The North China Craton (NCC), one of the oldest cratons worldwide, may provide information on the evolution and geodynamic processes of the early Earth, especially during the pre-Mesoarchean period. Many ancient zircons have been discovered in the Jiapigou terrane of the northeastern NCC on the basis of our recent studies, providing an excellent opportunity to trace the early crustal evolution trend of the NCC. Here, we present a detailed study of the petrography, mineralogy, zircon U–Pb dating and Lu–Hf isotopes of supracrustal rocks (biotite schist) obtained from the Jiapigou terrane. Geochronology combined with the internal structures and Th/U ratios of the zircons reveal that the zircons acquired from the supracrustal rock can be divided into the following two types: magmatic zircons and metamorphic zircons. Among the magmatic zircons, the youngest zircon age (2.49 Ga) is considered to represent the time at which the protolith of the supracrustal rock (i.e., Neoarchean) crystallized, whereas the others were likely captured or inherited from their magma sources. The zircon Hf isotopes reveal that unexposed Hadean–Paleoarchean crust (4.18–3.57 Ga) is present beneath the Jiapigou terrane, and its growth history can be traced back to the Hadean period. Moreover, the evidence derived from this and previous studies indicates that the Jiapigou terrane underwent two crustal recycling events (3.37–3.20 Ga and ~2.96 Ga) during the Paleoarchean, two crustal reworking episodes (2.53 Ga and 2.49 Ga) during the Neoarchean, and later metamorphism at 2.41 Ga. Thus, the Jiapigou terrane has undoubtedly recorded multiple episodes of early crustal growth and/or reworking that are similar to, but not limited to, those of the northern and southern margins of the NCC.

Crustal growth and modification of the Muzidian Gneiss complex revealed by detrital zircon from modern river sediments

Archean TTGs and high-K granitoids from the Madawara domain, Southern Bundelkhand Craton: Insights into petrogenesis, crustal growth, and mantle metasomatism

Autochthonous crustal growth and sedimentation in the Superior Province recorded by xenocrystic and detrital zircon

Affinity and underestimated Precambrian crustal growth in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Evidence from the North Alxa Block

Slab break-off triggered remelting of ancient thickened crust: petrogenesis of middle Eocene adakitic rocks in southern Tibet and implications for crustal growth

Abstract Mantle‐derived magma flux has a first‐order control on long‐term volcanic productivity, volatile cycling, and crustal growth in convergent margins. However, the factors controlling it remain unclear. We used a simplified, 3D conceptualization of an intraoceanic subduction zone and petrologic constraints on mantle melting to calculate mantle‐derived magma flux from the “bottom up”, and test the sensitivity of mantle‐derived magma flux to a variety of input variables. Estimates of mantle‐derived flux from our model can be compared to existing “top down” models based on erupted volumes and crustal growth models and is also a jumping‐off point from which more complex models of mantle‐derived magma flux at a variety of scales may be developed. We find that the total volume of mantle available to melt exerts the most significant control on mantle‐derived magma flux between different arcs. At a given arc, convergence rate and the extent of melting have the greatest impact on mantle‐derived magma flux. Variation in flux caused by variations in orthogonal convergence rates within the Aleutians may cause variability in mantle‐derived magma flux along‐arc.

Abstract The formation of juvenile felsic crust in intra-oceanic arcs (IOAs) represents a fundamental but poorly understood process in Earth's crustal evolution. While Archean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) suites have been extensively studied, the mechanisms driving post-Archean crustal growth in IOAs, particularly in the absence of pre-existing continental material, remain unclear. The Luzon Granitoid Complex (LGC) in the Central Cordillera of Northern Luzon, Philippines, offers valuable insights into juvenile crustal growth within a late Eocene (34–36 Ma) intra-oceanic arc system. Integrated analysis of U–Pb zircon geochronology, Hf isotopes, whole-rock geochemistry, and petrography classifies the LGC as low-pressure intra-oceanic arc granitoids (LP-IOAGs), comprising tonalites and trondhjemites with calc-alkaline compositions and primitive oceanic arc signatures. These LP-IOAGs exhibit diagnostic low-pressure characteristics (Sr/Y < 20, La/Yb < 10, flat HREEs), indicating plagioclase-dominated fractionation in a relatively thin arc crust without garnet involvement. Our results reveal two distinct petrogenetic signatures: (1) partial melting of gabbroic-amphibolitic lower crust (LREE-enriched Group 2: LaN/YbN > 2) and (2) fractional crystallization of mafic magmas (flat REE Group 1: LaN/YbN < 2). This heterogeneity in formation mechanisms, occurring simultaneously within the same arc segment, challenges conventional evolution models that ascribe specific processes to discrete spatial or temporal stages. Furthermore, zircons from the LGC exhibit consistently depleted mantle-like εHf(t) values (+ 13 to + 15), confirming derivation from purely juvenile sources without crustal recycling. These results show that low-pressure intra-oceanic arc granitoids (LP-IOAGs) can produce continental crust-like signatures via chemically distinct, yet coeval magmatic processes, independent of ancient crustal contributions. This advances our understanding of post-Archean crustal growth mechanisms.

Understanding Earth's Archean crust and mantle is fundamental to reconstructing terrestrial geodynamic evolution. However, these ancient rocks have undergone extensive metamorphic and metasomatic events that may overprint primary lithological and structural features, posing challenges to the interpretation of their original composition. The Divinópolis Complex represents a long-lived, polygenetic magmatic–metamorphic block in the São Francisco Craton, poorly understood but with a large amount of exposed newly identified gneisses and granites. In this study, we present integrated fieldwork, geophysics and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry U–Pb ages of zircon and monazite. The complex consists of gneiss and migmatite tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) units intruded by monzogranite and syenogranite, revealing multiple magmatic episodes. Differentiation of tonalitic magma into the upper crust has generated a TTG crust at 2915–2860 Ma followed by another one from 2800 to 2760 Ma. After 2760 Ma extensive generation of granodiorites and granites from potassic shallow sources indicates crustal and mantle differentiation. The last potassic pulses occur between 2650 and 2610 Ma and mark the period of tectonic quiescence. The crust was reactivated at 2.06–2.04 Ga, mainly along deep shear zones between major blocks. These events share parallels with other cratons such as Kaapvaal, Yilgarn and North China in showing a transition from plume to plate-tectonic dominance.

Accurately constraining the molybdenum (Mo) isotope composition (δ98/95Mo) of Earth's major reservoirs is essential for understanding its evolution. However, δ98/95Mo of the continental crust (CC), particularly the middle and lower crust, remains poorly constrained. Here we show the Mo isotope data for the Gangdese arc section in combination with published data from ultramafic-mafic, intermediate and felsic intrusions, representing the lower, middle and upper CC, respectively, constrain variability within the CC. Mass balance calculations using several crustal depth models generate an average δ98/95Mo of the bulk CC of -0.116 ± 0.011‰ (2 s.d.), resolvably heavier than the bulk silicate Earth. Global scale mass balance modeling demonstrates that the Mo isotope compositions of the CC and the depleted mantle are presently near balanced. Lower crustal delamination is an additional mechanism capable of contributing to the subchondritic Mo isotope composition of the depleted mantle. Over the course of Earth's history, new crustal growth and destruction have reached dynamic equilibrium.

Petrogenesis, geodynamic setting, age of Rhyacian igneous rocks, from Nampala gold deposit: Implications for the crustal growth of the Birimian terrain in southern Mali

Crustal growth of Assam Meghalaya Gneissic complex related to Kuunga Orogeny: Insights from A2-type granitoids of the West Mikir Hills (Assam), Northeast India

Abstract Tectonic underplating of high‐pressure/low‐temperature (HP‐LT) tectonic slices is a key mechanism in crustal growth at convergent margins. Yet, the processes controlling the geometry, depth and sequence of underplating events remain poorly constrained. We investigate the 3D petro‐structural architecture of the Phyllite‐Quartzite (PQ) nappe stack in southeastern Peloponnese (Greece), a well‐preserved segment of an Oligo‐Miocene accretionary complex within the Hellenic subduction zone, to constrain how successive pluri‐kilometric slices were formed and exhumed. Detailed structural mapping, petrology, Raman thermometry and thermobarometric modeling reveal two distinct sub‐units: Velanidhia and Pandanassa, interpreted as individual tectonic slices underplated at ∼50–60 km depth. Their pressure peak conditions (Velanidhia: 16 ± 1 kbar, 480 ± 10°C; Pandanassa: 15–18 kbar, 435 ± 21°C) and contrasted retrograde pressure‐temperature paths, witnessing post‐peak heating in Velanidhia and isothermal decompression in Pandanassa, reflect discrete underplating events under evolving thermal regimes. Geological cross‐sections and structural analysis reveal a deep paleo‐accretionary wedge geometry, involving a top‐to‐the‐E ductile‐brittle detachment that accommodated syn‐orogenic exhumation of a dome‐shaped HP‐LT nappe stack later crosscut by steep normal faults. Thanks to the detailed characterization and structural architecture of the PQ series, it is possible to constrain the trench‐parallel (≥115 km) and trench‐perpendicular (≥50 km) dimensions of each tectono‐metamorphic unit, confirming their pluri‐kilometric lateral extent. This work provides new insights into how episodic underplating at the subduction interface, witnessed by stacked tectono‐metamorphic units with contrasted P‐T evolution, governs the architecture of paleo‐accretionary wedges at active margins.

The evolution of Earth’s continental crust is crucial for understanding geodynamics, climate regulation, and the origins of life. The Paleoproterozoic, marked by the Great Oxidation Event and the consolidation of plate tectonics, was a critical interval for continental growth. While arc magmatism dominates crust formation in the Phanerozoic, its role in earlier Earth history remains uncertain. Three silicic LIPs in the Amazon Craton were emplaced at regular ~90-100 million-year intervals (1980 Ma, 1880 Ma, and 1790 Ma), producing high-temperature (>750 °C) silicic magmas derived from lower crust ( ~ 45 km thick). Our findings demonstrate that LIPs contributed significantly to continental crustal growth through deep-crustal partial melting of Archean-Rhyacian crust. We highlight that silicic LIP magmatism was a fundamental driver of continental differentiation and long-term stability during the Paleoproterozoic.

Abstract The formation, storage, and evolution of granitic magmas are fundamental processes driving the growth of continental crust. While traditionally attributed to crystal fractionation in high‐melt fraction magma chambers, the model invoking low‐melt fraction crystal mushes has gained wide acceptance. However, the chemical and textural impacts of crystal mush rejuvenation remain elusive and the precise petrological record is relatively poorly studied. The rapakivi K‐feldspar identified in the early Eocene monzogranitic porphyry of the Caina intrusive complex, Gangdese batholith, is an ideal candidate for investigating these issues, as feldspar can record clues to magmatic processes. Field survey, optical and mineral flake scanning observations, X‐ray fluorescence analysis, in situ Sr and mineral Sm‐Nd isotopic analyses, TESCAN integrated mineral analysis, electron probe microanalysis, and three‐dimensional crystal shape modeling were performed on the collected samples. K‐feldspars can be divided into three types based on chemical zonation: normal, reverse, and oscillatory zoning crystals. Varying isotopic signatures between the K‐feldspar and associated mantle suggest that the rapakivi texture originated in heterogeneous magmatic pulse recharge. Crystal shape modeling of the plagioclase chadacryst, mantle, and matrix plagioclase, combined with compositions, indicates that mantle plagioclase originated from the quenching of recharge magmas. We propose a model for the formation of rapakivi K‐feldspar and the rejuvenation of crystal mush. Repeated hot magma pulses recharged the mush, triggering magma convection and thermal perturbations. This process enabled the prolonged growth of K‐feldspar megacrysts, which were subsequently capped by plagioclase, resulting in the formation of the rapakivi texture.

Abstract Subduction-related magmatic arcs are considered principal sites of continental growth, but the origin of the voluminous felsic (granitic) igneous rocks emplaced in these settings is uncertain. Probing the magmatic history of these granites can provide insight into the magma plumbing systems responsible for differentiation and, potentially, generation of continental crust. Seminal studies suggest derivation of the Lachlan Fold Belt I-type granites in eastern Australia by partial melting of infracrustal sources, yet these same granites show field and chemical evidence for interaction between mantle-derived magmas and older source components, obfuscating the link between I-type granite petrogenesis and crustal growth. To evaluate these competing petrogenetic scenarios, we integrate U–Pb (zircon) geochronology, zircon εHf–δ18O, and bulk-rock Nd-Sr-O isotopic and geochemical data to explore the formation of the ‘Cordilleran-style’ Bega Batholith, the largest I-type batholith in the Lachlan Fold Belt. Secular compositional trends are identified where the granites transition from isotope signatures characteristic of melting old continental sources in the west, to more mantle-like isotope compositions in the east. These compositional shifts, and correlated zircon εHf–δ18O arrays, are consistent with open-system magma generation and mantle-derived magmatic input, where the composition of the mantle-derived component changed, and the proportion of supracrustal source material diminished, with ongoing arc extension and oceanward migration of the subduction zone. Isotopic mass balance, incorporating constraints from whole rock Nd data, suggests a cumulative mantle input of ~85–111 x 103 km3 representing up to 75% of the Bega Batholith by volume at a magma production rate of ~60 km3 km−1 Ma−1 and indicating considerable addition of juvenile crust along the eastern margin of Australia between ca. 420–385 Ma. Our results highlight the key role of crust–mantle interaction in the petrogenesis of I-type granites in extensional back-arcs, and that these environments represent important sites of Phanerozoic continental growth.

Magmas erupting in arcs range in composition from MgO-rich basalt to MgO-poor rhyolite. This broad compositional range is due to the sequential crystallization and separation of minerals with different chemical compositions from the cooling magma (a process known as fractional crystallization), to mixing between magmas that have undergone different degrees of fractional crystallization, and to the assimilation of rocks, in which high temperatures allow magmas to partially melt and assimilate them. Although the roles of fractional crystallization and mixing in arc magmas have been addressed on a large scale, the role of crustal assimilation has mostly been assessed at local to regional scales and not at the global scale. Using published whole-rock geochemical data on 18 modern arcs of variable crustal thicknesses (∼10–∼65 km), this study highlights that correlations of elements (MgO and Co), which are the indices of fractional crystallization, with Nd and Sr isotopes, which are the tracers of assimilation, change systematically in magmatic rocks with the crustal thickness of the arc. These correlations indicate the occurrence of assimilation–fractional crystallization (AFC) processes in arcs of different crustal thicknesses. Based on the results of geochemical modeling, the systematics of the correlations between Sr–Nd isotopes and MgO–Co suggest that the rate of crustal assimilation during fractional crystallization of the magmas increases as the thickness of the arc crust becomes greater, which is a consequence of both these processes occurring at deeper and hotter crustal levels in a thick crust compared to a thin crust. In addition, the rocks that are assimilated by arc magmas in increasingly thick arcs are isotopically more evolved, suggesting that the process of crustal growth, refining, and maturation in arcs results from a continuous reworking of previously formed crust through time by subsequent arc magmatic events.

Diverse late Neoarchean magmatism in northeastern North China Craton: Consequences of crustal growth, recycling, and magma mixing

Abstract The tectonic evolution of southwest Australia, including Archean cratonization and multiple episodes of Proterozoic to Phanerozoic supercontinental assembly and breakup, remains debated, in part due to previously poorly constrained crustal structures. This study presents a new 3‐D shear wave velocity (Vs) model in the crust and uppermost mantle of southwest Australia using seismic ambient noise tomography. We utilize new data collected from 27 broadband stations deployed in the region from 2020 to 2023, augmented by reprocessed data from nearby permanent and previous temporary stations. The Vs model highlights distinct crustal structures associated with the Archean Yilgarn Craton, its fringing Proterozoic Pinjarra Orogen and Albany–Fraser Orogen, Phanerozoic Perth Basin, and the long‐lived Darling Fault. It documents the region's complex evolution from Archean and Proterozoic crustal growth and reworking events to Phanerozoic continental rifting and breakup. We also identify a high‐velocity (3.8–4.2 km/s) zone in the middle‐to‐lower crust (>10 km in depth) along the southwestern edge of the Yilgarn Craton but east of the Darling Fault, a structural feature imaged for the first time. This anomaly is likely related to magmatic underplating processes during continental breakup and rifting localized on a pre‐existing weak zone. The imaged heterogeneity in the deep crust supports the geochemistry‐based models of deep‐rooted ENE‐trending structures across the Yilgarn Craton, which challenges the traditional terrane‐accretion model for Archean craton formation. It also implies that the tectonomagmatic processes that have shaped craton margins can affect larger parts of the continental crust at depth compared to what is apparent at Earth's surface.

Voluminous felsic continental crust is, as far as we know, unique to Earth, yet the timescales of its earliest growth remain debated. Archean mantle evolution is complementary to crustal growth but is largely unconstrained for strontium isotopes due widespread Rb-Sr disturbance. Here, we perform high spatial resolution radiogenic Sr and Ca isotope measurements in magmatic plagioclase megacrysts from 3.7–2.8 Ga Archean anorthosites and leucogabbros. We report mantle-like Ca isotope signatures and the most unradiogenic terrestrial 87Sr/86Sr ratio yet measured on Earth, in plagioclase (87Sr/86Srinitial = 0.700050 ± 0.000017, 95% confidence interval) from the 3.73 Ga Manfred Complex of the Narryer Terrane, Western Australia. These data are consistent with 87Sr/86Sr homogenisation between the Earth and Moon (87Sr/86Srinitial ≈ 0.699061) at ca. 4.515 Ga during the Moon-forming giant impact. The appearance of a depleted mantle signature in the terrestrial strontium record post-3.5 Ga suggests that extensive continental growth began relatively late.