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Earth History GEOL 2110
Lecture 11Origin and Early Evolution of the Earth
Part 2: Differentiation of the Earth’s Spheres
Major Concepts• Early Earth became strongly heated by gravitational
condensation, radioactive heating of short-lived isotopes, and impacting of asteroids; this resulted in the differentiation of the dense iron core and the light crust from the primordial mantle
• Partial melting of the earth’s ultramafic mantle created the chemically distinctive crust of mafic and felsic composition
• Outgassing of volatiles and photochemical dissociation during early crust formation created an early hydrosphere and atmosphere that quickly evolved to create the dominant chemistry we observe today
• The evolution of the biosphere has subsequently modified the atmosphere’s composition by enriching it in oxygen
• The chemical balance of the earth’s spheres have a great capacity to buffer pertubations to the system
CompositionalLayers
StructuralLayers
MANTLE
SiO2 – 45%
MgO – 37%
FeO – 8%
Al2O3 – 4%
CaO – 3%
others – 3%
COREFe – 86%S – 10%Ni – 4%
OCEANIC
CONTINENTAL
CRUST CRUST
SiO2 47% 56%
Al2O3 16% 18%
FeO 13% 9%
MgO 10% 3%
CaO 10% 4%
Na2O 2% 5.5%
K2O 0.7% 2.5%
TiO2 1.1% 1.3%
P2O5 0.2% 0.7%
Layers of the Earth
= chondritic meteorites
---MohorovicicDiscontinuity
Igneous Mineralogy of the Earth’s CrustOcean Crust MantleContinental Crust
Oceanic CrustDistillation of the Mantle by Partial Melting
Magmatism at Mid-Ocean Ridges
Peridotite
Oceanic CrustDistillation of the Mantle by Partial Melting
Incongruent Melting – mineral phases don’t melt in equal proportions
Normal Ocean Geotherm
Upwelling Geotherm
Pl
Sp
Gt
Komatiite
Oceanic CrustDistillation of the Mantle by Partial Melting
Evidence in Solid Solution Minerals
OCEANIC
CRUST MANTLE
SiO2 47% 45%
Al2O3 16% 4%
FeO 13% 8%
MgO 10% 37%
CaO 8% 3%
Na2O 2.5% 0.2%
K2O 0.7% 0.1%
TiO2 1.1% 0.3 %
P2O5 0.2% 0.05%
Ni 200ppm
5000ppm
Cr 100ppm
7000ppm
94%6%
76%24%
NaFe
CaMg
Olivine/Pyroxene Basalt/Gabbro
Continental CrustDistillation of Ocean Crust by Partial Melting Evidence in Solid Solution
Minerals
OCEANIC
CONTINENTAL
CRUST CRUST
SiO2 47% 56%
Al2O3 16% 18%
FeO 13% 9%
MgO 10% 3%
CaO 10% 4%
Na2O 2% 5.5%
K2O 0.7% 2.5%
TiO2 1.1% 1.3%
P2O5 0.2% 0.7%
Present-day Formation of CrustA Double Distillation Process
Melting the Mantle Makes Mafic Magma – ALWAYSMelting Crust Makes Intermediate to Felsic Magma
Crust Formation in Early Earth
Not likely that Plate Tectonics, as we know it today, existed in the early Earth (>3.0Ga). Ocean crust too thick and too hot (plastic) to behave rigidly. Probably overthickened in compression zones causing partial melting of basal zones
Evidence of Early Continental Crust4.3-4.4 Ga zircon grains found in Sedimentary Rocks in Western Australia
Zircons are rare in mafic rocks but plentiful in granitic rocks
Formation of the Hydrosphere and Atmosphere
Evidence of Early Formation of the Hydrosphere
Acta Gneiss of the Slave Province in northwestern Canada4.03 Ga metamorphosed sedimentary rocks
Origin of Seawater and the AtmosphereVolcanic Outgassing
Photochemical Evolution of the Atmosphere
Prior to development of the Ozone layer, ultaviolet radiation caused dissociation of water vapor to create oxygen:2H2O + UV rad2H2 (lost) + O2
Oxygen then transformed methane and ammonia to carbon dioxide and nitrogen gasCH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2H2O
Biogentic Build-up of Oxygen in the Atmosphere
Banded Iron-formation depositionFixing biogenic oxygen in chemical sediments
The Global Chemostat and ThermostatThe Earth’s Capacity to Buffer
Summary of Early Earth Events
Next Lecture
Theory of Plate TectonicsPart 1:
Toward the Development of the Grand ParadigmBy SARAH
Quiz : Chapters 6 & 7