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Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56

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Tectonophysics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto

A planetary perspective on Earth evolution: Lid Tectonics before Plate Tectonics

John D.A. Piper ⁎

Geomagnetism Laboratory, Geology and Geophysics, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, UK article info abstract

Article history: Plate Tectonics requires a specific range of thermal, fluid and compositional conditions before it will operate Received 27 September 2012 to mobilise planetary lithospheres. The response to interior heat dispersion ranges from mobile lids in con- Received in revised form 30 November 2012 stant motion able to generate zones of subduction and spreading (Plate Tectonics), through styles of Lid Accepted 25 December 2012 Tectonics expressed by stagnant lids punctured by volcanism, to lids alternating between static and mobile. Available online 12 January 2013 The palaeomagnetic record through Earth history provides a test for tectonic style because a mobile Earth of multiple continents is recorded by diverse apparent polar wander paths, whilst Lid Tectonics is recorded by Keywords: fi Planetary tectonics conformity to a single position. The former is dif cult to isolate without extreme selection whereas the latter Lid Tectonics is a demanding requirement and easily recognised. In the event, the Precambrian palaeomagnetic database Plate Tectonics closely conforms to this latter property over very long periods of time (~2.7–2.2 Ga, 1.5–1.3 Ga and 0.75– Palaeomagnetism 0.6 Ga); intervening intervals are characterised by focussed loops compatible with episodes of true polar Precambrian wander stimulated by disturbances to the planetary figure. Because of this singular property, the Palaeopangaea Precambrian palaeomagnetic record is highly effective in showing that a dominant Lid Tectonics operated throughout most of Earth history. A continental lid comprising at least 60% of the present continental area and volume had achieved quasi-integrity by 2.7 Ga. Reconfiguration of mantle and continental lid at ~2.2 Ga correlates with isotopic signatures and the Great Oxygenation Event and is the closest analogy in Earth history to the resurfacing of Venus. Change from Lid Tectonics to Plate Tectonics is transitional and the geological record identifies incipient development of Plate Tectonics on an orogenic scale especially after 1.1 Ga, but only following break-up of the continental lid (Palaeopangaea) in Ediacaran times beginning at ~0.6 Ga has it become comprehensive in the style evident during the Phanerozoic Eon (b0.54 Ga). © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction however, we have a laboratory of preserved crust dating back to within ~0.7 Ga of the planetary origin which provides the opportunity to Ever since the recognition and deﬁnition of Plate Tectonics in the monitor the way that the lithosphere has grown and moved. The tem- 1960's, there has been ongoing debate about the temporal duration poral test of the dynamic history comes from palaeomagnetism, the of this process through the planetary history (e.g. Condie and preserved record of the fossil magnetism in rocks and the probability Kröner, 2008; Condie and Pease, 2008; Davies, 1992; Engel et al., that this magnetism is trapped by the lines of force from a simple source 1974; Piper, 1982, 1987; Stern, 2008). Has this tectonic style constrained to the planetary rotation, the Geocentric Axial Dipole prevailed throughout the ~3.9 Ga recorded evolution of the continen- (GAD) model. In this paper I show how limiting evidence from this tal crust or did Earth experience long intervals of lid-style tectonics record of remanent magnetism provides a highly robust deﬁnition of punctured by volcanic activity as seen on Mars or episodic mantle tectonic style on Earth since mid-Archaean (~2.8 Ga) times and demon- overturn and resurfacing as seen on Venus (e.g. Frankel, 1996; strates that Lid Tectonics dominated the planetary lithosphere before Nimmo and McKenzie, 1998)? This debate has been stimulated in re- Plate Tectonics became the style characterising the last (Phanerozoic, cent years by the discovery of numerous planetary bodies or b0.54 Ga) Eon of geological time. “super-Earths” and the expectation that many more will be discov- ered in the future by missions such as NASA Kepler (kepler.nasa. 2. Plate Tectonics, Lid Tectonics and planetary resurfacing: gov). Whilst considerable effort has gone into the computer modelling general considerations of potential super-Earths to predict the likelihood of Plate Tectonics, the validity of the conclusions must ultimately depend on observational An important constraint to the current debate is the evidence for data. The universe presents an instantaneous time frame, although recycling of crustal material throughout the preserved continental re- often looking backwards in time over many light years. On Earth cord (Armstrong, 1981; Condie et al., 2009a; Hawkesworth et al., 2010; Taylor and McLennan, 1985); the recognition of zircons dating ⁎ Fax.: +44 151 7943464. from times preceding the oldest crust preserved at the surface is an E-mail address: [email protected]. indication that this recycling has been underway since primary

J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 45 differentiation of the planet (e.g. Van Kranendonk, 2011). However rapid (b100 Myr) resurfacing with the last event completed Earth has also experienced intervals of intense magmatic–tectonic ac- 300–600 Myr ago (Strom et al., 1994) and the planet appears to be tivity interspersed with intervals of prolonged quiescence and the currently heating up pending a future such event. It remains possible motivation for recycling remains largely speculative. Many investiga- that Plate Tectonics analogous to Earth operated during resurfacing tions have highlighted possible causes for periodicity in the recycling although Nimmo and McKenzie (1998) conclude that a combination process including catastrophic slab avalanching into the mantle, man- of high mantle viscosity, high fault strength and thick basaltic crust tle plume generation and supercontinent cycles (Condie, 1998; may prevent subduction from being sustained on Venus and hence Gurnis, 1988; Stein and Hoffman, 1994; Tackley et al., 1994) whilst preclude the key signatures of Plate Tectonics. other workers have suggested that surface processes may be entirely The transition from a quasi-static lid-style to subduction-driven shut down for prolonged periods (O'Neill et al., 2007; Silver and Behn, plate-style tectonics is difficult to predict theoretically because it is 2008). Although these and other authors have usually implied that controlled by a complex interplay of rheological, compositional and this means the shutdown of Plate Tectonics, it remains unclear thermal parameters, in particular the temperature at the core–mantle whether this was really the process operating. boundary, and it also depends critically on the amount of water For purposes of this discussion Plate and Lid Tectonics need to be present at the planetary surface. However, models have become pro- clarified. Our understanding of Plate Tectonics is defined by the way gressively more sophisticated in recent years (Moresi and Solomatov, Earth surface processes have operated during the Phanerozoic Eon 1995, 1998; Rolf and Tackley, 2011; Tackley, 2000; Trompet and (b0.54 Ga), and most specifically since preservation of the remaining Hansen, 1998; van Heck and Tackley, 2011) and have sought to deter- ocean crustal record beginning with break-up of the supercontinent mine the point at which predicted convective stresses exceed the Pangaea in Jurassic times (b0.19 Ga). Plate Tectonics is driven pri- yield stress of a lithospheric lid. In general they predict three convec- marily by buoyancy forces operating within the oceanic lithosphere tive modes comprising (i) a mobile lid in constant motion able to gen- between young elevated constructive margins incremented by the erate zones of subduction and spreading, (ii) a stagnant lid covering products of decompression melting and old, cold and dense margins the whole surface and (iii) an episodic lid where the regime keeps descending back into the mantle. The latter incorporate the process interchanging between static and mobile. of subduction which defines the destructive boundaries of the plates. The most comprehensive models all show that plate tectonics will Tectonic processes occurring within the continental crust are also fo- become more likely as the planetary size increases if the convection is cussed on the plate boundaries and a consequence of melting within basally heated (Korenaga, 2010; Valencia and O'Connell, 2009; van and above the subducting margins, or are due to the closure of oceans Heck and Tackley, 2011). Thus an inference could be that we see when the constructive margins are absent or overridden. The three Plate Tectonics on Earth and not on Mars and Venus because of the key features defining comprehensive Plate Tectonics in the earlier larger size of the former. Nevertheless such a conclusion would be history of the Earth should therefore be evidences for (i) differential highly simplistic because over time the temperature and water at mobility, (ii) processes resulting from subduction and (iii) continent the planetary surface will have been highly variable, heat production collision/break-up. We anticipate these to be absent on planets and compositional boundaries within the interior will have changed characterised by Lid Tectonics, or to be only intermittently expressed (Maruyama et al., 2007), and factors such as tidal forces and giant im- where lids are subject to episodic resurfacing as on Venus. pacts may have had periodic inputs. Lenardic et al. (2008) propose The definition of Lid Tectonics is inevitably less precise because the that an increase in surface temperatures in excess of 38 °C following observational platforms are more remote but they nevertheless empha- for example, exceptional volcanism and a build-up of a heavy CO2 at- sise that the contrast with Plate Tectonics is transitional rather than mospheric blanket, could cause the mantle to become too viscous to abrupt. Thus Mars has a ~2500 mile long fault system, the Valles continue flowing altogether. Furthermore Archaean tectonics was Marineris, that appears to have once been characterised by strike slip probably constrained by a thicker and hotter lithosphere and more faulting and mass movement and may divide the planetary shell into convective vigour influenced by a multi-layer mantle (Polat, 2012); two plates (An Yin, 2012). However, there is no substantial evidence thus geodynamic modelling by Moyen and van Hunen (2012) indi- that Plate Tectonics analogous to Earth has ever occurred on Mars cates that any Archaean (>2.5 Ga) subduction would have comprised (Hood et al., 2007; Nimmo, 2000) and the planetary evolution is widely repeatedly-initiated and short-lived episodes lasting no more than a viewed in the context of stagnant lid convection with an elastic shell few millions of years. The importance of the deep water cycle on forming as the lithosphere progressively thickened by conductive the viscosity of the mantle has also been demonstrated by both ex- cooling. The only possible significant indication for past operation of perimental and numerical studies with current estimates of mantle Plate Tectonics is the presence of stripe anomalies (Connerny et al., temperature and water concentration suggesting that over long 1999) but these have latitudinal orientations; they are therefore likely time scales the interior will warm while the mantle is degassing configured to past poles of planetary rotation and most plausibly and cool while it is regassing (Crowley et al., 2011). interpreted in terms of whole lithosphere motion over mantle plumes Clearly further clarification of this issue can only be made from feeding large volumes of basaltic lavas (Kobayashi and Sprenke, observational evidence, with the Earth's continental crust providing 2010). The latter is of course, a facet of Lid Tectonics still present in the one substantial laboratory available to us. Whilst the operation the hot spot frame on Earth. On Mars the magma chambers are of Lid Tectonics during Earth history has been raised by a number of interpreted to be deeper and much larger than those on Earth (Wilson workers (e.g. Korenaga, 2011; O'Neill et al., 2007), the approaches and Head, 1994) and they have an intra-plate distribution analogous have been theoretical and primarily involved in numerical simula- to the hot spot frame on Earth (Carr, 2007). tions. In this paper we assess the observational evidence which is pro- Volcanic features on Venus are also not clustered into the linear vided primarily by palaeomagnetism because only the record of bands characteristic of plate boundaries on Earth but are instead remanent magnetisation in rocks is able to quantify whether the broadly distributed as plume sites (Head et al., 1992) although local crust was static or dynamic and unified or dispersed in past times. subduction may be indicated by arcuate trenches (Nimmo and Plate Tectonics is identified by a diverse range of temporal polar McKenzie, 1998). Other features that lack terrestrial analogues are changes (apparent polar wander paths, APWPs) from different parts coronae, or circular features 60–2000 km in diameter consisting of of the continental crust whereas Lid Tectonics is recognised by con- concentric and radial fractures arranged about a central depression, formity of pole positions from all parts of the continental crust to a and tesserae or elevated plateau areas characterized by intense single position. Although the latter point implies no APWP, it is antic- deformation of both compressional and extensional character. The ipated that internal thermal anomalies will be able to distort the defining feature of Venusian tectonics is the episodic operation of planetary figure from time to time and episodically shift the entire Author's personal copy

46 J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 tectosphere to move elevations towards the equatorial bulge; this ef- platforms were rare or absent (Brosche and Sundermann, 1981; fect is expressed by true polar wander (TPW) and must be recorded Williams, 2000), and the contrasting (Korenaga, 2003) heat release uniformly over the whole continental area to validate the operation from the Earth's interior at appreciably lower, and probably episodic of Lid Tectonics. levels (Condie et al., 2009a; Silver and Behn, 2008) to avoid a ‘thermal catastrophe’ in the mid-Proterozoic (Davies, 1980). In specific terms 3. The Palaeomagnetic Test the Plate Tectonic approach has failed to explain how palaeomagnetic poles could apparently conform to a single APWP over two billion The Precambrian palaeomagnetic evidence (>0.54 Ga) comprises years of geological time (Piper, 1982, 1987) and yield an anomalous a large dataset of pole positions of variable quality and age constraint concentration of Proterozoic magnetic inclinations in low values derived from igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, with the (Kent and Smethurst, 1998; Piper, 2010b). first generally considered the most efficacious. In view of the great Reservations surrounding the use of the palaeomagnetic database age of the poles and the usual absence of field tests, or inability to un- apply acutely to the identification of Plate Tectonics because convinc- dertake them, the record is typically considered only with strong res- ing recognition of diverse APW between continental plates requires a ervation. Influenced by the sporadic record of geological evidence high quality selection, especially in the older segment of the dataset consistent with features attributable to Plate Tectonics, most analyses where error limits to age assignments critically control the ordering have deferred to interpretation on the assumption that this process of poles defining APW. However, no such reservations will be evident has always operated. The predicted palaeogeographic models show if Lid Tectonics operated because poles spanning a wide range of diverse cratonic elements drifting differentially across indeterminate assigned ages should then conform to a single position. In the event oceans (e.g. Meert and Torsvik, 2003; Pesonen et al., 2003). Thus the it is the recognition of this latter property which identifies the recent IGCP Project 440 “Rodinia Assembly and Break-up” evaluated prolonged operation of Lid Tectonics on Earth and shows that the the evidence on the a priori assumption that Plate Tectonics has al- palaeomagnetic record is actually of more substantial value than ways occurred through Precambrian time (Li et al., 2007). Although widely recognised. this approach has tended to prevail over the past three decades An early indication that Earth's continental crust remained essen- (Kroner, 1982), its weaknesses have been emphasised by the need tially integral during much of its early history (Piper, 1982)andcom- to minimise or ignore key aspects of the record showing that the tec- prised a symmetrical low order feature constrained to a hemispheric tonic style in Precambrian times (>0.54 Ga) was very different from crescent (Fig. 1) has remained strongly debated. However, as docu- that applying to the Phanerozoic Eon. In general terms it has failed to mented in detail in a number of recent papers (Piper, 2003, 2007, acknowledge contrasting signatures of continentality between Prote- 2010a,b, 2013) the great improvement in the size and quality of the rozoic and Phanerozoic times (e.g. Condie, 1998; Engel et al., 1974; dataset has now been able to firmly resolve the special requirements Garrels and Mackenzie, 1971; O'Nions et al., 1979), the much lower of the quasi-rigid model. The exceptional demand of this supposition, rates of lunar recession during Proterozoic times required to preclude namely that pole positions should conform closely to a single position, a “Gerskenkorn Event” and implying that dispersed shallow marine or otherwise to a single path if the reconstruction is valid, reverses the

a) Palaeopangaea between the Lomagundai event b) Palaeopangaea between Grenville Orogenesis (2.2-2.06 Ga) and Grenville Orogenesis (~1.1 Ga) and Ediacaran break-up

' A r c t i c a ' r i a b e u r e ntia Si L a Ba lti r i m ca Ta

a' c a i l at a ic t la P r d e f n o a Ri A bi a a l th r r t A o

A N ' a i West n Africa Madagascar o z a

m So Seychelles ut h- A Cent Micrcontinent Af ra rica l

‘Ur’ India S. China

A n t ar ct i ca N. China Anorthosites Rapakivi Granites Australia ~1.1 Ga Grenville Mobile Belts < ~1.0 Ga Arc magmatism Terrane Tectonics

Fig. 1. The continental lid of Planet Earth after 2.0 Ga shown within a single global hemisphere and reconstructed from palaeomagnetic data according to the Eulerian operations listed in Table 1. The distributions of some key geological features formed during the post 2.0 Ga lifetime of the lid are shown: ﬁgure (a) highlights the distribution of major Mesoproterozoic anorogenic activity with contours showing the general contraction of this magmatism towards the inner margin of the lid, whilst (b) shows the broadly-arcuate distribution of the Grenville tectonic belts formed at ~1.1 Ga and the succeeding marginal orogenic belts formed later in Neoproterozoic times by typical Plate Tectonic processes within the instep of the reconstruction. Note that locations of some shields, notably Antarctica are poorly ﬁxed at the present time. After Piper (2013). Author's personal copy

J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 47 roles of model and data: the palaeogeographic premise then becomes a Archaean (e.g. Van Kranendonk, 2011). Key features of the data anal- possible test of palaeomagnetic data. In the event, it is close conformity ysis summarised in Figs. 2–7 are noted in the following subsections. of poles to a single position during very long intervals of near-static polar behaviour between ~2.7–2.2 Ga, 1.5–1.25 Ga and 0.75–0.6 Ga 3.1. Mesoarchaean–Palaeoproterozoic (Rhyacian) times (Fig. 2) employing a reconstruction requiring only peripheral adjustment that justifies the premise that the continental crust remained The interpretation of this interval is reinforced by a dominant da- quasi-integral during Precambrian times. Here we evaluate the key ev- tabase from igneous rocks with many poles linked to high-definition idence as summarised in Figs. 2–7 from mid-Archaean to Ediacaran age determinations. The continental reconstruction of five major times between ~2.8 and 0.6 Ga in the context of the Lid versus Plate shields is tightly constrained by the close conformity of poles within Tectonics debate. The primary configuration of the continental lid, the the ~500 Myr interval between 2.7 and 2.2 Ga to a single position supercontinent Palaeopangaea, is reconstructed by rotating crustal divi- near the continental periphery (Fig. 2(a)). A succession of mean sions and their associated palaeomagnetic data according to Eulerian poles with assigned ages in the range 2.7–2.2 Ga are plotted in operations given in Table 1. The palaeomagnetic poles plotted in Fig. 2(a) to emphasise the long duration of this quasi-static position. Figs. 2–7 are summarised in Piper (2010a,b) updated in Piper (2013) Given the great antiquity of the dataset and the likelihood that where the poles are listed following rotation according to the rotational much residual dispersion between these poles is caused by later in- parameters of Table 1. These data listings are also included in the sup- ternal deformation of the crust, this is a remarkably robust observa- plementary data to this paper. tion. It produces a reconstruction comparable to the much later The integrity of the core comprising the cratons of Laurentia Phanerozoic supercontinent of Pangaea (~0.4–0.23 Ga) in being a (North America and Greenland) and Central-Southern Africa is de- large scale symmetrical feature of crescent shape confined to a single monstrable from at least ~2.8 Ga (Piper, 2003, 2010a), whilst cratonic hemisphere on the globe. In addition, the location of the quasi-static assemblages with more peripheral positions including Australia, pole position shows that this primeval crust was also constrained to North and South China, Fennoscandia, India, Siberia, South America the global surface in the same way as Pangaea (Piper, 2010b). The and West Africa remained clustered with this core although subject recognition of this first order feature comparable to the dominant to one or two episodes of relative movement (Fig. 1). These conclu- and longest wavelength component of the present-day geoid sug- sions apply to motions detectable by palaeomagnetic poles calculated gests that the primary continental crust aggregated by differentiation according to the GAD model and make no predictions about lower promoted by vigorous whole-mantle convection prior to ~2.7 Ga scale (>103 km) internal deformation of the lid which is well able which carried the continental crust escaping recycling towards a to accommodate the small scales of mobility envisaged during the region of low gravitational potential (Burke et al., 2008; Gurnis,

1. Mesoarchaean - Palaeoproterozoic (Rhyacian) Times

a) b) (Nickel P rovince)

2160

2156

2707

e ‘Atlantica’ ‘Arctica’ Protocontinent c

2050 n i Protocontinent

2160 v

>2.7 Ga APW - n

) or I I TPW S

n < 2.2 Ga i 2641 v

APW r 2417 P

2439 m

i m ‘Ur’ Protocontinent

2730 o r

2425 h

C (

2712 2501 2225

Africa 2670 “Straight Belts”-Major Australia intracontinental shear zones Fennoscandia Economic Pegmatites India ~2.0 Ga Fluvio-Deltaic Laurentia Sedimentation MeanPoles Tin-Wolfram Province

Fig. 2. (a) Palaeomagnetic poles assigned to the interval 2.9–2.0 Ga plotted on the pre–2.0 Ga reconstruction of the continental lid (‘Protopangaea’); mean poles are also shown with ages in Myr to highlight the long interval of quasi-static behaviour, and hence definition of Lid Tectonics, between ~2.7 and 2.2 Ga; the earth brown area shows the extent of the continental lid. (b) Distributions of known or probable pre-2.0 Ga mineral provinces and tectonic lineaments with protocontinents as defined by Rogers and Santosh (2004); the earth brown area is the continental crust with darker regions being zones which have survived reworking in later times. Note the dominant axial alignment of broad zones of distributed strike-slip deformation (‘straight belts’) and the concentrations of mineral emplacement suggesting that the subcrustal mantle had largely differentiated by these times. Figures compiled from Piper (1987, 2003, 2010a, 2013). The time divisions used here and in subsequent figures are those established by the International Commis- sion on Stratigraphy in 2009. Author's personal copy

48 J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56

2. Palaeoproterozoic (Orosirian - Statherian) Times ~ 2.0 - 1.7 Ga a) c)

Volhyn-Central Russia

210° 270° 330°

b) Laurentia, Coronation Poles Relict Archaean Cratons

Laurentia, other poles ~ 2.1-1.9 Ga Bedded Iron Deposits

Fennoscandia ~ 1.9-1.7 Ga Mobile/Orogenic Belts Africa Evidence for ~ 1.8-1.5 Ga subduction - India related magmatic arcs

210° 270° 330° Australia

Amazonia

Fig. 3. (a) Pole positions assigned to the interval ~1.9 and 1.7 Ga from the continental shields with symbols shown in the key. The earth brown region is continental crust. (b) Contoured distribution of all selected palaeomagnetic poles from this time interval. (c) Key geological features assigned to these times. Earth brown area shows the extent of the continental lid. Figures (a) and (b) after Piper (2013).

1988). The period 2.75–2.65 Ga initiating this prolonged quasi-static possible, assuming the quasi-integral link between ‘Ur’ and ‘Arctica’ interval has been reckoned to include the most prodigious episode and including the cratons of Siberia and eastern South America of juvenile continental crustal formation preserved in the continental (Fig. 2(b)), we find that ~60% of the present crustal area had consoli- crust (Barley et al., 2005; Condie, 2001). dated by ~2.7 Ga. This conclusion appears to apply closely to The primary preserved crustal protolith developed as three clus- continental volume since recent assessment shows that 60%, and prob- ters referred to as ‘Ur’, ‘Arctica’ and ‘Atlantica’ (Rogers and Santosh, ably at least 70%, of the present crust had separated from the mantle 2004) with ‘Ur’ consolidating in the Palaeoarchaean prior to 3.0 Ga, by 2.5 Ga (Belousova et al., 2010). The long continuity of mineral age ‘Arctica’ near the Archaean–Proterozoic transition (~2.6–2.5 Ga), provinces through the Gondwana wing of the reconstruction in and ‘Atlantica’ consolidating last (~2.2–2.0 Ga). The subcontinental Fig. 2(b) supports the conclusion that a large proportion of the lithosphere was evidently already chemically differentiated during Archaean subcontinental lithospheric mantle is preserved beneath this process as shown by the concentrated distributions of mineral the present shields (Begg et al., 2009; Griffin et al., 2009) and pro- provinces including economic pegmatites, tin-wolfram, chromite vides further support for the early integrity of the continental lid. and nickel (Fig. 2(b)). This interval also embraces the earliest signatures The latter part of the long 2.7–2.2 Ga interval of quasi-static polar of anisotropy in the continental crust: whilst the oldest greenstone belts behaviour was characterised by a near-total shutdown of magma pro- such as the Barberton of southern Africa show essentially isotropic duction extending from ~2.45 to 2.2 Ga (Condie et al., 2009b); the con- distribution, later ones of Early Proterozoic age show strong axial align- tinental lid was essentially quiescent during these times with low sea ment through the continental crust (Piper, 1987, 2010a), a feature also levels and prolonged unconformity development (Bekker et al., 2010), seen in the succeeding broad zones of distributed strike-slip deforma- and the deep oceans became strongly stratified during the latter tion and reworking otherwise known as “straight belts” (Watson, 150 Myr (Bekker and Holland, 2012). The prolonged interval of 1973 and Fig. 2(b)). suppressed thermal and tectonic activity was terminated at ~2.2 Ga A specific outcome of the demonstration of quasi-integrity in by a 90° APW shift (Fig. 2(a)) which reconfigured the continental lid Fig. 2(a) is that much of the present continental area had already con- and mantle so that subsequent palaeopoles have a preferred continent- figured by mid-Archaean times. Although no precise determination is centric location preserved throughout the remainder of Precambrian Author's personal copy

J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 49

3. Palaeo - Mesoproterozoic (Orosirian - Ectasian) Times ~ 1.7 - 1.3 Ga a) c)

Korosten 1.77 Aland 1.57

Mazoury 1.53

180° 270°

Laurentia

Greenland b) Anorthosites Fennoscandia Rapakivi Granites Ukraine

Siberia

Africa

South American Shields 180° 270° India

Australia

South China

North China

Fig. 4. (a) Pole positions assigned to the interval ~1.7 and 1.3 Ga from the continental shields with symbols shown in the key. (b) Contoured distribution of all selected palaeomagnetic poles from this time interval. (c) Distribution of large igneous intrusions belonging to the anorogenic igneous province emplaced during these times; these were intruded into a thermally-weakened lid as ‘anorogenic’ bodies and are their temporally-unique emplacement is attributed to insulation of the sub-crustal mantle by the near-static lid (b). Earth brown areas show the extent of the continental lid. Figures (a) and (b) compiled from Piper (2013).

times until the lid break-up occurred in Ediacaran times (Figs. 3–7). This position on the reconstruction defined by older and younger data rapid reconfiguration event is the closest analogy in the record of Earth and are assigned to two long APW loops referred to as the Coronation history to the resurfacing seen on Venus and it coincided with the and Nagssugtoqidian (Piper, 2013). Widespread tectonic activity ac- Lomagundi–Jatuli event (LJE), a positive δ13C excursion recording the companied the execution of these loops (Fig. 3(c)) and is mirrored largest and longest carbon flux in Earth history (Melezhik et al., 2007 in the histogram of continental ages (Condie, 1998) recording a sig- and see Fig. 8). The carbon was probably sourced in volcanic CO2 re- nificant interval of post-Archaean crustal growth (Sato and Siga, duced indirectly by volcanic H2 (Bekker and Holland, 2012) and the 2002). It is also proposed that natural fission of uranium prior to de- same source seems to have terminating the ~2.43–2.2 Ga ‘Huronian’ cline in the percentage of 235U after these times was a regional con- glacial events. Furthermore, the LJE corresponds to the latter part of a tributor to heat production linked to this orogenic activity (Rogers, prolonged ‘Great Oxidation Event’ (~2.34–2.06 Ga) and the combina- 2012). Tectono-thermal belts formed during these times are widely tion of the two signatures was evidently responsible for the appearance distributed throughout the continental shields (Zhao et al., 2002) of marine sulphate evaporates and the first episode of widespread where they are recognised to have a predominantly axial distribution phosphatogenesis (Bekker and Holland, 2012) in the geological record. and continuity demonstrable through cratons such as Laurentia and The latter phenomenon is repeated again much later by the continental Fennoscandia (Fig. 3(c)). Numerous analyses of these belts, with flooding consequent on the break-up of Palaeopangaea in Edicaran Johnson et al. (2011), Zhai and Santosh (2011) documenting exam- times (Figs. 7 and 8, Section 3.5). ples from the Australian and North China Shields respectively, inter- pret them in terms of Plate Tectonics in apparent conflict with the 3.2. Palaeoproterozoic (Orosirian–Statherian) times (Fig. 3) tight constraint provided by the palaeomagnetic evidence showing that the continental lid remained quasi-integral during these times Although ~2.0–1.7 Ga palaeomagnetic poles are the most dis- (Fig. 3(b)). This conflict is likely to prove more apparent than real persed in the Precambrian record (Figs. 3(a)) and signify an interval both because the palaeomagnetic data are insensitive to smaller of high lid mobility, they broadly conform to the continent-centric scale shuffling movements within the lid, and because the early Author's personal copy

50 J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56

4. Mesoproterozoic (Ectasian - Stenian) Times ~ 1.3 - 1.15 Ga

a) c) Mackenzie 1.38 1.27 1.27 1.43 1.38 1.18 1.43 1.59 1.15 1.43 1.43 1.17 1.38 1.24 1.47 1.46 1.24 1.24 1.57 1.22 1.38 1.14 1.3 1.1 1.27 1.2 1.6 1.41

1.50 1.25 1.2 Mackenzie 1.3 - Jotnian LIP Event 210° 270° 270

1.11 1.39 1.38 1.17

1.38 1.21 1.32 1.32 1.6 1.46

b) North America LIP Events Greenland Anorthosites Rapakivi Granites Hebridean Craton

Fennoscandia

Siberian Shield

180° 270° South American Shields

Australia

Southern Africa

India

Fig. 5. (a) Pole positions assigned to the interval ~1.3 and 1.15 Ga from the continental shields with symbols shown in the key. (b) Contoured distribution of all selected poles assigned to this time interval. (c) Distribution of contemporaneous magmatic activity with LIP events and the Mackenzie igneous province correlating with resumption of APW at ~1.25 Ga. Earth brown areas show the extent of the continental lid. Figures (a) and (b) compiled from Piper (2010b, 2013).

signatures of orogenic scale Plate Tectonics are present primarily in suite. The spatial (mostly in Palaeoproterozoic crust) and temporal the form of subduction attributable to peripheral belts such as those (mostly Mesoproterozoic) concentration of this magmatism (Fig. 4(c)) bordering Laurentia–Fennoscandia (e.g. Hoffman, 1988; Windley, is not explicable in terms of conventional Plate Tectonics and has been 1995 and Fig. 3(b)). Accompanying volcanic activity led to elevated attributed to prolonged thermal blanketing of the mantle beneath a sea levels and in turn, to widespread flooding of the continental lid. long-lived supercontinent (Anderson and Morrison, 2005). Subcrustal The Fe-charged waters, in an environment which was by now strong- temperatures of 1200–1300 °C are required to produce anorthositic ly oxidising, deposited the extensive banded ironstone formations be- magmas and the large volumes and wide spacings of these intrusions tween ~2.1 and 1.85 Ga (Fig. 3(c)) which comprise more that 50% of are considered to be the signatures of a thinner and hotter lithosphere world iron reserves. This flooding is also recorded in the drowning (Vigneresse, 2005). Magma ascent driven by gravity instability of and disappearance of stromatolite-forming cyanobacteria (Melezhik buoyant feldspar-rich magmas and the high level emplacement as et al., 2007). thin and laterally-extensive plutons also requires comprehensive weakening of the crust (Bridgwater et al., 1974). The near-absence of motion 3.3. Palaeo-Meoproterozoic (Statherian–Calymmian) times (Fig. 4) of the continental lid during this prolonged interval explains this magmatic province in terms of thermal blanketing by the continental lid Movements carrying the continental lid episodically away from the without specific input of exceptional Large Igneous Province (LIP) prevailing continent-centric position (and likely recording disturbances magmatism (Coltrice et al., 2007). It proceeded in parallel with contem- to the planetary figure) had largely ceased by 1.7 Ga and subsequent poraneous emplacement of new crust by under- or intra-plating at motions seem to have been confined to two small loops yielding the within-continental settings demonstrated by Hf and U–Pb model ages tight polar concentrations of Figs. 4(a) and (b). The defining geological (Hawkesworth and Kemp, 2006). signature of protracted quasi-static polar movement between this and The ongoing formation of marginal orogenic belts around southern the ensuing period to ~1.25 Ga was the emplacement of a temporally- Laurentia is a continuing signature of peripheral Plate Tectonic-style unique magma (anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-A type granite) processes during this era (Karlstrom et al., 2001). However, gold Author's personal copy

J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 51

5. Meso - Neoproterozoic (Stenian - Tonian) Times ~ 1.15 - 0.8 Ga

a)ck c) 0.72 ra 0.97 T n 0.85 a 0.78 w SIBERIA a 1.05 n e 0.78-0.81 e LAURENTIA FENNSCANDIA

w TARIM 0.78 -UKRAINE

e K Sunsas/Aguapei 0.78 1.0 Sveconorwegian SAO FRANCISCO Grenville - RIO DE LA PLATA A-Amar 0.80 Urol 1.08 Nabitali

Kibaran WEST 270 AFRICA 0.74-0.8 Irumide 120° 240° 0.85 AMAZONIA AFRICA 0.72 0.92 0.78 Natal E. Ghats 0.76 0.76 Namaqua 0.80 0.76-0.83

0.78 INDIA p

o S.CHINA

ANTARCTICA N.CHINA ian Grenvi eg lle - Sv rw econo Vestfold/Bunger Musgrave North America AUSTRALIA Albany-Fraser Hebridean Craton

Fennoscandia

b) Siberian Shield Large Igneous Province Events South American Shields Grenville ~ 1.1 Ga Orogenic/ West Australia Mobile Belts

North China Neoproterozoic subduction and arc-related magmatism India

180° 270° Ophiolites East Antarctica

South China

South Central Africa

West Africa

Fig. 6. (a) Palaeomagnetic poles with the Keweenawan Track and Gardar-Sveconorwegian APW Loops executed during the interval ~1.14–0.85 Ga. (b) Contoured distribution of all selected poles from this interval illustrating the continuing signature of Lid Tectonics. (c) Distribution of ~1.1 Ga (‘Grenville’) tectonic–magmatic/orogenic episodes and Afro-Arabian arc development after ~1.0 Ga. Earth brown areas show the extent of the continental lid. Figures (a) and (b) compiled from Piper (2010b, 2013). precipitation provides an indication that this was essentially localised in distributed through both limbs of the lid. In common with the impact: gold is only reckoned to appear in continental crust by deriva- Palaeoproterozoic tectonic elements, these preserve a dominant axial tion from ﬂuid movement through volcano-sedimentary successions conﬁguration (Fig. 6(c)) with estimates of crustal addition to the lid formed as arc successions in orogenic environments (Goldfarb et al., during this era ranging from ~10% (Belousova et al., 2010) to ~30% 2001). Following precipitation during intervals of juvenile crust (Rino et al., 2008). addition at ~2.8–2.55 and 2.1–1.8 Ga, there is a long ~1.8–0.6 Ga hiatus until gold precipitation again appears, this time linked to Late – Neoproterozoic orogenesis (Fig. 7). 3.5. Late Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian Ediacaran) times (Fig. 7)

The integrity of the continental lid during this last interval of Pro- 3.4. Mesoproterozoic to Early Neoproterozoic (Ectasian–Tonian) times terozoic times is demonstrated by the conformity of palaeomagnetic (Figs. 5 and 6) poles from diverse shields to a single APW path between 0.8 and 0.6 Ga (Figs. 7(a) and (c)). This robust observation refutes all The long ~1.7–1.25 Ga interval of near-static APW behaviour was ‘Rodinia’ models because the latter require diverse relative move- curtailed by renewed mobility of the continental lid commencing ments by the global operation of Plate Tectonics during these times at, or shortly following, outbreak of major LIP events including the (Li et al., 2007). The quasi-integral constraint is recorded by the co- Mackenzie and Jotnian igneous provinces in Laurentia and herent (‘Franklin-Adelaide’) APW track comprising the younger Fennoscandia (Fig. 5(c)). The polar movement that followed executed limb of a loop commencing at the ~0.85 Ga continent-centric termi- two loops referred to as the Gardar-Keweenawan (~1.2–1.04 Ga, nus of the Grenville–Sveconorwegian Loop of Fig. 6. Lid motion was Figs. 5(a) and 6(a)) and Grenville-Sveconorwegian (~1.04–0.85 Ga, initially rapid from ~0.82 Ga through to the time of the Franklin LIP Fig. 6(a)). The developing architecture of the continental lid was Event at ~0.72 Ga (Fig. 7(a)) but then slowed dramatically as APW moulded during these times by ~1.1 Ga Grenville orogenic belts of motion remained minimal through to ~0.6 Ga (Fig. 7(b). Following part intra-cratonic and part peripheral origin which are widely cessation of the widespread Grenville activity, orogenesis was to Author's personal copy

52 J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56

6. Neoproterozoic (Tonia - Ediacaran) Times AFRICA Nama Group Sediments AFRICA UKRAINE ~ 0.8 - 0.6 Ga AFRICA 570±510 Ma Ntonya Ring Structure Bazaltovoe Lavas Nola Dykes 522±13 Ma 551±4 Ma 571±6 Ma

NORTH CHINA a) c) NORTH AMERICA L. Cambrian Sediments Huav Limestone A f 513-501 Ma r i c N a NORTH CHINA o r U. Cambrian Sediments th

A SIBERIA m SOUTH CHINA

Kessyusa Formation e N. Suichan Sediments 542-535 Ma r 513-501 Ma i c

a S

. A ANTARCTICA NORTH AMERICA m Zanuck Granite McClure Mountain Complex e 521±2 Ma 535±5 Ma ri ca a c i BALTICA NORTH AMERICA lt Winter Coast Sediments Skinner Cove Basalts ~750 - 600 Ma a 555±3 Ma 550±3 Ma Quasi - Static B Interval 140° 260° NORTH AMERICA ca Moore Hallow Group ri 501-488 Ma e Marinoan Am Glacial Poles uth INDIA So a n Salt Pseudomorph Beds a 518-505 Ma Franklin dw on LIP Event a E. G ic a MADAGASCAR r c e i Carion Granite t 532±5 Ma m l A a h B rt NORTH AMERICA o AUSTRALIA N Bunyeroo Formation Catoctin Complex 593±32 Ma 597±18 Ma

BALTICA NORTH AMERICA North Norway Intrusions Callander Complex 530±490 Ma Laurentia 575±5 Ma AUSTRALIA Antrim Plateau Basalts 520±9 Ma SIBERIA BALTICA Lena River Volcanics Fen Complex Fennoscandia 600-542 Ma 583±15 Ma b)Central Africa d) West Africa

India

Australia

South America

South China 140° 230° 180° 270° North China

Seychelles Microcontinent

Tarim

Svalbard

Fig. 7. (a) Palaeomagnetic poles and the Franklin-Adelaide APW Track assigned to the interval ~0.8–0.6 Ga. (b) Contoured distribution of all selected poles from this interval highlighting the continuing operation of Lid Tectonics. (c) The signature of diverse APW after ~0.6 Ga corresponding to continental break-up and dispersal in Ediacaran times following the Marinoan glacial event; some representative pole positions are shown but note that individual APW paths are only poorly deﬁned during this relatively short interval (0.6–0.5 Ga) of rapid and diverse movements. (d) Contoured distribution of all selected poles from this interval highlighting the transition to comprehensive global Plate Tectonics after ~0.6 Ga. Earth brown areas show the extent of the continental lid. Figures compiled from Piper (2007, 2010b, 2013).

Table 1 Eulerian operations used to reconstruct the continental lid (Protopangaea and Palaeopangaea) and rotate poles from the cratonic elements.

Protopangaea Palaeopangaea ‘A’: Palaeopangaea ‘B’:

Shield element °E °N Rotation °E °N Rotation °E °N Rotation

Arabia 142.4 76.6 −148.4 Australia 167 −69 −161 191.0 −4.0 105.0 180.0 −63.5 158.3 Central-South Africa 138.0 73.0 −146.0 138.0 73.0 −146.0 East Antarctica 147.5 −23.0 87.8 33.7 73.1 −149.1 Greenland 266.2 70.7 −18.1 266.2 70.7 −18.1 Guyana/Amazonia 246.5 −33.0 142.0 Fennoscandia (Baltica) 211 60 −42.5 3.020.570.5 274.0 80.5 −66.5 Hebridean craton 27.7 88.4 −38.1 India 4 −16.5 −149.5 163.5 −20.0 175.5 143.0 −46.0 159.6 Madagascar 325.0 −85.0 145.0 North China 26.0 −7.0 −149.0 308.0 47.0 −153.0 Pan African domains 138.0 73.0 −146.0 Sao Francisco/Rio Plata 295.053.0 −117.0 South China 331.042.0 −172.0 279.1 58.0 −155.8 Seychelles microcontinent 334.045.5 −136.5 Siberia 164.083.0 134.5 164.083.0 134.5 Svalbard 120.0 86.0 −48.0 Tarim 151.018.5 −100.5 West African Craton 123.5 59.0 −131.5

The rotational operations retain North America in present day coordinates and rotate other Precambrian cratonic nuclei towards it. ‘Protopangaea’ refers to the primitive reconstruction in Fig. 2, Palaeopangaea ‘A’ refers to the reconstruction in Figs. 3–5 and Palaeopangaea ‘B’ refers to the reconstruction in Figs. 6 and 7; see Piper, 2013 for further details of these reconstructions. Author's personal copy

J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 53

Archaean Proterozoic VRMS (mm/year) Baltica 200

Anorthosite-Rapakivi Anorogenic Magmatism Late 150 Palaeoproterozoic Neoproterozoic Glaciation Glaciation Laurentia 100 South China

LOOPS: 50 Coronation Gardar Grenville Belt Nagssugtoqidian McArthur Franklin

3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 Ma

Total U-Pb zircon ages N

500 LOMAGUNDI - JATULI EVENT - JATULI LOMAGUNDI LID BREAK-UP

3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Ma

Fig. 8. The root mean square velocity (VRMS) of the continental lid during Precambrian times after Piper (2013) and contemporaneous magmatic activity as summarised by U–Pb ages of continental granitoids and river sediments (Condie et al., 2009b). Note the correlation of low VRMS with glaciations and the Meso-Early Neoproterozoic interval of anorogenic magmatism and the correlation of the Lomagundi–Jatulian Event with the resumption of rapid APW at ~2.2 Ga. The vertical names are the APW loops recognised in the Precambrian polar wander record and interpreted to record intervals of True Polar Wander when the lid was reconﬁgured by thermal anomalies within the planetary interior. Figure compiled from Piper (2010b, 2013).

become peripheral and largely confined to the instep of the lid build-up of volcanically-vented CO2 presumably responsible for bringing (Figs. 1(b) and 6(c)). Tectonism is now clearly subduction-related and the Neoproterozoic glaciations (~0.75–0.57 Ga) to an end. incorporates emplacement of ophiolites, strike slip movement of ter- ranes and volcanic arc formation within a broad peripheral zone extending from Arabia through eastern Africa, the Seychelles to north- 4. Discussion ern India (Stern, 1994), all characteristic signatures of orogenic-scale Plate Tectonics. The contemporaneous Pan African orogenesis was con- Three conclusions with fundamental tectonic implications follow centrated within the southern (Gondwana) wing of the continental lid from the summary of Precambrian APW in Figs. 2–7. Firstly, the pos- and is interpreted to have comprised three episodes (Meert, 2003; sibility that poles from diverse Precambrian cratons spanning more Meert and Lieberman, 2008)withthefirst including compression and than two billion years could conform by chance to a near-static posi- consumption of oceanic lithosphere (~0.9–0.6 Ga) within the develop- tion for intervals of hundreds of millions of years, or otherwise to sin- ing Plate Tectonic regime; the second was an interval of extensional tec- gle APW tracks, using a reconstruction requiring only peripheral tonism corresponding to break-up of the lid (c.f. Figs. 7(a) and (c)) the modification must be very small. The palaeomagnetic solution can last episode was a widespread thermal event responsible for isotopic therefore be reckoned to be a highly robust one and confidently ex- resetting lasting through to ~0.45 Ga. clude the operation of orogenic-scale Plate Tectonics on Earth involv- APW and corresponding lid motion remains integral and confined to ing diverse relative movements between continental blocks that only a single path until the global Marinoan glaciations at ~0.6 Ga (Figs. 7(a) intermittently came together (‘supercontinent cycles’). Instead, fol- and (b)). After this the unified path explicitly divides into multiple sepa- lowing accretion of the primary preserved crust prior to ~2.7 Ga rate paths (Fig. 7(c)), the diagnostic palaeomagnetic signature of Plate through a mechanism probably analogous to formation of the Phaner- Tectonics. Hence break-up of the continental lid with comprehensive im- ozoic supercontinent Pangaea (Piper, 2010b), the continental crust position of Plate Tectonics on a global scale is identified as occurring in comprised a lid which adopted two stable positions relative to the Ediacaran times, or soon after 0.6 Ga. It correlates precisely with a diverse geomagnetic (and presumed rotation) axis. The first retained the range of environmental indicators (Piper, 2010b) including: (i) the configuration of primary accretion for the longest quasi-static interval world-wide initiation of rift-drift following Cryogenian–Ediacaran dyke in Earth history (~2.7–2.2 Ga). This interval was terminated by emplacement and alkaline magmatism, and ensuing development of ma- switching of the lid through ~90° at 2.2 Ga (Fig. 2(a)) to a rine passive margins (Bond et al., 1984); (ii) multiple isotopic signatures continent-centred configuration retained until break-up with global 13 (Halverson et al., 2010) including negative δ CCARB due to release of imposition of comprehensive Plate Tectonics at ~0.6 Ga during Edia- isotopically-light carbon and destabilised gas hydrates to the oceans caran times (Figs. 3–7). This latter change was evidently the defining and extinction of Ediacaran fauna; (iii) the largest δ34S signature in the event separating the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic eons of Earth histo- geological record identifying the release of brines from enclosed basins ry. These phases in tectonic history of the continental lithosphere as into the oceanic system with enhanced nutrients and organic productiv- constrained by the palaeomagnetic evidence provide a definitive ity also recorded by phosphatogenesis, (iv) low values of FeHR/FeTOT test of the theoretical modelling (e.g. O'Neill et al., 2007; Korenaga, (b0.38) recording widespread oxygenation of the oceans in 2011) and broadly conform to the temporal divisions inferred by mid-Ediacarn times (Halverson et al., 2010); (v) post-0.6 Ga release of Ernst (2009). The palaeomagnetic solution evidently incorporates accumulated mantle heat expressed as large scale magmatism (Doblas the small scale, short lifespan and repeatedly-initiated character of et al., 2002; Santosh and Omori, 2008) with accompanying atmospheric Plate Tectonics widely postulated during the Archaean but it does Author's personal copy

54 J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 constrain this tectonic style within a large quasi-integral lid limited Plate Tectonics of Phanerozoic times are more extensively discussed by large scale mantle processes (Fig. 2). elsewhere (see for example, Houseman et al., 1981; Park, 1981; Secondly, whilst this continent-centred configuration was retained Davies, 1992). Due to the thick continental component to the litho- throughout the post-2.2 Ga lifetime of the lid, it was periodically upset sphere on Earth, it is unlikely that there will be very close comparisons by the execution of APW loops (Fig. 8). These are unlike the signature between Earth tectonic regimes and the Lid Tectonics observed on Mars of APW during the Phanerozoic eon (e.g. Besse and Courtillot, 2002); or Venus although the extraordinary events recognised at ~2.2 Ga prob- the latter comprises successive small circle arcs of variable length and ably merit comparison with the resurfacing of the latter planet. duration linked by sudden changes in direction unique to individual tectonic blocks. The repeated changes in APW rate and direction are recognised as the record of transformations in plate geometry with cor- 5. Conclusions responding changes in the Eulerian poles accompanying continental break-up or ocean closure/continental suturing. In contrast, Precambri- ➢ Plate Tectonics requires a sufficient degree of planetary cooling to an APW from the continent-centric position exclusively comprised long provide the negative buoyancy required to motivate large scale sub- ‘ ’ loops with close outward and return paths linked by a single hairpin duction and is expected to be preceded by a facet of Lid Tectonics. – returning the path to the continent-centred position (Figs. 3 7). Be- Lithosphere deformation is expressed by three possible modes com- cause this feature is a record of whole-lid movement, it is reminiscent prising mobile lids in constant motion able to generate zones of sub- of the signature of True Polar Wander (TPW) which occurs when ther- duction and spreading (Plate Tectonics), stagnant lids covering the fi mal distortions in the gure of the Earth cause the whole tectosphere to whole surface punctured by volcanism, and episodic lids with re- fi recon gure as developing elevations are aligned by Earth rotation into gimes alternating between static and mobile (Lid Tectonics). the equatorial bulge (Goldreich and Toomre, 1969). ➢ The probability of Plate Tectonics is anticipated to increase with – The APW paths of Figs. 2 7 can be translated into estimates of the planetary size. The Earth and comparisons with the smaller planets root mean square velocity (VRMS) of the continental lid following the Mars and Venus provides a test for this prediction. method of Gordon et al. (1979) as shown in Fig. 8 after Piper (2013). ➢ Because of the uniquely-demanding requirement, the conformity of fi Intervals of signi cant VRMS derived from APW and the execution of palaeomagnetic poles spanning Precambrian times (>0.54 Ga) to loops conform to thermal-tectonic events as expressed by the record three long quasi-static intervals (~2.7–2.2, 1.7–1.25, 0.75–0.6 Ga) of superplumes, LIP events and crustal ages (Abbott and Isley, 2002; provides a highly robust confirmation that Lid Tectonics dominated Ernst et al., 2005; Condie et al., 2009a). Fig. 8 illustrates the correla- the earlier history of the continental crust. Only peripheral adjust- tion with the combined U/Pb zircon age distribution from granitoids ments to the quasi-rigid Iid (Palaeopangaea) are required to achieve and detrital sediments after Condie et al. (2009b). Since the latter sig- this conformity over a period in excess of two billion years. The sta- nature incorporates both the record of exposed ancient cratonic crust ble pole position was peripheral to the lid during the early part of its and the transport and distribution of eroded material, it provides a history (~2.8–2.2 Ga) and became continent-centric for the remind- proxy for crustal age provinces including those no longer exposed er of its lifetime following a rapid reconfiguration of mantle and or preserved. It is however, evidently largely uncoupled from the crust at ~2.2 Ga. growth of the continental lithosphere much of which appears ➢ The quasi-static polar intervals were interrupted by the execution to have been complete by the ~2.7 Ga commencement of the data of APW loops radiating from this continent-centric position. These analysis considered here (Belousova et al., 2010 and Fig. 2). Rapid are compatible with the predictions of protracted long-arc True lid motions recording loops in Palaeoproterozoic (Section 3.2) and Polar Wander motivated by thermal anomalies in the Earth's interi- – Late Mesoproterozoic Early Neoproterozoic times (Section 3.4), and or disturbing the global figure. This cause is suggested by a tempo- subsequently during continental break-up (Fig. 7), were times of ral correlation between the loops and tectonic–magmatic events major orogenesis and these followed long intervals of near-static lid observed in the continental lid. behaviour that presumably thermal-blanketed the sub-crustal litho- ➢ The dominance of Lid Tectonics during the Proterozoic eon explains sphere; there is probably no need to postulate major new additions the lower levels of heat release from the Earth's interior during to the continental crust during these events. these times and the lower rate of lunar recession compared with ‘ ’ A third conclusion is that a dominant Lid Tectonics describes the Phanerozoic eon. It is also compatible with the enhanced conti- Precambrian lithosphere behaviour in general terms as illustrated by nental signatures during these times. consistent and repeated conformity of poles to a single position and il- ➢ There are signatures in the geological record for the incipient opera- – lustrated by the contoured distributions in Figs. 2(b) 7(b). This is the tion of orogenic-scale Plate Tectonics since late Palaeoproterozoic key signature of Lid Tectonics and it accommodates the intermittent times, probably as secular cooling of the Earth caused ocean litho- fi intra-lid deformation along wide tectono-thermal belts. The nding sphere to become more negatively-buoyant. A large scale transition that Plate Tectonics did not dominate tectonic behaviour until the latter to this style occurred after ~1.1 Ga in the Afro-Arabian region. Fol- part of Earth history is not unexpected because the negative buoyancy lowing break-up of the continental lid in Ediacaran times it became required to motivate it by large scale subduction of oceanic lithosphere comprehensive and global in its effects. would only have been reached following prolonged planetary cooling ➢ This progressive transition from Lid Tectonic to Plate Tectonics sug- (Davies, 1992). However, the recognition of Lid Tectonics from the Pre- gests that Earth is close to the critical size for the instigation of the fl cambrian palaeomagnetic record should not be seen to be in con ict latter tectonic regime. Mars and Venus are likely to be too small. with the sporadic geological record for Plate Tectonics in the contemporaneous geological record: as discussed in Section 2,abroadtransition Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http:// in both time and space between these dominant styles of lithosphere dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2012.12.042. behaviour is anticipated. Although the lid remained integral until 0.6 Ga, there is evidence for relative movements between the peripheral blocks both in Palaeoproterozoic times and during Grenville orogenic Acknowledgments episodes at ~1.1 Ga (Piper, 2010b and Table 1)butduringthesetimes corresponding evidence for Plate Tectonics is primarily incipient and I am very grateful to Kay Lancaster for drawing the figures for this peripheral (Fig. 3(c)–5(c); it only becomes strongly focussed in the paper. I am also grateful to Professor J.J.W. Rogers and Professor M. Neoproterozoic (Fig. 1(b)). Further speculations on the character of lith- Santosh for their valued reviews of the manuscript and suggestions osphere behaviour before the onset of comprehensive orogenic-scale for improvement. Author's personal copy

J.D.A. Piper / Tectonophysics 589 (2013) 44–56 55

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