crust

modular forms

photocatalytic_115910

magmatism

urology vol

aiha

oceanic

shear zone

subducting

tectonics

pedestal

elastica

subduction_82277

orogenic

neighbourhood

single-crystal silicon

subduction_82313

deposits_82205

archean_82290

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

SignificanceThe onset time of plate tectonics is highly debated in the Earth sciences. A key indicator of modern-style plate tectonics, with deep subduction of oceanic plates, is the presence of eclogite (oceanic crust metamorphosed at high-pressure and low-temperature) in orogenic belts. Since no orogenic eclogites older than 2.1 billion y are currently documented, many scientists argue that modern plate tectonics started only 2.1 billion y ago (Ga). We document an Archean orogenic eclogite, providing robust evidence that subduction of oceanic crust reached to at least 65 to 70 km in depth at circa 2.5 Ga. This extends the known age of subduction-related eclogite-facies metamorphism back 400 My, showing that modern-style plate tectonics operated by the close of the Archean.

Archean eclogite-facies oceanic crust indicates modern-style plate tectonics