Abstract The theory of plate tectonics is widely accepted by scientists and provides a robust framework with which to describe and predict the behavior of Earth’s rigid outer shell – the lithosphere – in space and time. Expressions of plate tectonic interactions at the Earth’s surface also provide critical insight into the machinations of our planet’s inaccessible interior, and allow postulation about the geological characteristics of other rocky bodies in our solar system and beyond. Formalization of this paradigm occurred at a landmark Penrose conference in 1969, representing the culmination of centuries of study, and our understanding of the “what”, “where”, “why”, and “when” of plate tectonics on Earth has continued to improve since. In this Centennial review, we summarize the major discoveries that have been made in these fields and present a modern-day holistic model for the geodynamic evolution of the Earth that best accommodates key lines of evidence for its changes over time. Plate tectonics probably began at a global scale during the Mesoarchean (c. 2.9–3.0 Ga), with firm evidence for subduction in older geological terranes accounted for by isolated plate tectonic ‘microcells’ that initiated at the heads of mantle plumes. Such early subduction likely operated at shallow angles and was short-lived, owing to the buoyancy and low rigidity of hotter oceanic lithosphere. A transitional period during the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic/Mesoproterozoic was characterized by continued secular cooling of the Earth’s mantle, which reduced the buoyancy of oceanic lithosphere and increased its strength, allowing the angle of subduction at convergent plate margins to gradually steepen. The appearance of rocks during the Neoproterozoic (c. 0.8–0.9 Ga) diagnostic of subduction do not mark the onset of plate tectonics, but simply record the beginning of modern-style cold, deep, and steep subduction that is an end-member state of an earlier, hotter, mobile lid regime.

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板块构造：什么、地点、原因和时间？

摘要 板块构造理论被科学家们广泛接受，并提供了一个强大的框架来描述和预测地球刚性外壳——岩石圈——在空间和时间上的行为。地球表面板块构造相互作用的表达也提供了对我们星球难以接近的内部机制的重要洞察力，并允许对我们太阳系及其他地区其他岩石天体的地质特征进行假设。这一范式的形式化发生在 1969 年具有里程碑意义的彭罗斯会议上，代表了几个世纪研究的顶峰，我们对地球板块构造“什么”、“哪里”、“为什么”和“何时”的理解继续深入人心。自改进。在这次百年回顾中，我们总结了在这些领域取得的重大发现，并提出了地球地球动力学演化的现代整体模型，该模型最能适应其随时间变化的关键证据。板块构造可能在中古宙（c. 2.9-3.0 Ga）期间在全球范围内开始，有确凿的证据表明较古老的地质地体中的俯冲是由在地幔柱头部开始的孤立板块构造“微胞”造成的。由于较热的海洋岩石圈的浮力和低刚度，这种早期的俯冲很可能以浅角度运行并且持续时间很短。新太古代和古元古代/中元古代过渡时期的特征是地幔持续长期冷却，降低了海洋岩石圈的浮力并增加了其强度，允许会聚板块边缘的俯冲角逐渐变陡。新元古代（约 0.8-0.9 Ga）俯冲诊断期间岩石的出现并不标志着板块构造的开始，而只是记录了现代式冷、深、陡俯冲的开始，这是一种末端状态更早、更热、可移动的盖子制度。