclogites is one of the arguments against the reality of subduction and application of plate tectonics to the modeling of the Archaean geodynamics.