CONTINENTAL GEOTHERMS DURING THE ARCHAEAN

Journal article

PRESSURE and temperature data from Archaean terrains have been used to test whether heat production during the Archaean at about three times the present rate resulted in correspondingly steeper continental geothermal gradients 1-6. The rocks considered here lie mostly in the range of medium pressure metamorphism, recording pressures of 7-13 kbar at temperatures of 600-900 °C (ref. 2). These pressures, with the underlying, normal, thickness of crust imply great thickening of continental crust during the Archaean. © 1979 Nature Publishing Group.

Authors: England, P

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: NATURE
• Volume: 277
• Issue: 5697
• Pages: 556-558
• Publication date: 1979-01-01
• DOI: 10.1038/277556a0
• ISSN: 0028-0836
• Language: English