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1.1 Tectonic Evolution and Major Global Earth-Surface Palaeoenvironmental Events in the Palaeoproterozoic

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Abstract

Many, if not all, of the long-term fluctuations in geological processes operating on Earth’s surface are tectonically driven and related to the interplay of plate tectonics and deep mantle dynamics resulting in supercontinental cycles and (super)plume events (Condie et al. 2001; Condie 2004). These processes include the amalgamation, dispersal, collision and geographic position of major land-masses which dictate volcanic and hydrothermal activities, changes in sea level and the global patterns of ocean circulation, thermal isolation of continents, climate change, rate of continental weathering and its influence on seawater composition, and atmospheric oxygen budget via control of burial and recycling of carbon and sulphur. Further, all of these are reflected in biological processes. However, well-documented and well-constrained examples of this conceptual model have been developed and tested largely on Phanerozoic rocks (Valentine and Moores 1970; Fischer 1984; Marshall et al. 1988; Hardebeck and Anderson 1996; Berner 2006; Rampino 2010). Although there have been a number of attempts to apply such concepts to “Deep Time”, in particular, the Palaeoproterozoic (Nance et al. 1986; Windley 1993; Lindsay and Brasier 2002; Condie et al. 2009), testing and verification of the models is challenging. The existence of continental masses, their palaeogeography and sizes in the late Archaean-early Palaeoproterozoic remain hypothetical and robust plate reconstructions are hampered by the small number of reliable palaeomagnetic data (Evans and Pisarevsky 2008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Norway, 6315, Sluppen, NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway

    V. A. Melezhik

  2. Centre for Geobiology, University of Bergen, Allegaten 41, N-5007, Bergen, Norway

    V. A. Melezhik

  3. Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvanian State University, 503 Deike Building, University Park, PA, 16870, USA

    L. R. Kump

  4. Department of Geosciences, University of Oulu, 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    E. J. Hanski

  5. Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0QF, Scotland, UK

    A. E. Fallick

  6. Department of Earth Science, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9AL, Scotland, UK

    A. R. Prave

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  1. V. A. Melezhik
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Correspondence to V. A. Melezhik .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Norway, Centre of Excellence in Geobiology, University of Bergen, Leiv Eirikssons vei 39, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Victor A. Melezhik

  2. , Department of Earth Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, United Kingdom

    Anthony R. Prave

  3. , Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Universities, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, United Kingdom

    Anthony E. Fallick

  4. , Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, Deike Building, University Park 535, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Lee R. Kump

  5. , Institut für Geologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Univ. Münster, Corrensstrasse 24, Münster, 48149, Germany

    Harald Strauss

  6. Geological Survey of Norway, Sluppen, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Aivo Lepland

  7. , Department of Geosciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, 90014, Finland

    Eero J. Hanski

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Melezhik, V.A., Kump, L.R., Hanski, E.J., Fallick, A.E., Prave, A.R. (2013). 1.1 Tectonic Evolution and Major Global Earth-Surface Palaeoenvironmental Events in the Palaeoproterozoic. In: Melezhik, V., et al. Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation. Frontiers in Earth Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29682-6_1

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