THE ARCHEAN EON AND NORTH AMERICA: OUTSTANDING ISSUES AND CURRENT RESEARCH

The Archean rock record of North America represents one of the most complete and diverse in the world. Preserved components include Eo- to Paleoarchean crustal remnants that contain critical constraints on crustal differentiation processes early in Earth’s history. Further, abundant Meso- to Neoarchean crustal domains are preserved, reflecting several major pulses of juvenile crustal growth and cratonic stabilization. Many of these cratonic domains were amalgamated during the late Archean forming a nucleus around which North America was ultimately constructed during subsequent Eons. The goal of this and the associated session (T30) is to highlight how current research is furthering our understanding of early Earth processes. In particular, the overarching geodynamic environment(s) coincident with crustal growth and assembly during the Archean remain equivocal. For example, does the rock record of North America preserve the onset of plate tectonic processes? Alternatively, does the Archean rock record of North America reflect fundamentally different processes than those observed today? These and other topics of interest to the community will be highlighted in this talk and the current state of research will be discussed in Topical Session T30.