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The Archaean: Geological and Geochemical Windows into the Early Earth pp 177–184Cite as

Uniformitarian Theories and Catastrophic Events Through Time

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Part of the book series: Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences ((MASE,volume 9))

Abstract

Uniformitarian models for the early Earth take little or no account of repeated impacts of asteroid clusters and their effects on crust and mantle. However a large body of evidence exists for multiple impacts by bodies on the scale of tens of kilometer during ~3.47–2.48 Ga (Lowe et al. Astrobiology 3:7–48, 2003; Lowe and Byerly, Did the LHB end not with a bang but with a whimper? 41st Lunar Planet Science conference 2563pdf, 2010; Glikson and Vickers. Aust J Earth Sci 57:79–95, 2010; Glikson The asteroid impact connection of planetary evolution. Springer-Briefs, Dordrecht, 150 pp, 2013), likely accounting at least in part for mafic-ultramafic volcanism produced by mantle rebound and melting events, consistent with original suggestion by Green (Earth Planet Sci Lett 15:263–270, 1972; Green DH Petrogenesis of Archaean ultramafic magmas and implications for Archaean tectonics. In: Kroner A (ed) Precambrian plate tectonics. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 469–489, 1981). Further, the juxtaposition of at least four impact ejecta units with the fundamental unconformity between granite-greenstone terrains and semi-continental deposits in both the Barberton Greenstone Belt and the Pilbara Craton about ~3.26–3.227 Ga constitutes a primary example for the tectonic and magmatic effects of asteroid impact clusters in the Archaean, supporting Lowe and Byerly’s (Did the LHB end not with a bang but with a whimper? 41st Lunar Planet Science conference 2563pdf, 2010) suggested extension of the late heavy bombardment (LHB).

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  1. School of Archaeology and Anthropology and Planetary Science Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Andrew Y. Glikson

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Glikson, A.Y. (2014). Uniformitarian Theories and Catastrophic Events Through Time. In: The Archaean: Geological and Geochemical Windows into the Early Earth. Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07908-0_12

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