Yaying Peng: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China.
Timothy Kusky: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China. tkusky@gmail.com. ORCID
Lu Wang: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China. wanglu@cug.edu.cn. ORCID
Zhikang Luan: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China. ORCID
Chuanhai Wang: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China.
Xuanyu Liu: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China. ORCID
Yating Zhong: State Key Lab of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China.
Noreen J Evans: School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia. ORCID
Significant changes in tectonic style and climate occurred from the late Archaean to early Proterozoic when continental growth and emergence provided opportunities for photosynthetic life to proliferate by the initiation of the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). In this study, we report a Neoarchaean passive-margin-type sequence (2560-2500 million years ago) from the Precambrian basement of China that formed in an accretionary orogen. Tectonostratigraphic and detrital zircon analysis reveal that thermal subsidence on the backside of a recently amalgamated oceanic archipelago created a quiet, shallow water environment, marked by deposition of carbonates, shales, and shallow water sediments, likely hosts to early photosynthetic microbes. Distinct from the traditional understanding of passive margins generated by continental rifting, post-collisional subsidence of archipelago margins represents a novel stable niche, signalling initial continental maturity and foreshadowing great changes at the Archaean-Proterozoic boundary.
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