From Geoscience Australia
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The origin and evolution of the Earth's continental crust

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

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The present upper crustal composition of the Earth is attributed largely to intracrustal differentiation, resulting in the production of K-rich granites. The crust grows episodically and it is concluded that at least 60 per cent of it was emplaced by the late Archaean (ca 2.7 Ae). Archaean tonalites and trondhjemites resulted from slab melting of young hot oceanic crust. In contrast, most subduction-related rocks, now the main contributors to crustal growth, are derived from the mantle wedge above subduction zones. The contrast between the processes responsible for Archaean and post-Archaean crustal growth is attributed to faster subduction of younger (hotter) oceanic crust in the Archaean (ultimately due to higher heat flow) compared with subduction of older cooler oceanic crust in more recent times. The terrestrial continental crust appears to be unique compared to crusts on other planets and satellites in the solar system, ultimately, a consequence of the presence of water on Earth.

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Field Value
Title The origin and evolution of the Earth's continental crust
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/5c41fc7c-c208-4d5a-a1e8-4fe4626fd1aa
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage Australia
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "The origin and evolution of the Earth's continental crust". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/the-origin-and-evolution-of-the-earths-continental-crust