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Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Kinematic History of a Salient-recess Junction Explored through a Combined Approach of Field Data and Analog Sandbox Modeling
Published on: August 5, 2016
Coexisting divergent and convergent plate boundary assemblages indicate plate tectonics in the Neoarchean
Bo Huang1, Tim E Johnson2, Simon A Wilde2
1Badong National Observation and Research Station for Geohazards, State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. hbyjdg@cug.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The coexistence of divergent (spreading ridge) and convergent (subduction zone) plate boundaries at which lithosphere is respectively generated and destroyed is the hallmark of plate tectonics. Here, we document temporally- and spatially-associated Neoarchean (2.55-2.51 Ga) rock assemblages with mid-ocean ridge and supra-subduction-zone origins from the Angou Complex, southern North China Craton. These assemblages record seafloor spreading and contemporaneous subduction initiation and mature arc magmatism, respectively, analogous to modern divergent and convergent plate boundary processes. Our results provide direct evidence for lateral plate motions in the late Neoarchean, and arguably the operation of plate tectonics, albeit with warmer than average Phanerozoic subduction geotherms. Further, we surmise that plate tectonic processes played an important role in shaping Earth's surficial environments during the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic.
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