Subduction processes may have operated very early in Earth’s history according to the heavy silicon isotope compositions of Archaean igneous rocks. The silicon that precipitated out of the Archaean oceans as chert was subducted and melted to yield seawater-like heavy isotope signatures in early granitic rocks.
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Poitrasson, F. A silicon memory of subduction. Nat. Geosci. 12, 682–683 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0418-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0418-3
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