Origin of granulite terranes and the formation of the lowermost continental crust
Abstract
Differences in composition and pressures of equilibration between exposed, regional granulite terranes and suites of granulite xenoliths of crustal origin indicate that granulite terranes do not represent exhumed lowermost crust, as had been thought, but rather middle and lower-middle crustal levels. Application of well-calibrated barometers indicate that exposed granulites record equilibration pressures of 0.6 to 0.8 gigapascal (20 to 30 kilometers depth of burial), whereas granulite xenoliths, which also tend to be more mafic, record pressures of at least 1.0 to 1.5 gigapascals (35 to 50 kilometers depth of burial). Thickening of the crust by the crystallization of mafic magmas at the crust-mantle boundary may account for both the formation of regional granulite terranes at shallower depths and the formation of deep-seated mafic crust represented by many xenolith suites.
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The formation and continued growth of continents is a more stochastic process than oceanic crust change and is incompletely understood even on modern Earth.
“However, unlike the oceanic crust, which experienced a simple and predictable change in thickness and bulk composition due to secular mantle cooling, the formation and continued growth of the continents is a more stochastic process that is incompletely understood even on the modern-day Earth (Arndt and Goldstein, 1987;Bohlen and Mezger, 1989;Hacker et al., 2011;Spencer et al., 2017).”
From Secular change and the onset of plate tectonics on Earth (2020) · cites this paper as Bohlen and Mezger, 1989
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Bohlen, S. R., & Mezger, K.
- Affiliations
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Stony Brook University (US)
- ORCID
- Mezger, K.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 1989-04-21
- Volume
- 244
- Issue
- 4902
- Pages
- 326-329
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W1990912283
- Cited by
- 205
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 12.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- BORIS (University Library Bern) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › High-pressure geophysics and materials
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
- Keywords
- granulite terranes, granulite xenoliths, barometry, crustal thickening, Moho, exhumation, mafic crust
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