The early Earth experienced significant transitions from magma oceans to proto-lithosphere and eventually to the formation of tectonic plates as we know them today. These transformative changes have shaped Earth into a habitable planet. However, tectonic modes, timing, and conditions of metamorphic crustal processes during the Archean remain poorly understood. Uncertainties largely stem from limited preservation of the ancient metamorphic rock record. Yet, Archean cratons worldwide serve as unique natural laboratories, offering researchers the opportunity to study these processes by integrating traditional fieldwork and high-precision drone imaging with both established and novel in-situ analytical techniques.
We invite contributions to this session that probe the secrets of Archean metamorphic rocks by integrating metamorphic petrology with structural and microstructural analysis, in-situ petrochronology, thermodynamic modelling, geochemistry, geophysics and geodynamic modelling. These approaches will help elucidate metamorphic and deformation histories and provide new insights into the processes governing the early Earth.