The World’s Ancient Cratons: Tectonics, Metamorphism, Magmatism and Mineralization

The continents primarily consist of cratons and orogenic belts, of which cratons predominantly originated 1.8 billion years ago, serving as crucial constituents of the Earth’s surface. Most of the ancient cratons have extremely thick (>200 km) lithospheric roots, and they can avoid being reformed by later geological processes and remain stable, due to their low density, low heat flow value, and high rigidity. Although great advancements related to Precambrian geology have been obtained from the world's ancient cratons, their geological evolution, roles in Precambrian supercontinents, and the interrelationship between the ancient cratons remain unclear or controversial.

This Research Topic focuses on the Precambrian geology of the world's ancient cratons. It covers but is not limited to geochronology, isotope and elemental geochemistry of igneous rocks, the evolution of the Precambrian crust and mantle including magmatic, metamorphic, depositional and tectonic processes, and mineralization system of Precambrian basements.

This Research Topic encourages original research articles, perspectives, and reviews, themes of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Early Earth evolution: perspectives from the oldest rocks and minerals
• Early Earth geodynamic regimes
• Growth and evolution of the early continental crust
• Identification of ancient orogenic belts and their tectonic evolution
• Defining the Archean to Proterozoic transition
• Metallogenesis of the ancient cratons in the Precambrian period

Funding: This Research Topic was carried out with China Geological Survey (Nos. DD20242927) (C. Zhao).