The eon of the earliest solid crust and the earliest life, in an atmosphere with almost no free oxygen. The oceans and continents as standing features begin here. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Start (Million Years Ago) End (Million Years Ago) Key EventThe oldest confirmed continental crust and the first widely accepted evidence of life, single-celled and anaerobic. 1 Defining Event Archean
Filter Results16 entries
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Associated With
Source Aldan Shield (Wikipedia)
Source Anabar Shield (Wikipedia)
Source Baltic Shield (Wikipedia)
Source Canadian Shield (Wikipedia)
Source Dharwar Craton (Wikipedia)
Source East European Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Kaapvaal Craton (Wikipedia)
Source North China Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Pilbara Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Rae Craton (Wikipedia)
Source São Francisco Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Superior Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Ukrainian Shield (Wikipedia)
Source West African Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Wyoming Craton (Wikipedia)
Source Zimbabwe Craton (Wikipedia)
Has Geologic Rank
In Discipline
Source Geologic Time Scale (Wikipedia)
Precursor To
Sources
1. Geologic Time Scale (Wikipedia)
2. Wikipedia: Archean
WikipediaLead paragraphQuote, Lead paragraph
The oldest known glaciation occurred in the middle of the eon.
Kaapvaal Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Kaapvaal Craton, Lead paragraph
Similarities between late-Archean successions on the Kaapvaal and Pilbara Cratons led to the hypothesis that they once formed the proposed Vaalbara supercontinent, although the reconstruction remains debated.
Associated With: Kaapvaal Craton, Lead, age Archean
The Kaapvaal Craton is an Archean cratonic block in southern Africa and one of the world's oldest well-preserved fragments of continental crust.
View the SourceSuperior Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Superior Craton, Lead paragraph
It is the biggest craton among those formed during the Archean period.
Associated With: Superior Craton, Lead, age Archean
It is the biggest craton among those formed during the Archean period.
View the SourceDharwar Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Dharwar Craton, Lead paragraph
The Dharwar Craton is an Archean continental crust craton formed between 3.6 and 2.5 billion years ago (Ga), which is located in southern India and considered the oldest part of the Indian peninsula.
Associated With: Dharwar Craton, Lead, age Archean
The Dharwar Craton is an Archean continental crust craton formed between 3.6 and 2.5 billion years ago (Ga), which is located in southern India and considered the oldest part of the Indian peninsula.
View the SourceWyoming Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Wyoming Craton, Lead paragraph
Local preservation of 3.6-3.0 Ga gneisses and widespread isotopic evidence for crust of this age incorporated into younger plutons indicates that the Wyoming Craton originated as a 100,000 km2 middle Archean craton that was modified by late Archean volcanic magmatism and plate movements and Proterozoic extension and rifting.
Associated With: Wyoming Craton, Lead, age Archean
Local preservation of 3.6-3.0 Ga gneisses and widespread isotopic evidence for crust of this age incorporated into younger plutons indicates that the Wyoming Craton originated as a 100,000 km2 middle Archean craton that was modified by late Archean volcanic magmatism and plate movements and Proterozoic extension and rifting.
View the SourceZimbabwe Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Zimbabwe Craton, Lead paragraph
The Zimbabwe craton is an area in Southern Africa of ancient continental crust, being a part of the ancient continent of Western Gondwana, with rocks dating back to the early Archean Eon, possibly as early as 3.46 billion years ago (Ga.).
Associated With: Zimbabwe Craton, Lead, age Archean
The Zimbabwe craton is an area in Southern Africa of ancient continental crust, being a part of the ancient continent of Western Gondwana, with rocks dating back to the early Archean Eon, possibly as early as 3.46 billion years ago (Ga.).
View the SourceAldan Shield (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Aldan Shield, Lead paragraph
The exposed crust parts of the shield date back to the Archean and reflect the first phases of accretion of the crust.
Associated With: Aldan Shield, Lead, age Archean
The exposed crust parts of the shield date back to the Archean and reflect the first phases of accretion of the crust.
View the SourceAnabar Shield (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Anabar Shield, Lead paragraph
On the surface it appears as an upland of moderate height, built of gneisses and crystalline shales folded in the Archean.
Associated With: Anabar Shield, Lead, age Archean
On the surface it appears as an upland of moderate height, built of gneisses and crystalline shales folded in the Archean.
View the SourceBaltic Shield (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Baltic Shield, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: Baltic Shield, Lead, age Archean
It is composed mostly of Archean and Proterozoic gneisses and greenstone which have undergone numerous deformations through tectonic activity.
Canadian Shield (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Canadian Shield, Article text, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: Canadian Shield, Article text, age Archean
Much of the granitic rock belongs to the distinctive tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite family of rocks, which are characteristic of Archean continental crust.
East European Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: East European Craton, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: East European Craton, Lead, age Archean
Fennoscandia includes the Baltic Shield (also referred to as the Fennoscandian Shield) and has a diversified accretionary Archaean and early Proterozoic crust, while Sarmatia has an older Archaean crust.
North China Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: North China Craton, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: North China Craton, Lead, age Archean
The rocks formed in the Archean and Paleoproterozoic eons (4.6-1.6 billion years ago) were significantly overprinted during the root destruction.
Rae Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Rae Craton, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: Rae Craton, Lead, age Archean
The Rae Craton is an Archean craton located in northern Canada, north of the Superior Craton.
São Francisco Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: São Francisco Craton, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: São Francisco Craton, Lead, age Archean
It includes a number of blocks of Archean basement, separated by orogenic belts.
Ukrainian Shield (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Ukrainian Shield, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: Ukrainian Shield, Lead, age Archean
The Ukrainian Shield and the Voronezh Massif consist of 3.2-3.8 Ga Archean crust in the southwest and east, and 2.3-2.1 Ga Early Proterozoic orogenic belts.
West African Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: West African Craton, Lead, age ArcheanQuote, Associated With: West African Craton, Lead, age Archean
It consists of two Archean centers juxtaposed against multiple Paleoproterozoic domains made of greenstone belts, sedimentary basins, regional granitoid-tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) plutons, and large shear zones.
Pilbara Craton (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Pilbara Craton, Infobox: periodQuote, Associated With: Pilbara Craton, Infobox: period
Archean
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