Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

2011 Edition
| Editors: Muriel Gargaud, Ricardo Amils, José Cernicharo Quintanilla, Henderson James (Jim) CleavesII, William M. Irvine, Daniele L. Pinti, Michel Viso

Archean Eon

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_98
How to cite

Synonyms

 Precambrian

Keywords

Continental crust, greenstone belts, komatiite, plate tectonics, TTG

Definition

The Archean (Archaean in British English) is the second major period in the geological history. Preceded by the Hadean and followed by the Proterozoic, its start is usually taken as the age of the oldest preserved rocks, either the 4.0 Ga-old (Ga = 109 years = billion years)  Acasta gneisses (Canada) or the 3.85 to 3.80 Ga-old Amitsôq gneisses (Greenland). The transition to the Proterozoic is typically taken at 2.5 Ga, which was thought to mark a major change in the Earth’s geodynamic style and corresponds roughly to the  Great Oxygenation Event. It encompasses an approximately 1.5-Ga period during which the oldest well-preserved rocks formed and life likely originated. The  tectonicstyle was different from today, with more abundant mantle plumes, greatly fragmented tectonic plates, and longer mid-oceanic ridges. It is commonly believed that plate tectonics started in this...

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References and Further Reading

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Laboratoire Magmas et VolcansUniversité Blaise Pascal, OPGC, CNRS, IRDClermont-FerrandFrance
  2. 2.GEOTOP & Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’AtmosphèreUniversité du Québec à MontréalMontréalCanada