THE GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION
THE CONTINENTAL CRUST
Stuart RossTaylor
Department of Nuclear Physics
ResearchSchool of PhysicalSciences
AustralianNational University, Canberra
Abstract. A survey is given of the dimensions and
composition of the present continental crust. The
abundances of immobile elements in sedimentary
rocks are used to establish upper crustal composition.
The present upper crustal composition is attributed
largely to intracrustal differentiation resulting in the
production of granites sensolato. Underplating of the
crust by ponded basaltic magmas is probably a major
source of heat for intracrustal differentiation. The con-
trast between the present upper crustal composition
and that of the Archean upper crust is emphasized.
The nature of the lower crust is examined in the light
of evidence from granulites and xenoliths of lower
crustal origin. It appears that the protoliths of most
granulite facies exposures are more representative of
upper or middle crust and that the lower crust has a
much more basic composition than the exposed upper
crust. There is growing consensusthat the crust grows
episodically, and it is concluded that at least 60% of
the crust was emplaced by the late Archean (ca. 2.7
eons, or 2.7 Ga). There appears to be a relationship
between episodes of continental growth and differen-
tiation and supercontinental cycles, probably dating
back at least to the late Archean. However, such
cycles do not explain the contrast in crustal composi-
tions between Archean and post-Archean. Mecha-
INTRODUCTION
The familiar crust of the Earth is of unique impor-
tance because it formed the platform above sea level
on which the later stagesof evolution occurred that led
to the appearanceof Homo sapiens. If the continental
crust had not provided the mountains, broad plains,
and forests that encouraged the development of the
diversity of land-based life, nonmarine life, restricted
to small islands, would have taken a different course;
birds might have become the dominant land dwellers,
as in prehuman New Zealand. It is thus of interest to
1On sabbaticalin 1994 at AbteilungGeochemie,Max-
Planck-Institut far Chemie, Mainz, Germany.
Copyright 1995 by the American GeophysicalUnion.
8755-1209/95/95 RG-00262515.00
ß 241
OF
Scott M. McLennan •
Department
of Earth
andSpace
Sciences
State University of New York, Stony Brook
nisms for deriving the crust from the mantle are
considered, including the role of present-day plate
tectonics and subduction zones. It is concluded that a
somewhat different tectonic regime operated in the
Archean and was responsible for the growth of much
of the continental crust. Archean tonalites and trond-
hjemites may have resulted from slab melting and/or
from melting of the Archean mantle wedge but at low
pressuresand high temperaturesanalogousto modem
boninites. In contrast, most andesites and subduction-
related rocks, now the main contributors to crustal
growth, are derived ultimately from the mantle wedge
above subduction zones. The cause of the contrast be-
tween the processesresponsiblefor Archean and post-
Archean crustal growth is attributed to faster subduction
of younger, hotter oceanic crest in the Archean (ulti-
mately due to higher heat flow) compared with subduc-
tion of older, cooler oceanic crest in more recent times.
A brief survey of the causes of continental breakup
revealsthat neither plume nor lithosphericstretchingis a
totally satisfactory explanation. Speculations are pre-
sentedabout crustal developmentbefore 4000 m.y. ago.
The terrestrial continental crust appears to be unique
compared with crests on other planets and satellitesin
the solar system, ultimately a consequenceof the abun-
dant free water on the Earth.
inquire how the continental crust, which differs so
greatly in composition from the oceanic crust and the
mantle, came into existence, and whether similar
crusts exist on the other terrestrial planets.
The continental crust comprises only about 0.35%
of the mass of the Earth. Although it might thus appear
to be a trivial geochemicalreservoir, the crust contains
substantial amounts, exceeding 30% of the bulk Earth
budget, of several of the most incompatible elements,
such as Cs, Rb, K, U, Th, and La. Because the crust
is not easily recycled back into the mantle, it is a major
geochemical reservoir, and its composition is an im-
portant constraint on all geochemicalmodels of bulk
Earth compositionand evolution. Any significanttem-
poral change in either the crust's composition or its
mass will have important implications for understand-
Reviewsof Geophysics,33, 2 / May 1995
pages 241-265
Paper number 95RG00262
ß
242 ß Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY
ing the evolution of the Earth. Perhaps equally impor-1985; Taylor, 1989; McLennan and Taylor, 1991;
tant in this context are the details of continental
McLennan, 1992]. In this paper our purpose is to
composition, especially the variations in composition provide a general overview of recent developments in
between upper and lower crust, which provide insights continental crustal geochemistry and to indicate some
into the mechanisms of crust formation and differen- of the more promising areas for continuing research.
tiation.
The continental crust is especially diverse and het-
erogeneous. Major compositional changes occur,
sometimes on a scale of meters; everyone is familiar
with the complexity displayed on geologicalmaps of
all scales. Arriving at a reliable average composition
might be thought to be difficult, if not impossible.
Nature, however, through the processes of erosion
and sedimentation, has carried out its own overall
sampling of the exposed crust, and this information is
stored within the sedimentary rock record. Some ele-
ments possess the desirable property of having ex-
tremely low concentrations in natural waters and so
are not readily partitioned into fluids during weather-
ing or diagenesis. Such elements, of which the rare
earth elements (REE) are a prime example, are thus
transferred quantitatively during erosion and sedimen-
tation from the parent rocks into clastic sediments.
The average composition of the bulk, rather than
the exposed crust, is a far more complicated issue.
Accordingly, there is considerably less of a consensus
about both bulk crustal composition and mechanisms
of crust formation. Constraints from geochemistry,
though model dependent, provide estimates of the
average K, Th, and U content of the bulk crust. In
turn, these data limit models of bulk crustal composi-
tion. The important constraint on K, Th, and U abun-
dances in the continental crust relies heavily on the
interpretation of continental heat flow data, and as will
be noted below, this is proving to be a difficult issue.
Integration of the sedimentary and geophysical
records has helped to resolve the sampling problem
and provided detailed information about the composi-
tion and evolution of the continental crust.
Geological, petrological, geochemical, and geo-
physical observations each produce important con-
straints on the composition and evolution of the con-
tinental crust and combine to allow some
generalizations. Thus the composition of the upper
crust cannot persist below about 10 km, so that the
lower crust is in many ways a distinct geochemical
entity. There is much evidence to suggesta fundamen-
tal difference between the crust generated during the
early and middle Archean with that which developed
during and subsequentto the late Archean. The nature
of the earliest crust, though the subject of intense
interest, remains largely a mystery. There has been a
continuing debate over the growth rate of the crust,
the scale of recycling of the crust into the mantle, and
of course its ultimate origin.
Comprehensive reviews of the composition and
geochemical evolution of the continental crust have
been provided elsewhere [Taylor and McLennan,
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS
crustal
GLOSSARY
Archean-Proterozoictransition: The time span of
about 3.2 to 2.5 eons (1 eon = 1 Ga) that incorporates
the major tectonic stabilization (cratonization) near or
at the end of the Archean. The transition is generally
short-lived on any given craton but is found at different
times in different places. This term is distinguished
from the Archean-Proterozoic boundary that is com-
monly dated at precisely 2.5 eons.
Ce anomaly: Enrichment (positive anomaly) or
depletion (negative anomaly) of cerium compared with
the expected level predicted from a smooth, chondrite-
normalized REE pattern.
ES: European shale composite (a composite of
European shales of Paleozoic age).
Eu anomaly: Enrichment (positive anomaly) or
depletion (negative anomaly) of europium compared
with the expected level predicted from a smooth,
chondrite-normalized REE pattern.
Eu/Eu*: The ratio of measured Eu divided by the
predicted concentration of Eu (Eu*) predicted from a
smooth, chondrite-normalized REE pattern. Eu/Eu*
> 1.0 indicates positive Eu anomalies, and Eu/Eu* <
1.0 indicates negative Eu anomalies.
First-cyclesediments: Sediments that have been
derived directly from igneous source rocks without an
intervening history of crustal and/or sedimentary re-
cycling.
GdN/YbN: The ratio of chondrite-normalizedval-
ues (denoted by subscript N) of Gd and Yb.
HREE: The heavy (or small) rare earth elements,
Gd through Lu.
broad laN/YbN: The ratio of chondrite-normalizedval-
ues (denoted by subscript N) of La and Yb.
LILE: Large-ion lithophile elements (e.g., Cs, Rb,
Th, U, LREE).
LREE: The light (or large) rare earth elements, La
through Sm.
Nd model age: The age calculated from the
neodymium isotopic composition of a rock or mineral
when the initial isotopic composition is assumed.
NASC: North American shale composite (a com-
posite of about 40 post-Archean shales and slates,
mainly from North America).
PAAS: Post-Archean average Australian shale
(the average REE abundances in 26 post-Archean
shales from Australia).
REE: Rare earth elements. In most geochemical
33, 2/REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS Taylor
andMcLennan'
CONTINENTAL
CRUST
GEOCHEMISTRY
ß 243
TABLE 1. Dimensions of Continental Crust

Mean Mean
Area, Thickness, Volume, Height, Flooded
Continent 10• km2 km !0 9 km• m Area, %

Major Continents
Eurasia 62.160 38 2.362 361 25.8
North America 39.793 35 1.393 96 30.6
Africa 35.722 24 0.857 244 14.5
South America 23.982 42 1.007 149 19.0
Antarctica 18.984 33 0.626 - 344 78.4
Australia 14.163 36 0.510 -244 34.9
India 4.648 38 0.177 236 14.9
Arabia 4.595 23 0.106 470 [0.6
New Zealand 3.980 21 0.084 - 1568 90.3
Central America 1.344 18 0.024 -579 52.8

SubmergedMicrocontinents
Rockall 0.459 33 0.015 - 1702 100
Seychelles 0.386 32 0.0.12 - 1706 99.9
Agulhas 0.134 12 0.002 - 3222 100.0
Jan Mayen 0.055 ßßß 0.002* - 1600 99.4
Totals 2i0.405 7.177' 126 30.6
Adapted from Cogley [1984].
*Value for assumedcrustal thicknessbetween 28 and 45 km.
*Sumof individualvolumes.Productof totalareaandaveragethickness
of all continents
leadsto volumeof 7.575x 109km3.

discussions, d to the lanthanidesgreataccuracy;

the termis restricte someestimates
of average
'crUstal
La through Lu, but it also includes Y and Sc. thickness are as high as 40 km.
•: Nd model age that assumes an initial Nd Thebaseofthecrustisusually
defined
asthemajor
isotopic composition equivalent to a model for the seismicdiscontinuity,the Mohorovi•i6discontinuity
mantle(variousmodelsare used)that hasbeende- or Moho,wherecompressional wavevelocities•(V•,)
pletedin LREE for muchof its history. jumpfromabout7 to about8 km s-•. However,the
TTG suite: A common suite of Na-rich felsic plu- Mohois nota sharpboundary everywhereandmayb6
tonics (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite)found com- absentlocally.Thusthe crustis oftendefinedas ma-
monly in Archean terranes and characterized by, terialwithV•, < 7.8 km s-• or seismic
shearwave
among other things, depletion in the heavy rare earth velocitiesVs < 4.3 km s-•. Theseseismicvelocities
elements. Volcanic equivalents are also found and areconsistentwith densities
lessthan3.1 g cm-3. The
generally included in discussionsof the TTG suite. base of the crust is likely to be very complicated in
detail because of the possibility of underplating by
SIZE, STRUCTURE, AND AGE basic or ultramaficmaterial and becauseof the prob-
able interlayering of high-velocity mantle material with
The continental crust occupies 41.2% of the surface lower-velocity crustal material.
areaof the Earth, or 2.10 x 108km2;71.3%or 1.50 x A midcrustal
boundary,the Conraddiscontinuity,
is
108 km 2 lies above sea level. There are at least 10 sometimes
observed
to separate
upperandlowercrustat
major continental blocks and fOUr submergedmicro- about 10- to 20-km depth. It is commonly discontinuous
continents (Table 1). The mean elevation of the conti- andoftenabsent
orpoorlyconstrained
by seismic
data,
nental crust above sea level is 125 m. The elevation of especially in shield areas. Sometimes it is gradational
the area which lies above the 200-m isobath (i.e., the overseveralkilometers.
The failureof sUperdeep
drill
shelf-slopebreak) is 690 m. The average elevation of holes to identify many of the discontinuitiesthat were
the continents above the mean seafloor (oceanic crust) based on interpretations of the geophysical evidence
is about 5 km. Average crustal thickness is 36 km but remainsan intriguingarea of investigation.
varies between 10 and 80 km, correlating with the size Crustaldensityestimatesrangefrom 2.7 to 2.9 g
of the continentalblock and the age of the last tectonic cm-3 andincreasewithdepthonaverage.Thisparam-
event. The crustalvolumeis 7.35 x 109km3, a value eter is difficult to define preciselybecauseof the mod-
that includes sediment on the ocean floor derived from el-dependentnature of the lower crust and becauseof
the continents and the volumes of the submergedcon- the great geologicalcomplexity of the crust generally.
tinental masses. This estimate of volume has an error A crustalmassof 2.06 x 1025g (-+7%)is obtainedif an
of at least +_5% because it depends on the value averagedensityof 2.8 g cm-3 is adopted.On thebasis
adopted for crustal thickness. This is not known with of this calculation, the continental crust forms 0.54%
244 ß Taylor and McLennan' CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

TABLE 2. Crust Formation Age Distributions

Nd Model Age Distributions* This Paper

0%Crust
by4.0Eons 8%Crust
by4.0Eons Model Average
Distribution, Growth Rate, Distribution, Growth Rate, Distribution, Growth rate,
Age, eons % % eon-• % % eon-• % % eon-•

1.0-0.0 18 18 17 17 10 10
1.6-1.0 12 20 11 18 8 13
2.6-1.6 22 22 20 20 22 22
3.4-2.6 26 33 24 30 50 62
4.0-3.4 22 37 20 33 10 17
4.5-4.0 ßßß 8 16 ......
Total 100 100 100

Mean age, eons* 2.2 ... 2.3 ... 2.4

Data from McCulloch and Bennett [1993]. There is no identified crust greater than 4.0 eons. Two models are presented, one assuming
0% crust present at 4.0 eons and a secondassuming8% crust present by 4.0 eons (a value consideredby McCulloch and Bennett [1993] to
be consistent with Nd isotopic characteristics of Archean mantle-derived volcanics).
*In eachcase,crustalgrowthis assumedto be episodic,consistent
with McCullochandBennett[1993]and as describedin text.

of the mass of the crust-mantle system and only 0.35% UPPER CONTINENTAL CRUST
of the mass of the whole Earth.
The continental crust is of great antiquity when
compared with oceanic crust and thus contains most of SedimentaryRocksas Crustal Samples
the geological record. An understanding of the mean Goldschmidt [1938] suggested that the mixing and
age of the continents is important for a number of homogenizingeffects of sedimentary processesshould
geochemical and geophysical models but is a difficult produce uniform rare earth element patterns in sedi-
parameter to estimate with confidence.The most robust mentary rocks and that these should reflect the abun-
dances in the upper continental crust. This prediction
approachto date is based on the Sm-Nd isotope system
of Goldschmidt has proven remarkably accurate, es-
becausein bulk rock samplesit is leastprone to resetting
pecially for fine-grained clastic sedimentary rocks
duringlater metamorphism.The most important episode
such as shales [Taylor and McLennan, 1985]. The use
of fractionationof Sm from Nd takes place at the time of
of elemental abundances in sedimentary rocks as in-
mantle melting to form continental crust. Hence the
dexes of upper crustal composition is based on the
depletedmantle Nd model age (TDM)of crustaligneous
observation that many elements have extremely low
rocks is thought to reflect the age of mantle extraction. concentrations in river water and seawater and so are
This simple view is complicated by a number of pro-
transported and deposited without effective loss by
cessesthat may later change Sm/Nd or underestimate
clastic sediments, such as shales and sandstones(Fig-
the importance of older crustal rocks. These processes ure 1). The most important among these elements are
include intracrustalmelting, metamorphicresetting,and the REE, Y, Sc, and Th (other insoluble elements,
assimilation of older material. The overall effect is that
such as Zr, Hf, and Sn, have similar properties, but the
estimatesof averagecrustalage basedon the Nd isotope chemistry of these elements in clastic sediments is
system,while superiorto other isotopicapproaches,are totally dominated by very resistant heavy minerals,
still likely to represent a minimum [McLennan, 1988]. such as zircon and cassiterite, that are readily segre-
On the basis of Nd model age provinces in North gated during sedimentation). Shales and their relatives
America, Europe, and Australia (Table 2), an average are volumetrically the most important sedimentary
age of continental crust is about 2.0-2.3 eons [Nelson rock types (constitutingabout 70% of the sedimentary
and DePaolo, 1985; Patchett and Arndt, 1986; McCul- mass), and so the abundances of these insoluble ele-
loch, 1987; DePaolo et al., 1991; McCulloch and Ben- ments in shales can be closely related to that of the
nett, 1993]. These workers conclude that no more than upper crust.
about 50% of the continental crust was in place by 2.6 Although some d•vers•ty exists i_n_ REE patter_n_s•
eons, a value that we consider too low because it does especially sediments derived directly from volcani-
not account for the freeboard constraint that crustal cally active continental margins, the average REE
volumes have only increased to a minor degree since pattern is very similar for most Phanerozoic and mod-
2.5 eons (see below). A mean age of at least 2.4 eons ern shales [McLennan et al., 1990, 1993; McLennan
for the continental crust is obtained if about 60% of the and Taylor, 1991]. These include estimates of averages
crust was in place by 2.6 eons (Table 2), a model that from three continents' post-Archean Australian aver-
we favor here. age shale (PAAS), European shale composite (ES),
33, 2/REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS Taylorand McLennan-CONTINENTALCRUSTGEOCHEMISTRYß 245
10.00 ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I
and North American shalecomposite(NASC) samples
[see Taylor and McLennan, 1985]. These REE pat-
terns are enriched in the light REE (LREE) relative to REE[•• ,-............ I
chondritic patterns, which are taken as representative ß,'", CO !Cr•fi ;
':Ca Bi';
of the bulk Earth (see Taylor [1992a] for a discussion
of this), and have a depletion in Eu relative to the ', •' i:!:"-.-•'•:-'.•-:•;;:-:!::Ga
[..............
_P__b_
:'Z_n
Ba
.....! 5i
TM'i Rb
I U K Mg
neighboringREE, Sm, and Gd. (This relative deple- , • ß

tion is usually referred to as a "negative Eu anomaly"; :_.M__o_

the converse enrichment in Eu is often referred to as a
"positive Eu anomaly." See glossaryfor definitionsof
LREE, HREE, LaN/YbN, and Eu/Eu*; for REE nor-
malizing factors, see Taylor and McLennan [1985]).
The REE are not readily fractionated in sedimen-
taryprocesses
(exceptthatCe3+mayoxidizeto Ce4+
and separate as the insoluble phosphate in marine
environments, or less frequently as the hydroxide in
terrestrial environments). Thus the REE pattern is
recording a previous signatureof igneousevents in-
volving partial melting (or crystal fractionation) and
removal of Eu by plagioclaseas a residualphase [e.g.,
Taylor and McLennan, 1988].
Modern sediments mostly display REE patterns
similar to those of the post-Archean shales.The REE
patterns of most suspendedparticulate matter in some
of the world's major rivers [Goldstein and Jacobsen,
1988] are also very similar to the PAAS, although
slightly enriched in total REE as a result of their finer
grain size (REE are concentratedin the clay fraction plications exist involving redox controls (Fe and Mn) and
and in heavy minerals).
Location of REI= in Sediments
The bulk of the REE elements reside in the fine-
grained (clay and silt) fraction (there is no correlation
with specificclay mineralogy) and also in trace miner-
als such as zircon, monazite, and apatite [Cullers et
al., 1979]. There is some indication that significant
fractions of REE in clay minerals may also occur as
microinclusions of resistate minerals such as apatite
[Caggianelli et al., 1992]. Sand fractions within a sed-
imentary rock have significantly lower total abun-
dances than finer-grained fractions. Coarse-grained
sedimentary rocks typically have REE patterns essen-
tially parallel to those of shales,but with lower total
abundances than shales, due mainly to the diluting
effect of quartz.
The overall shape of the patterns (Eu/Eu*, LaN/
Ybs) is generallysimilarfor sandstones and shales.Eu
anomalies are similar in all size fractions. The REE
abundancesin quartz-rich sedimentaryrocks are typ-
ically very low. The potential of heavy minerals to
distort REE patterns in sedimentary rocks is well
recognized. For example, Archean metaquartzites
from the Western Gneiss Terrain, Australia [Taylor et
al., 1986] show enrichments of light REE due to the
presence of monazite. However, these minerals are
only rarely concentratedin amountssufficientto cause
perceptible effects on the REE patterns. Thus the
resistant mineral zircon, typically enriched in heavy
.........! Sr
i Ca Na
, , , I , , , I , , , I ß ß ß I . . .
0.10
'0 -8 -6 -4 -2
log (Seawater / Upper Crust)
Figure 1. Plot of the concentrationratios of (averageshale)/
(upper crust) versus(seawater)/(uppercrust) to illustrate the
elements most useful for estimating upper crustal abun-
dances from sedimentary data. Data are taken primarily
from Taylor and McLennan [1985]; however, since some of
their upper crust values are derived directly from shales
(e.g., REE, Th, and Sc), for the purposesof this diagram, the
independently determined values of Shaw et al. [1976] are
used for these elements. With the exception of Co (and
perhapsTi, for which seawaterdata are poorly established),
the ratios of (average shale)/(uppercrust) vary by a factor of
<1.5 for elements that do not partition into water during
geological
processes((seawater)/(upper crust)<10-5). Com-
heavy mineral concentrations(e.g., Zr), but in general the
abundancesof these elements in shales most closely reflect
upper crustal abundances(notably for REE, Th, and Sc). In
contrast, the ratio (average shale)/(upper crust) varies by a
factor of > 15 for elements that are partitioned into natural
waters((seawater)/(upper
crust) > 10-3). Suchelementsare
readily dissolvedin natural waters and are concentratedinto
chemical sediments (e.g., Ca, Na, and St) or are readily
mobilized during weathering, diagenesis, hydrothermal al-
teration, and so forth (e.g., Mg, U, and B).
REE, affects the bulk rock patterns only when zircon
constitutes more than about 0.06% (or Zr abundances
exceedabout300 ppm) becauseevery 100ppm of Zr as
zircon adds only about 0.25 times chondritic levels of
Yb (typical bulk rock patterns are about 10-15 times
chondritic levels for that element).
SedimentaryProcessesand REEPatterns
Sedimentary processes may affect REE distribu-
tions in sedimentary rocks. Recent studies of granite
weathering
indicatethatsubstantial
fracfionation
may
take place within weathering profiles [e.g., Nesbitt,
1979;Banfield and Eggleton, 1989] resulting in, among
other things, significantCe anomaliesassociatedwith
formationof Ce4+ and stableceriumhydroxides.In
most situations, such fractionation does not translate
into unusual sedimentary rock REE patterns because
the weathering profile is well mixed during subsequent
246 ß Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

erosion and transport [Nesbitt, 1979]. Exceptions may the upper continental crust [Taylor et al., 1983; Liu et
exist. For example, McDaniel et al. [1994] recognized al., 1993]. The similarity of REE patterns for the
such a process as affecting Early Proterozoic first- widely scatteredloess depositsto shale averages(e.g.,
cycle turbidites derived from granitic rocks. In this/ PAAS, ES, and NASC) indicates that loess also pro-
case, Ce anomalies were present, and Nd isotopes vides the same information on the composition of the
clearly record partial resetting of the Sm-Nd system at upper crust as that provided by clastic sediments.
about the time of sedimentation. There is little evidence that these sediments have been
Sedimentary transport may also result in changing affected by significant weathering. This demonstrates
sedimentary REE patterns due to heavy mineral (no- that upper crustal provenance is the prime control on
tably zircon and monazite) fractionation. Such effects REE patterns of clastic sedimentary rocks rather than
can be modeled with some confidence [McLennan, the effects of sedimentary processes.
i989] andare mostlikely to be a significant
influencein
clastic sediments such as quartzites with low REE Compositionof the Post-ArcheanUpper Crust
abundances. Recent studies have also demonstrated The compositionof the post-Archean upper crust is
that REE may be significantly affected during certain well established, with several estimates converging on
conditions of diagenesis [e.g., Ohr et al., 1991; a composition close to that of granodiorite. The meth-
Milodowski and Zalasiewicz, 1991; Bock et al., 1994]. ods employed have ranged from extensive sampling
Redistribution of REE among newly formed diagenetic andmassive analyticalprograms involving estimates
minerals, without significanttransport, appearsto oc- of the amounts of various rock types to the use of
cur in most cases [Ohr et al., 1991]. However, in sedimentary rocks and loess as natural sampling pro-
examples of diagenetically altered Ordovician tur- cesses. Some recent studies employing such ap-
bidites, there is evidence of larger-scaletransport (and proaches include those of Taylor and McLennan
partial resetting of the Nd isotope system) associated [1985], Wedepohl [1991], Ronov et al. [1992], and
with formation of REE-bearing minerals such as mon- Condie [ 1992].
azite [Milodowski and Zalasiewicz, 1991; Bock et al., The most remarkable feature of the REE abundance
1994]. In addition to these examples, reports of heavy
patterns in post-Archean sedimentary rocks is their
REE (HREE, i.e., Gd-Lu) depletion in continent-de- uniformity on a worldwide scale. REE patterns for the
rived marine sediment continue to appear but in most post-Archean Australian average shale are similar to
cases may be attributed to analytical difficulties [e.g.,
those of composite shale samples from Europe and
Sholkovitz, 1988, 1990]. North America. These patterns are all characterized
Although such effects appear to be comparatively by light REE enrichment and relatively flat heavy REE
rare, they are of some interest. Unusual sedimentary abundances about 10 times chondritic, with a rather
processes mostly result in the production of anoma- uniform depletion in Eu (Eu/Eu* = 0.65). This unifor-
lous REE patterns, such as Ce anomalies [McDaniel et mity both within and between continents is accord-
al., 1994] or severe LREE depletion [Bock et al., ingly interpreted to represent the REE abundancesin
1994]. In each of these examples, evaluation of the the upper continental crust exposed to weathering
REE systematics permits constraints to be placed on (Figure 2). Mass balance calculations involving aver-
the original REE patterns [McDaniel et al., 1994;Bockages of the various sedimentary rock types (shales,
et al., 1994]. These results also engender caution insandstones,carbonates, and evaporites) indicate that
interpreting the numerous Nd isotope studiesof sedi- while REE patterns in fine-grained sedimentary rocks
mentary rocks in which the geochemical systematics are parallel to upper crustal abundances, they proba-
beyond Sm and Nd are not evaluated. bly overestimate the absolute abundances by about
20% [Taylor and McLennan, 1981].
Loess The abundances of the insoluble elements Th and
About 10% of the Earth's land surface is covered Sc also reflect upper crustal abundances in the same
with Pleistocene loess. The origin of most loess by manner as the REE (Figure 1). Thorium is typically
aeolian transport from glacial outwash, particularly concentrated in granitic rocks. Scandium, although
during cold dry climatic regimes is well established. trivalent and a member the same group (III) of the
This combination of widespread production of silt- periodic table as the REE, is a much smaller ion, and
sized rock flour and its transport by wind over hun- is concentrated in basic rocks, entering early crystal-
dreds of kilometers thus provides geochemistswith a lizing pyroxenes. The Th/Sc ratio thus forms an excel-
natural samplingof comparatively unweathered mate- lent index of the relative proportions of granitic and
rial from the exposed crust. Loessesfrom North basic rocks.
America, Europe, China, and New Zealand show very From sedimentary REE, Th, and Sc data, it is
uniform REE abundances(althoughsometimesdiluted possible to extrapolate to obtain the upper crustal
by quartzor carbonate), withEu depletions equivalent abundances of a number of other elements by using
to those observed in clastic sedimentary rocks, indi- elemental ratios that either are constant across a wide
cating that they are providing a reasonable sample of range of igneous compositions (e.g., K/U) or vary
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan' CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY ß 247

mantle derivation rarely display Eu anomalies, and no

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1
-- V21-147
primitive volcanic rock derived directly from the man-
500.0 [] V24-73
• 198A-2-2
tle exhibits a relative depletion in Eu. The origin of the
-• 198A-3-3 marked depletion of Eu typical of chondrite-normal-
ized REE patterns in terrigenoussedimentaryrocks is
not due to surficial processes of oxidation or reduc-
tion. Eu is, with rare exceptions, present as the
trivalent ion in sediments [e.g., Sverjensky, 1984], so
c: 100.0
o that the depletion in Eu is the signature of an earlier
o igneous event. Under the reducing conditions typical
E Post-Archean of magmas, Eu is divalent. The relatively fiat and
Upper Crust
uniform HREE patterns seen in sedimentary rocks
(Gd•/Yb• = 1.0 to 2.0) suggeststhat HREE-enriched
E
Archean minerals, notably garnet and amphibole, are not im-
Upper Crus
portant fractionating phases during the formation of
the upper continental crust.
10.0 The generally accepted explanation for the origin of
the Eu-depleted, K-rich granites and granodioritesthat
PacificOcean Pelagic Clays
now dominate the upper crust is that they form
LaCe Nd SmEuGd Dy Er YbLu through intracrustal melting. Thus the most likely ex-
planation for the upper crustal Eu anomaly is that Eu
Figure 2. Chondrite-normalized REE diagram showingdeep-
is left in residual plagioclase in the lower crust. Pla-
sea pelagic muds from the Pacific Ocean basin (data from
Ben Othrnan et al. [1989] and Lin [1992]). Shown for com-
gioclaseis stable only to a pressureof 10 kbar (a depth
parison are estimates of post-Archean and Archean upper of 40 km on the Earth), so that this sink for Eu is
crust, from Taylor and McLennan [1985]. Note that pelagic consistent with the scenario of intracrustal melting for
sedimentsfrom the Pacific basin, a region surroundedby arc granite origin that is supported by experimental stud-
volcanism, display negative Eu anomalies characteristic of ies [e.g., Wyllie, 1983]. There are two sources of heat
the upper crust. This signature is largely due to aeolian available to induce intracrustal melting. The first is the
sources.The paucity of such patterns in Archean greenstone heat generated by radioactive decay of K, U, and Th.
belts is considered strong evidence for the limited extent of The second source, underplating of the crust by basal-
stabilized Archean crust that had undergone intracrustal tic magmas, is less easily evaluated but appears to be
differentiation resulting in negative Eu anomalies.
required because the crustal radioactive sources are
generally considered to be inadequate for the task. As
we discussin greater detail below, recognition of Eu-
systematically with bulk composition (e.g., K/Rb). rich residual material in the available lower crustal
Thus the abundance of U can be obtained from gen- samples has proven elusive and represents one of the
erally accepted upper crustal Th/U ratios (3.8) and K major outstandingissuesin crustal geochemistry [e.g.,
from K/U ratios (10,000). Rb can be obtained from Rudnick, 1992a].
K/Rb (250); Sr from Rb/Sr (0.3) and so on (Table 3). Sedimentary rocks provide information about how
Table 4 gives the normative mineralogy of the upper long this processhas been operating. As was discussed
crust, based on its major element composition. earlier, the REE patterns of loess from widely scat-
tered localities acrossthe globe are uniform, indicating
Origin of the Post-ArcheanUpper Crust that the processesproducing the upper crust have not
Geochemical balance calculations indicate that the changed over the period represented by the source
upper crustal composition cannot be representative of regions of the loesses. However, loess is derived from
the entire crust. This observation is also consistent source rocks of widely varying age, extending back
with heat flow and heat production data, although into the Proterozoic. The Nd model age of sedimen-
these do not uniquely separate the relative crustal and tary rocks is interpreted as the average age from when
mantle contributions. The dominance in the upper the various provenance components were extracted
crust of compositions effectively equivalent to grano- from the mantle [McCulloch and Wasserburg, 1978].
diorite (including high abundancesof heat-producing The samples studied by Taylor et al. [1983] came from
elements and other large-ion lithophile elements) and China, Europe, New Zealand, and North America,
the ubiquitous occurrence of the PAAS REE patterns with Nd-depleted mantle model agesTDMrangingfrom
(including negative Eu anomalies)provide major clues 1060 to 1700 Ma. In fact, such sedimentary REE pat-
to the derivation of the upper crust. terns likely exist for sedimentary rocks with Nd model
The Eu depletion in post-Archean sedimentary ages older than about 2 eons [e.g., McLennan and
rocks provides strong evidence for an intracrustal or- Hemming, 1992]. This variation in average prove-
igin for much of the upper crust. Igneous rocks of nance age, coupled with their uniform chemistry, in-
TABLE 3. Chemical Compositionof the Continental Crust

Upper Bulk Lower Average Archean Archean

Continental Continental Continental Ande sitic Upper Bulk
Element Crust Crust Crust Crust Crust Crust

Li, ppm 20 13 11 10 ßßß

Be, ppm 3.0 1.5 1.0 1.5 ...
B, ppm 15 10 8.3 ......
Na, wt. % 2.89 2.30 2.08 2.60 2.45 2.23
Mg, wt. % 1.33 3.20 3.80 2.11 2.83 3.56
A1, wt. % 8.04 8.41 8.52 9.50 8.10 8.04
Si, wt. % 30.8 26.8 25.4 27.1 28.1 26.6
P, ppm 700
K, wt. % 2.80 0.91 0.28 1.25 1.50 0.75
Ca, wt. % 3.00 5.29 6.07 5.36 4.43 5.22
Sc, ppm 11 30 36 30 14 30
Ti, wt. % 0.30 0.54 0.60 0.48 0.50 0.60
V, ppm 60 230 285 175 195 245
Cr, ppm 35 185 235 55 180 230
Mn, ppm 600 1400 1700 1100 1400 1500
Fe, wt. % 3.50 7.07 8.24 5.83 6.22 7.46
Co, ppm 10 29 35 25 25 30
Ni, ppm 20 105 135 30 105 130
Cu, ppm 25 75 90 60 ... 80
Zn, ppm 71 80 83 ......
ooo

Ga, ppm 17 18 18 18 -..

ooo

Ge, ppm 1.6 1.6 1.6 ......

ooo

As, ppm 1.5 1.0 0.8 ......

ooo

Se, ppm 50 50 50 ......

ooo

Rb, ppm 112 32 5.3 42 50 28

Sr, ppm 350 260 230 400 240 215
Y, ppm 22 20 19 22 18 19
Zr, ppm 190 100 70 100 125 100
Nb, ppm 25 11 6 11 ßßß
Mo, ppm 1.5 1.0 0.8 ......
ooo

Pd, ppb 0.5 1 1 ......

ooo

Ag, ppb 50 80 90 ......

ooo

Cd, ppb 98 98 98 ......

ooo

In, ppb 50 50 50 ......

ooo

Sn, ppm 5.5 2.5 1.5 ......

ooo

Sb, ppm 0.2 0.2 0.2 ......

ooo

Cs, ppm 3.7 1.0 0.1 1.7 ßßß

ooo

Ba, ppm 550 250 150 350 265 220

La, ppm 30 16 11 19 20 15
Ce, ppm 64 33 23 38 42 31
Pr, ppm 7.1 3.9 2.8 4.3 4.9 3.7
Nd, ppm 26 16 12.7 16 20 16
Sm, ppm 4.5 3.5 3.17 3.7 4.0 3.4
Eu, ppm 0.88 1.1 1.17 1.1 1.2 1.1
Gd, ppm 3.8 3.3 3.13 3.6 3.4 3.2
Tb, ppm 0.64 0.60 0.59 0.64 0.57 0.59
Dy, ppm 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.7 3.4 3.6
Ho, ppm 0.80 0.78 0.77 0.82 0.74 0.77
Er, ppm 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2
Tm, ppm 0.33 0.32 0.32 0.432 0.30 0.32
Yb, ppm 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.2
Lu, ppm 0.32 0.30 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.33
Hf, ppm 5.8 3.0 2.1 3.0 3 3
Ta, ppm 2.2 1.0 0.6 ......
ooo

W, ppm 2.0 1.0 0.7 ......

ooo

Re, ppb 0.4 0.4 0.4 ......

Os, ppb 0.05 0.05 0.05
T__ • ppb • UZ•
•" '•
•J. I t• 13 ....
ooo

lI- U. •J.

Au, ppb 1.8 3.0 3.4 ......

ooo

T1, ppb 750 360 230 ......

oo•

Pb, ppm 20 8.0 4.0 10 ...

Bi, ppb 127 60 38 ......
Th, ppm 10.7 3.5 1.06 2.5 5.7 2.9
U, ppm 2.8 0.91 0.28 1.0 1.5 0.75

Adapted from Taylor and McLennan [1985], with minor alterations [see Esser and Turekian, 1993' Jochum et al., 1993].
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS
TABLE 4. Normative Mineralogy of Continental Crust
Bulk
Upper Crust,
Crust, % % %
Quartz (Q) 16.1 6.6
Orthoclase (Or) 20.1 6.5
Albite (Ab) 33.0 26.2
Anorthite (An) 13.9 26.2
Diopside (Di) 5.8 8.7
Hypersthene (Hy) 10.0 24.1
Ilmenite (I1) 1.0 1.7
Total 99.9 100.0
dicates that the upper continental crust was both uni-
form in composition and produced by similar
processesover periods extending back at least 2 billion
years. Accordingly,the processesproducingthe upper
crustal composition which is being sampled during the
formation of sedimentary rocks have remained the
same well back into the Proterozoic.
Archean-Proterozoic Transition
Compared with post-Archean PAAS-type REE pat-
terns, abrupt changesare observed in clastic sedimen-
tary rocks over time intervals from 3.2 to 2.5 eons in
South Africa [McLennan et al., 1983] and in Western
Australia [Taylor and McLennan, 1985]. In the early
Proterozoic (2.5-2.2 eons) Huronian sedimentary suc-
cession of Canada, McLennan et al. [1979] found a
progressive change from REE patterns lacking Eu
depletions at the base, to typical post-Archean pat-
terns at the top. Similar changes in sedimentary REE
patterns have been noted in Early Proterozoic succes-
sions of the Pine Creek Geosyncline and Hamersley
Basin, Australia, and the Slave Province of Canada
(see review by Taylor and McLennan [1985]). This
changewas interpreted to reflect an episodicchangein
upper crustal composition from a more primitive state
and related to a massive emplacement of K-rich gra-
nitic rocks, depleted in Eu, toward the close of the
Archean. This is generally referred to as "cratoniza-
tion," the process that produces massive intracrustal
melting to produce granites, transfers heat-producing
elements to the upper crust, and generally" stabilizes"
the crest [e.g., Pollack, 1986]. (The development of a
thick lithospheric keel during crustal growth also is
likely to contribute to the inherent stability of cratons.)
It was nonsynchronous over the globe and extended
over several hundred million years. These events mark
the development of extensive fully stabilized continen-
tal crust.
The Archean-Proterozoic transition thus marks
major change both in the volume of crust, and in
intracrustal differentiation. The crustal processesre-
sponsiblefor these changestook place during the late
Archean and are recorded in Early Proterozoic sedi-
mentary rocks. The presence of large masses of un-
Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY ß 249
subductable continental crust changed the tectonic
regime from the multiplate Archean crust and pro-
Lower
Crust,
duced the present linear (e.g., South America) or arc-
uate (e.g., western Pacific arcs) subduction zones.
Many geological events correlate with a major
3.7 change at the Archean-Proterozoic boundary. The
2.0 widespread occurrence of uranium deposits in basal
23.7 Proterozoic qeclimentq can be attributed to the enrich-
30.4
9.8 mentof theuppercrestin incompatible
elements
due
28.6 to intracrustal
melting.The dramaticincreasein 87Sr
1.9 in marine carbonates from that period [e.g., Veizer,
100.1
1983] is similarly due to an upper crustal enrichment in
8?Rbin the K-rich granitesthat cameto dominatethe
upper crust (and a reduction of mantle flux of Sr
resultingfrom a cooling Earth). It is also interesting to
note the great proliferation of stromatolites after 2.5
eons, which reflects the widespread occurrence of
stable continental marine shelves that formed as a
consequence of events around the Archean-Protero-
zoic boundary (the stromatolites declined early in the
Phanerozoic owing to the emergence of metazoan
grazing species [e.g., Schidlowski, 1992]). The prolif-
eration of banded iron formations, a chemical sedi-
ment that fills the sedimentary environment niche of
carbonate rocks in later geological periods, also can be
related in part to the development of stable shelves
during the late Archean-Early Proterozoic [e.g.,
McLennan, 1980]. The first supercontinent likely
formed at this time [e.g., Nance et al., 1986; Hoffman,
1992; Unrug, 1992], and major climatic changes also
appear to correlate with the Archean-Proterozoic tran-
sition [e.g., Young, 1991].
POST-ARCHEAN LOWER CRUST
Seismic reflection profiling has revealed the very
complex nature of the lower crust, which appearsto be
at least as diverse as the upper crust. It is much more
difficult to arrive at a representative composition for
the lower crust than for the upper crest, owing to its
inaccessibility and to the absence of some sampling
technique, such as is provided for the upper crust by
sediments, that might provide a meaningful average.
Two types of samples, xenoliths and granulite facies
rocks, are available, both providing enigmatic infor-
mation [Rudnick and Presper, 1990].
Granulite facies regions are often interpreted as
samplesof the lower crust. Archean granulite terranes
commonly possess positive Eu anomalies; however,
these are typically found in the more evolved compo-
sitions rather than in mafic material that could repre-
a sent residues after partial melting. Positive Eu anom-
alies are less frequent in post-Archean granulite
terranes [Rudnick and Presper, 1990] and in any case,
such terranes appear, on compositional grounds, to be
mostly upper crust, depressedin Himalayan-type col-
lisions or formed in association with rifts, hot spots,
250 ß Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUSTGEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

and volcanic arcs, and thus not a good model on which the Ivrea Zone in northern Italy [Voshage et al., 1990].
to base lower crustal compositions[e.g., Bohlen, 1987; On at least a local scale, delamination and sinking of
Ellis, 1987; Bohlen and Mezger, 1989; Mezger, 1992]. heavy residual matehal may also be expected, adding
Indeed, Mezger [1992] suggested that most regional to the complexity and to the variable nature of the
granulites represent the transitional region between Moho [Kempton and Harmon, 1992]. Estimates of the
upper and lower crust. average composition and normative mineralogy are
Xenoliths, recording pressure-temperature (P-T) presented in Tables 3 and 4.
conditions indicative of derivation from the lower
crust, are frequently found in volcanic pipes. Unlike
the granulite facies regions, they are commonly much THE ARCHEAN CRUST
more basic in composition and frequently show a rel-
ative enrichment in Eu. They appear to be related toArchean Upper Crust
episodes of underplating by basaltic magmas, and in The sedimentary record again provides us with a
most cases the positive Eu anomaly is best related to
sampling of the Archean crust and reveals that the
the accumulationof cumulate phases rather than to composition of the Archean upper crest stands in
simple residues from partial melts [e.g., Rudnick and
marked contrast to that of the post-Archean crest
Taylor, 1987; Rudnick, 1992b]. (Table 3). The most notable differenceis shown by the
Current understanding of the petrogenesisof the REE patterns in the Archean sedimentary rocks,
which in general show less enrichment in the LREE
majority of granitic rocks and the ubiquitous presence
of negative Eu anomalies in sedimentary rocks indi- and no Eu anomalies (Figure 3), relative to those of the
cate that intracrustalpartialmeltingmustbe a funda- post-Archean crust. These differencesin REE patterns
mental process governing the composition and chem- between Archean and post-Archean clastic sediments
ical structure of the continental crust. Although have become a crucial observation for models of the
complementary
positiveEu anomalies
are commonly evolution of the continental crest and have been doc-
present in the available lower crustal samples(granu- umented in many studies (see summary of Taylor and
lite terranes and xenoliths), they typically cannot be McLennan [1985]).
readily characterized as residual material left behind Most studies have dealt with the relatively well
after intracrustal partial melting. preserved low-grade sedimentary rocks of the ubiqui-
Accordingly, a fundamental paradox exists in tous Archean greenstone belts in which turbidites are
crustal geochemistry. Upper crustal rocks (granites, the most abundant type of sedimentary rock. There is
sediments) appear to bear clear evidence that intrac- often a general superficial resemblance to the REE
rustal partial melting is the dominant process causing patterns of island arc volcanic rocks such as andesites.
crustal differentiation, but the predicted residues of However, this similarity is merely the result of deri-
such processesare surprisingly uncommon in lower vation largely from a mixture of the ubiquitous bi-
crustal samples. Paradoxes, of course, arise not from modal suite of basaltic and felsic igneous rocks (to-
the operations of nature, but from our imperfect un- nalites, trondhjemites, granodiorites, or the "TTG
derstandingof them. Rudnick [ 1992a]has attempted to suite," and their volcanic equivalents) which charac-
resolve this paradox by suggestinga multistage model terize many Archean terranes.
whereby basaltic underplating supplies heat to melt There is, in detail, an extreme variability of REE
the lower crust (providing melts with negative Eu patterns in Archean sediments in contrast to the gen-
anomalies) and creates an environment for the accu- erally uniform post-Archean REE patterns. Although
mulation of crystal cumulates (with positive Eu anom- many Archean sediments have intermediate patterns
alies). Other possibleexplanationsinclude the follow- reminiscent of andesites,both very steep and flat pat-
ing: (1) crustal melting takes place at lower terns are locally abundant [McLennan and Taylor,
temperatures than commonly thought (i.e., under wet 1984]. The steep patterns occur in first-cycle sedi-
conditions), and restites are present in lower-grade ments derived directly from tonalites, trondhjemites,
(amphibolite) terranes, or (2) neither granulite terranes and granodiorites (TTG igneous suites), whereas the
nor xenoliths are entirely representative of lower flat patterns are derived from basaltic precursors to
crustal material, and areas representingresidues after first-cycle sediments. Both REE patterns come from
partial melting are not typically sampled at surface by the Archean "bimodal igneous suite," which largely
natural processes. In any case, the solution of this dominates the Archean upper crust.
paradox is a critical step in furthering our understand- This distinction between the REE patterns of Ar-
ing of crustal geochemistry. chean and post-Archean sediments has led to some
In summary, the lower crust appears to be essen- controversy. Thus some workers [e.g., Gibbs et al.,
tially the residueleft after extractionof the granodior- 1986] have argued that this distinction is without age
itic upper crust together with additions from under- significanceand is the result of differing tectonic set-
plating by basaltic magmas. It is thus likely to be very tings, implying that post-Archean greywackes should
complex in detail, an example of which appears to be be identical to those of Archean age. However, these
33, 2 / REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan' CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRYß 251

]• Post-Archean
1.2 i• Archean
!l•10.• ............E.u./..E.u
0.
•.8..5.
...........
.......icratonlc -
! Sediments '
0.4'''' ,
0.5 •.0
•
•.5
i,Sedlm
2.0
' •ets.,....•....
2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 0.5
.... I ....
1.0
I ....
1.5
i ....
2.0
I ....
2.5
I ....
3.0
I ....
3.5
'
4.0

GdN / YbN G dN / YbN

Figure 3. Plot of Eu/Eu* versus Gds/Ybs for sedimentaryrocks. Three fields are shown: Archean and
post-Archean sedimentary rocks deposited in volcanically active tectonic settings and "cratonic" sedi-
mentary rocks of all ages.Adapted from McLennan and Taylor [ 1991]. Each field incorporatesat least 90%
of the available data. Post-Archean active margin sedimentary rocks almost completely overlap the field
of cratonic sediments and thus are significantly more depleted in Eu (lower Eu/Eu*) than are Archean
sedimentary rocks of comparable tectonic association. Archean sedimentary rocks commonly possess
heavy REE depletion (high Gd/Yb), whereas post-Archean sedimentsvery rarely display such features.
Cratonic sedimentary rocks of all ages appear generally similar, with significant Eu depletion, but the
extent of such terranes appears to have been much less in the Archean. Overall, these and other
geochemical data indicate that the Archean and post-Archean upper continental crust differed in compo-
sition, that the nature of mantle sourcesof continentalcrust (or the processesof crust formation) may have
differed, and that the mechanisms of crustal differentiation (notably the role of intracrustal melting) also
differed.

younger sedimentsdisplay the crucial signaturesof Eu
depletion in all post-Archean tectonic environments
(e.g., Figure 3), except those of forearc basins of
oceanic island arcs. Many Archean greywackes ap-
pearto haveformedin tectonicsettingssuchas back
arc, continental arc, trailing edge, and foreland basins
and are clearly petrographica!ly distinct from their
modern counterparts in being plagioclase-rich (to-
nalitic sources) but having relatively few andesitic
rock fragments [McLennan, 1984]. Finally, the general
evidence that Archean turbidites are derived from the
"bimodal basaltic-TTG suite" rather than from "is-
land arc andesites" renders the supposedanalogy be-
tween conditions in the Archean and modern arc en-
vironments superficial.
Others [e.g., Condie, 1992] appear to restrict the
usage of "upper crust" to cratonic settings only and
argue that by this definition the Archean and post-
Archean upper crustal compositionsare indistinguish-
able. By this interpretation, Archean greenstone belt
sedimentsare not consideredto be part of continental
crust, even though they are mostly developed on gra-
nitic terranes and are not Archean oceanic crust
[Bickle et al., 1994]. We find this definition unsatisfac-
tory because for modern environments, it would ex-
clude volcanically active settings, such as Japan, the
southwest Pacific islands, the Andes, Indonesia, and
much of New Zealand from being considered part of
the continental crust (also note, for example, that
sedimentsderived from many of these terranes indeed
possessnegative Eu anomalies [e.g., McLennan et al.,
1990]). There is no dispute that the upper crust ex-
posed in cratons of any age is likely to be of compa-
rable composition and possessthe distinctive negative
Eu anomaly [Taylor et al., 1986] (see below). In any
case, making such arcane distinctions reduces the dis-
cussionto a question of semantics rather than address-
ing the problems of how the Earth actually evolves.
Apart from the greenstone terrane sediments, small
amounts of Archean crust are preserved in high-grade
metamorphic terranes. Studies of such terranes from
Greenland [Beak et al., 1982; McLennan et al., 1984;
Jacobsen and Dymek, 1988], India [Naqvi et al.,
1983], Montana-Wyoming [Mueller et al., 1982; Gibbs
et al., 1986], Canadian Shield [Sawyer, 1986; Taylor et
al., 1986], Western Gneiss Terrain, Australia, and
Limpopo Belt, South Africa [Taylor et al., 1986; Be-
ryta and Condie, 1990] have indicated that these re-
gions commonly represent a tectonic environment dis-
tinct from that of the greenstone belts. Typical REE
patterns fall into two groups. One group (e.g., Ka-
puskasing [Taylor et al., 1986] and Quetico Belt, Can-
ada [Sawyer, 1986]) are highly metamorphosed equiv-
alents of Archean greenstonebelt sediments. A second
group (Wyoming-Montana [Gibbs et al., 1986] and
Western Gneiss Terrain [Taylor et al., 1986]) contains
252 ß Taylor and McLennan' CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

many samples that are indistinguishablefrom typical number and of limited extent, perhaps only slightly
post-Archean patterns and represent deposition on a greater in size than the present extent of early Archean
stable shelf environment, most probably occurring on terranes such as in West Greenland-Labrador and the
small, stable minicratons. Minnesota River Valley.
Both groups of REE patterns are found in close
proximity in Archean high-grade terranes in India, Origin of the Archean Crust
Greenland, and the Limpopo Belt. This diversity of There appears to have been only minor intracrustal
REE patterns demonstrates that the sediments were melting in the Archean. This was localized as shown
derived from highly localized sources, as is the case by the limited extent of PAAS-type REE patterns.
for many Archean sediments. In such regions, small Thus there is not that distinction in the Archean crust
areas of stable crust (minicratons) must exist in close that is observed in the post-Archean crust, which is
association with greenstone belts, but the cratons are highly stratified as a result of extensive intracrustal
not contributing significant amounts of erosional de- partial melting. The steep REE patterns of the Ar-
bris to the greenstone belt sedimentary basins. Be- chean TTG suites are indicative of either (1) garnet in
cause of the tendency of the greenstone belt environ- the residue during partial melting [e.g., Martin, 1986,
ments to undergo destruction by erosion and recycling 1993] or (2) partial melting of mantle sources already
[Veizer and Jansen, 1985], the high-grade belts are possessingthe signature of LREE enrichment [e.g.,
preferentially preserved. Stern et al., 1989; Evans and Hanson, 1995].
The limited extent of these Archean terranes with In the latter case, the ultimate origin of the HREE
"post-Archean" REE signatures is indicated by the depletion is likely also due to fractionation of a mineral
absencein the greenstonebelt sedimentsof such sig- such as garnet, but in an earlier event. Because resid-
natures, despite the close association of greenstone ual garnet is stable in mafic-ultramafic systemsonly at
belts with "granitic" terranes [Bickle et al., 1994]. depths below about 40 km, an origin by melting at
This is striking evidence for the limited extent of "cra- mantle depths for the TTG suite is indicated. The
tonic" terranes in the Archean because wind-borne Archean crust thus appeared to form as a mixture of
dust shouldhave been widespread in that epoch owing piled-up basalt-komatiite and tonalite-trondhjemite in-
to the absence of land-based vegetation. Thus any trusions and extrusives. In the upper crust, sedimen-
granitic terrane with a PAAS REE signature should tary data suggestthat the ratio of basalt to TTG was
have contributed the characteristic signature of Eu about equal. A ratio of 2 basalt/1 TTG suite for the
depletion to the greenstone belt sediments. The ab- Archean bulk crust is suggested from a variety of
sence of a detectable signature of Eu depletion means geochemical and geophysical constraints [Taylor and
that such high-grade terranes represented less than McLennan, 1985]. In our models the Archean crust be-
10% of the exposedArcheancrust [Taylor et al., comes more basic with depth, which we attribute to a
1986]. Most of the crust as sampled by the greenstone higher ratio of basalt to TTG suites with depth. This
belt terranes was derived from areas where the bi- would be expected from simple density considerations.
modal suite of basalt and TTG dominated the land area Production of the tonalite-trondhjemite suite may
being eroded to supply the sediments. be explained by rapid subduction of warm basaltic
Another observation of importance when discuss- crust [Martin, 1986; Defant and Drummond, 1990,
ing the cause of the difference between Archean and 1993; Drummond and Defant, 1990; Abbott et al.,
post A •' •...•:.......,.... t•,= ..•,, .... ß ,•.•, :.. ß•,j. This process still operates today in regions
modern environments where volcanic provcnanc½s (e.g., southern Andes) where rapid subduction of
should dominate, such as arcs or Pacific deep-sea young hot oceanic crust occurs; the slab reaches melt-
environments, thereis ubiquitousevidencefor contri- ing temperatures before complete dehydration occurs,
butions of upper crustal material with negative Eu so that hornblende and garnet are present during melt-
anomalies [e.g.,BenOthmann et al., 1989;McLennan ing of the subductingslab. Similarly, the generation of
et al., 1990;Lin, 1992](seeFigure2). The isolationof the high-Mg andesite (boninite) suite is also considered
small Archcan cratons
ß
enabled the survival of distinct to be possibly
relatedto subduction
of young,high-
suitesof sedimentaryrocks with much variationin temperature lithosphere, resulting in mantle melting at
REE patterns, in contrast to the situation in post- low pressure [Crawford et al., 1989].
Archcan time.
ß

prisesmanysmall'fast spreading plateswith numer- BULK CRUSTAL COMPOSITION

ous but relatively shortvolcanicarcs. Volcanismas-
sociatedwith plumes is expectedto be common, It is important to realize that the sedimentary rock
producing numerous Icelandic-type islands. Regions data provide information only on that portion of the
of the crest that had undergoneintracrustalmelting crust exposed to weathering and erosion. Simple mass
(generating upper crustal negative Eu anomalies) and balance calculations show that a 36'km-thick crust
stabilization to form cratonic regionswere restricted in with K, Th, and U abundances equal to that of the
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan- CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY ß 253

present upper continental crust would require about appears to be a steep offset in the data at the Archean-
80-90% of the entire Earth's complement of these Proterozoic boundary. This is not due to deeper ero-
elements to be present in the continental crust. Thus sion of the Archean crust, removing a surficial hot
the upper crest is not representative of the entire layer, because erosional levels are not significantly
36-km thickness of the continental crust. Evidencedeeper in Archean terranes [Watson, 1976]. This dif-
from heat flow data shows that the upper crust (about ference in heat flow is probably not due to a difference
10 km thick) is strongly enriched in the heat-producing in composition between the Archean and later crusts
elements (K, U, and Th). but is attributed by Nyblade and Pollack [1993] to
There are two primary sources of heat' radioactive result mostly from an increase in the thickness of the
decay,principallyfrom 4øK,238U,235U,and 232Th, subcrustal lithosphere under Archean cratons. This
contributing up to 80% of the terrestrial heat flow, and acts to deflect mantle heat flow around the Archean
other sources, such as secular cooling of the Earth and cratons, resulting in a lower surface heat flow. Origi-
core crystallization, responsible for at least 20%. nally, these differences were attributed to differing
Some estimates place the radiogenic component of crustal abundancesbetween Archean and post-Archean
terrestrial heat flow as low as 50%, and the relative stabilized crest [Morgan, 1984; Taylor and McLennan,
importance of the various sourcesof the Earth's heat 1985].It appearsthat the principalcontrollingfactor may
remains an important outstanding question. The be not the crustal abundances of the heat-producing
present average heat flow from continental areas is elementsbut the thicknessof the subcrustallithosphere
about50 mW m-2 compared with 100mW m-2 for the [e.g., Nyblade and Pollack, 1993].
oceansand84 mW m-2 for the wholeEarth. However, Thus there may be little difference in bulk compo-
it is difficult to assign precise values to the contribu- sition between the Archean and present bulk crust
tions from crust and underlying mantle. Temperatures (that incorporates a 75% Archean component) despite
at the base of the crust are estimated as 300ø-400øC in a significant difference in the upper crustal composi-
shield areas, 500ø-600øC in young orogenic areas, and tions between Archean and post-Archean time. The
->650ø-750øCin rift regions [e.g., McLennan, 1992]. bulk crustal compositionslisted by Taylor and McLen-
This heat is derived from three main sources. One is nan [1985] (see also Table 3) in fact are quite similar
the so-called "reduced" heat flow, which is heat loss (present values of 0.91% K, 3.5 ppm Th, and 0.91 ppm
from the deep interior transmitted mainly by conduc- U compared with bulk Archean crustal values of
tion across the crust-mantle boundary. The second is 0.75% K, 2.9 ppm Th, and 0.75 ppm U). These differ-
heat loss associated with tectonic activity within the ences are probably within the error limits.
lithosphere. This component decays rapidly over pe- Nevertheless, there are some significant distinc-
riods of about 400 m.y. and is unimportant except in tions between Archean and post-Archean crustal com-
regions that experienced Phanerozoic tectonic activ- positions that have important implications for crust-
ity. The third component is heat generated by radio- mantle evolution. For example, HREE depletion
active decay within the lithosphere; this is dominated (GdN/YbN > 2.0) is a common feature in Archean
by upper crustal heat production. The estimation of crustal rocks but is virtually absent from rocks formed
this component and the relative amounts of heat pro- during the post-Archean. The implications for crustal
duced in the crust and mantle are currently under evolution are discussed below. In our models, most of
debate [e.g., Nyblade and Pollack, 1993], and the the crust is generated in the Archean, with lesser
interpretation of the heat flow data is not without additions from later island arc volcanism, to make up
problems. Until these problems are resolved, the heat the present crust.
flow data place only loose constraints on bulk crustal
composition. Previous estimates based on a crustal
heat flow componentof 23 mW m-2 were usedby THE ORIGIN OF THE CRUST
Taylor and McLennan [1985] to arrive at the bulk
crustal composition given in Table 3. These are gen- The geological record indicates that there is a basic
erally consistent with the geochemical balance con- distinction between the igneous activity that contrib-
straints that limit the amount of incompatible elements uted to the formation of the continental crust in the
that can be concentrated in the crust. Until some new
Archean and post-Archean epochs (Figure 4). The
constraints appear from geophysical or geochemical basic cause of this difference is higher heat flow during
evidence, and until the nature of the subcontinental the Archean. This results in the subduction of young
lithosphere is resolved, these values appear to us to hot oceanic lithosphere during the Archean. There are
provide the best current estimates. a number of possiblefates for this subductedmaterial.
There is a well-established difference between the In most models, such basaltic crust reaches melting
heat flow in Archean and later Precambrian terranes temperaturesbefore dehydration has occurred. Partial
[e.g., Morgan, 1984;Pollack, 1980, 1986; Nyblade and melting occurs under these conditions, leaving a horn-
Pollack, 1993], even when the effects of a tectonic heat blende-garnet residue [e.g., Arth and Hanson, 1975;
contribution are removed for younger crust. There Martin, 1986] resulting in production of the TTG suite
254 ß Taylor and McLennan' CONTINENTALCRUSTGEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

Post-Archean Growth of New Continental Crust Mature cratonic crust

Granite
Andesite
volcanoI batholiths Sedimentary
/ cover

Trench
Sea level

Enriched in
From
K, U, Th,
Mid-oceanridge

Lowercrustof residualbasicgranulites
Mantle followingmeltingandextractionof granites
wedge

Water and Plume head

other of basalt
volatiles
underplated
beneath crust?

Mantle

Growthof New ContinentalCrustduringthe Archean

Felsic volcano

First cycle sediments

Sea level

Oceanic crust

Magma Tonalite(sodiumgranite)
intrusion
chamber
25--

Mantle km

Zoneof mantlemelting?
50--
Zoneof dehydration
and/orpartial
Meltingof downgoingslab

Figure 4. Schematic models illustrating the difference between Archean and post-Archean crustal devel-
opment at subduction zones. During the Archean, subducting oceanic crust was younger and hotter on

ovcHy•ng mantic •Ec•c• consMcmb]y.

with steep REE patterns and either a zero or an occa- suggestionsthat they may be derived directly as man-
sional positive Eu anomaly. tle melts that have been enriched in a large-ion litho-
Recently, modeling of REE and other elements in phile element (LILE) component shortly before
undeformed posttectonic TTG suite rocks has led to (<100-200 m.y.) formation [e.g., Shirey and Hanson,
33, 2/REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTALCRUSTGEOCHEMISTRYß 255

1984; Stern and Hanson, 1991; Evans and Hanson, There is a little-understood relationship between
1995]. In this model, two observationsare particularly the growth of continentsand the intracrustal melting
significant. that shortly followed. A significantobservationis that
First, in cogenetic suites, HREE are commonly such intracrustal melting mostly occurs within 50-100
subparallel (i.e., uniform Gd/Yb ratios) over a wide million years of the derivation of new crust from the
range of SiO2 content. Such an observationis incon- mantle [e.g., Moorbath, 1977]. Perhaps the litho-
sistent with garnet's being a significantresidual phase spherickeel beneatholder cratonsdeflectsmantleheat
because even minor differences in the amount of re- flow or rising mantle plumes toward such areas. The
sidual garnet would lead to highly variable levels of development of extensive crustal areas may produce
HREE depletion (i.e., variable Gd/Yb ratios). an insulating trap for mantle-derived magmas to accu-
Second, the Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios in some suites of mulate at their base and so provide the necessaryheat
TTG rocks are uniformly higher than those generated for crustal melting. Another factor that may be impor-
by melting of basaltic compositionsunder a wide va- tant in providing additional heat is the thermal pertur-
riety of experimental conditions and compositions bation associated with the continental collisions that
[Evans and Hanson, 1995]. Thus melting of basalt ultimately must terminate the subduction of the oce-
doesnot appear to be capableof generatingthe appro- anic plate.
priate compositions for at least some of the TTG As global heat flow diminished in the late Archean,
suites. the number of plates became fewer, and modern-style
Evans and Hanson [1995] have noted some similar- plate tectonicsbecame dominant. The result was that
ities in the compositionsof high-Mg (most primitive) the oceanic crust was subducted on a much longer
TTG rocks (part of the so-called Sanukitoid Suite timescale and so on average was both older and colder
[Shirey and Hanson, 1984]) in the southwesternSupe- by the time it reached the subductionzone [e.g., Da-
rior Province and modern boninites (high-Mg andes- vies, 1992]. Under these conditions it was dehydrated
ites) in island arc environments. Generation of such at higher pressures during subduction, becoming re-
material appears to require low-pressure and high- fractory before reaching the melting temperatures of
temperature conditions. In the Archean, such condi- the basaltic crust. This older oceanic crest thus returns
tions could be achieved by mantle melting associated to the mantle to greater depth without being remelted.
with dehydration and/or partial melting of subducted The fluids resulting from dehydration ascend into the
young and hot oceanic lithosphere [Martin, 1986; De- overlying mantle wedge, where they induce melting,
fant and Drummond, 1990, 1993; Drummond and De- and result in the production of the present-day calc-
fant, 1990]. alkaline suite [Martin, 1986; Defant and Drummond,
The Archean crest is interpreted as being derived 1990, 1993; Drummond and Defant, 1990]. These con-
from mixtures of the two dominant ("bimodal") igne- ditions, which result in the addition of material of
ous lithologies in the Archean: basalts and Na-rich andesitic composition to the crust, appear to have
igneous rocks such as tonalites, trondhjemites, and persistedsince the early Proterozoic.
granodiorites, or the TTG suite (and their volcanic
equivalents). Rarely, REE patterns with Eu depletion The Freeboard Constraint
similar to PAAS are observed in the sedimentary Flat-lying Proterozoic sediments provide evidence
record, but they appear to be restricted to cratonic that for the past 2 billion years, sea level has been
sedimentspreserved in some high-grademetamorphic within about 1 km of the present level. This is strong
terranes. These are interpreted as being derived from evidence that the volumes of continents relative to
minicratons [Taylor et al., 1986], forerunners of the oceans have been similar over this period [e.g., Wise,
massive cratonic development in the late Archean. 1974; Armstrong, 1981; Kasting and Holm, 1992].
A massive increase in the growth rate of the conti- However, the sedimentary record in the Archean is
nental crest occurred over an extended period be- much too fragmentary to make freeboard a restriction
tween 3.2 and 2.6 eons (with the exact age differing for on crustal volume. Although the constraints from the
individual cratonic regions). This is well documented freeboardrecord are now consideredconsiderablyless
by the Nd isotopic evidence [e.g., McCulloch and stringentthan was previously thought [McLennan and
1978;ChaseandPatchett,1988;Galer Taylor,1982;Schubert
Wasserburg, andReymer,1985;McLennan,
and Goldstein, 1991; McCulloch and Bennett, 1994]. 1988;Armstrong, 1991; Galer, 1991], the general argu-
Toward the end of the late Archean,massiveintra- ments appear valid at least back into the Early Pro-
crustal melting of newly formed late Archean crust terozoic, or about halfway through the geological
produced an upper crust dominated by K-rich grano- record. Thus although the freeboard observation has
diorites and granites, typically showing a relative de- been one of the cornerstones of the no-growth early
pletion in Eu. This change is reflected in the REE crust school, it is valid for only the latter part of the
patterns observed in the clastic sediments. Archean- geological record and provides no constraints of
type REE patterns are swamped, and the upper crust crustal volume before the Proterozoic.
assumed its present composition. The freeboard constraint is accommodated in most
256 ß Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

models by proposing that there have been relatively Kempton and Harmon, 1992; Rudnick, 1990, 1992a].
minor additions to the continents since the Early Pro- Rudnick [1990] suggested that as much as 20% (or
terozoic and that most crustal growth occurred by the more) of the crust in the Ivrea Zone [Voshage et al.,
late Archean. It is noteworthy, however, that a num- 1990] was derived from basaltic underplating, in this
ber of models requiring significant crustal growth at case associated with convergent margin magmatism.
2.1-1.8 eons, such that the amount of crust present at On the other hand, underplating may not be a signifi-
2.5 eons was less than 50% (in some models as little as cant process at times substantially after the major
30-40%), have not come to terms with this constraint. episode of crustal growth [Wendlandt et al., 1993].
Estimates of crustal additions derived directly from
^ndesite Models magmatism associated with continental intraplate
In early estimates of crustal composition [e.g., Tay- mantle plumes or obducted ocean plateaus are re-
lor, 1967, 1977] it was assumed that the bulk crust was stricted to no more than a few percent [Hill et al.,
equivalent in composition to that of average island arc 1992].
volcanic rocks. This formed the basis for the so-called Although there are a number of caveats, if basaltic
"andesite" model. Island arc volcanism is the princi- underplating is an important process for the growth of
pal mechanism at the present day by which material is the continents, then all models of bulk crustal compo-
derived from the mantle and accreted to form the sition may have to be reevaluated. It has long been
continental crust (see McCulloch and Gamble [1991] argued on petrological grounds that the average com-
and Hawkesworth et al. [1991, 1993] for recent reviews position of island arcs is more mafic than andesite
of island arc magmatism). The model has major prob- [e.g., Arculus, 1981; Ellam and Hawkesworth, 1988;
lems in that it contributes too much potassium (i.e., Pearcy et al., 1990]. Recent evidence from the
the composition generates too much heat, although geochemistryof turbidites derived from the Izu-Bonin
note the difficulties with interpretation of heat flow Arc adds some support to this suggestion[Gill et al.,
discussedabove) and other incompatible elements and 1995]. Incorporation of basaltic matehal at the base of
too little nickel and chromium to account for the ob- the arc crust would enhance such a model. The major
served crustal abundances [Taylor and McLennan, difficulty with a basaltic continental crust is that it is
1985]. Furthermore, the major growth of the continen- difficult to differentiate such matehal in order to gen-
tal crust appears to have occurred episodically, mostly erate sufficient granite to provide for the well-con-
in the late Archean where andesitesare comparatively strained upper crustal compositions. At least one quar-
scarce and the TTG suite was the chief nonbasaltic ter of crustal volume is needed to provide for the
product of igneous activity. In contrast, the produc- granitic composition observed in the upper crust. If
tion of andesites in island arcs has probably been such basaltic material is calc-alkaline in nature, there
operating in its present mode only for about the past 2 may be barely sufficient concentrations of heat-pro-
billion years. This process has produced only about ducing elements to be consistent with the observed
25-40% of the crust. heat flow data [Basaltic Volcanism Study Project,
The overall crustal bulk composition in our models 1981].
was calculated from a 75/25 mixture of the Archean Various models have been proposed to avoid such
bimodal and the post-Archean andesitic compositions dilemmas. One is to maintain an intermediate overall
[Taylor and McLennan, 1985], and as the crustal compositionby delaminating the more ultramarie com-
growth curve is further refined, these proportions will ponents at the base of the crust and resorbing them
also require adjustment. In this model, any addition of into the mantle [e.g., Turcotte, 1989; Pearcy et al.,
material by basaltic underplating is not taken into 1990; Kay and Kay, 1991]. Such mechanisms, while
account. worthy of study, are at this stage rather ad hoc. If the
crust does indeed evolve through such convoluted
Plumesand BasalticUnderplating mechanisms, then estimates of its bulk composition
There is growing appreciation that there may be would be largely unconstrained.
additional mechanisms for the growth of continents, One end-member proposes that because basalts are
mainly by basaltic underplating at convergent margins the primary silicate melt from the mantle, and because
[e.g., Kempton and Harmon, 1992] and by magmatism continents are ultimately derived from the mantle,
and underplating largely associated with mantle their bulk composition must be basaltic. The answer to
plumes [Hill et al., 1992; Campbell and Griffiths, 1992; this paradox is of coursethat the siliceouscomposition
Hill, 1993]. The volumetric scale of such processes of the continental crust is mostly a consequence of
and the implications for crustal composition are much recycling and remelting of the primary basalts follow-
less understood. ing subduction. It is this process, apparently unique to
Basaltic underplating at convergent margins or as- the Earth, that has resulted in the production of the
sociated with plume activity has been suggestedas an fractionated continental crust. The lack of such recy-
important mechanism to explain the chemistry and cling on other planets and satellites has precluded the
metamorphic history of lower crustal xenoliths [e.g., development of continental crust on those bodies.
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRYß 257

SubcrustalLithosphere those models that propose massive recycling of the

A crucial problem, closely related to crustal crust through the mantle, on a scale large enough to
geochemistry, is the nature of the subcrustal litho- maintain a steady state crustal mass, encounter vari-
sphere. Are there deep roots to the continents?If so, ous difficulties. Data from long-lived radiogenic iso-
what is their relationshipto the overlying crust?There topes for mantle-derived rocks provide no indepen-
is good evidence that fast seismic P wave velocities dent constraintson this problem, a point long made by
extend to depths of 220 km. Lateral variations in S Armstrong [1968, 1981, 1991]. One constraint, from
wave velocities extend much deeper, to 400 km. Thus the mass-agedistribution and Nd isotopic characteris-
there appear to be deep keels to the continental re- tics of sedimentary rocks, is that during various sedi-
gions, which are relatively cold and appearto be re- mentary recycling processes the sedimentary mass
fractory in composition[Jordan, 1981, 1988;Boyd and receives only about 15% new material from the mantle
Gurney, 1986]. One interpretation of the heat flow data [Veizer and Jansen, 1985; McLennan, 1988]. Thus the
[Nyblade and Pollack, 1993;Bickle, 1986] is consistent mass of sediment available for subduction is <1.6 x
with a much thicker lithospherebeneathArchean cra- 10•5 g yr-• (about0.5 km3 yr-• of crust).Suchan
tons than beneath those of younger age. This view has amount likely provides insufficientmaterial to support
received considerable support from studies of inclu- a steady state crustal mass [McLennan, 1988].
sionsin diamondsthat indicate that low temperatures Two observations inform us of the limited extent of
have persisted beneath shields for up to 3000 m.y. very early "granitic" crusts. First, the small expo-
[Richardson et al., 1984; Walker et al., 1989; Pearson sures of early Archean potassic granites do not con-
et al., 1995]. The general interpretationfrom the seis- tribute a negative Eu signature to the greenstone belt
mic, petrological and isotopic evidence is that these sediments. There was no land vegetation in the Ar-
deep roots represent refractory, lower-density mate- chean [Cloud, 1988]. Hence there must have been
rial, consistentwith their being the residueremaining wide exposures of bare rock, with the consequent
from the extraction of a Fe-rich partial melt, leaving formation and wind transport of dust. Present-day
behind an Mg-enriched zone of lower density. mid-ocean sedimentsshow the telltale signatureof Eu
Whether these roots are residual from the extraction of depletionof the upper continentalcrust derived largely
basaltic oceanic crust or are connected with the ex- by wind transport [Ben Othman et al., 1989;Lin, 1992]
traction of continental crust is an interesting but (Figure 2). This signature of Eu depletion is missing
largely unresolved question. from virtually all Archean sediments, including those
from greenstonebelts (Figure 3) and from many high-
grade terranes, except for the local cratonic areas
THE NATURE OF CRUSTAL GROWTH discussed,for example by Taylor et al. [1986]. Accord-
ingly, most of the exposed crustal rocks from which
Two major hypotheses have been advanced to ex- the Archean sediments were derived were basalts and
plain the evolution of the continental crust. The first the TTG suite, rather than the now familiar granites
proposes that the present mass of the crust formed and granodioritesthat constitute the present exposed
very early in Earth history and has been recycled upper crust of the continents.
throughthe mantle in steadilydecreasingfashion such The second crucial observation is that of Stephen-
that new additionsare balancedby losses,resultingin son and Patchett [ 1990], who failed to find evidence of
a steady state system [Armstrong, 1968, 1981, 1991]. extensivepre-3.5-eon recycled zircon populationsthat
The secondproposesthat the crust grew throughout would have been indicative of large areas of old gra-
geological time, with variations from a steady rate to nitic crust. In this study they analyzed zircons, mainly
growth in major episodicpulses[e.g., Moorbath, 1977; from quartzites, from the Canadian Shield and the
Taylor and McLennan, 1981]. The REE abundances Wyoming, North Atlantic (Labrador, Greenland,
shed considerablelight on these problems. As was Scotland) and Kaapvaal (Southern Africa) cratons.
noted above, there is a major dichotomy in the sedi- Zircon, being a highly durable mineral, survives
mentary record at about the Archean-Proterozoic tran- through many cycles of weathering, erosion, and dep-
sition (ca. 2.5 eons), and this has been correlated with osition of sediments.It also appearsto be aerodynam-
an earlier major pulse of crustal growth during the late ically suited for large-scalewind transport, as is wit-
Archean. nessedby enrichmentsseen in loess deposits [Taylor
Thereis growingevidence(e.g., from løBeandPb et al., 1983] and the presence of substantial exotic
isotopes)that sedimentshave been recycled into the zircon in ancient soils [Brimhall et al., 1990]. Stephen-
mantle and are important in controllingthe composi- son and Patchett found that the age of the zircon
tion of island arc and perhapsintraplate volcanics(see populations,dated by the •76Lu-•76Hftechnique,in
reviews by McLennan [1988] and White [1989]). The early Archean quartzites, was usually the same age as
evidencefrom løBe and variousother geological, the terrane in which they are found and that there is a
geochemical,and isotopic constraintslimit the amount scarcity or absence of zircons of significantly older
of subductedsedimentsto a few percent. However, age. If there was an early sialic crust, then a popula-
258 ß Taylor and McLennan- CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRY 33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS

tion of ancient zircons derived from it by erosion chean sediments these range from about 2.5 to 1.0
shouldhave survived and been recycled into younger eons and represent the average age of upper crustal
Archean sediments. A. P. Nutman (personal commu- material which was the source of these sediments.
nication, 1994) finds no older zircon populations in However, post-Archean sedimentshave very uniform
3.8-eon metasediments from Isua, Greenland, using REE patterns and other key geochemical features
U-Pb dating by ion microprobe. (e.g., Th/Sc) despite the wide range of provenance
Armstrong [1991] attempted to refute this argument age. Minor compositional changes in the upper crust
by noting a similarity between the sedimentaryzircon may be masked to the sedimentary record by the
ages and the average age of crust (at the time of buffering effects of cannibalistic sedimentary recycling
sedimentation) predicted by Armstrong's [1981] [McLennan, 1988; McLennan and Hemming, 1992].
steady state model. The difficulty with this is that Nevertheless, within these uncertainties, this indicates
sedimentaryrocks are not derived solely from contem- that the processesformingthe upper crest must have
poraneous "average" crest but instead are typically been uniform over that interval and that any additions
derived substantially from older, cannibalisticallyre- to the upper crest during the post-Archean could not
cycled sedimentary rocks [e.g., Veizer and Jansen, have differed significantly in composition.
1985] and would be expected to have components In summary, the crust continues to grow at present
older than "average" crust. Thus youngerProterozoic by island arc volcanism and related magmatism, fol-
sediments,in contrast, commonly contain a significant lowed by episodesof intracrustal melting (e.g., eastern
population of zircons derived from rocks of late Ar- Australia). There has been no significant change in this
chean age. The conclusionfrom this study is that old process since the Archean-Proterozoic boundary that
Archean sialic continental crust was rare and not sub- is detectable in the sedimentary REE record. The
stantially more extensive than the few remnants that growth of the continental crust has proceeded in an
are currently exposed. episodic fashion throughout geological time [e.g.,
The efficient averagingcarried out by the processes Moorbath, 1977, 1978; Taylor and McLennan, 1981,
of sedimentationand the buffering effects of cannibal- 1985], with a major increase in the growth rate in the
istic sedimentary recycling probably conceals small- late Archean (Figure 5).
scale variations in the rate of continental growth and
perhapseven in upper crustal composition.Thus there SupercontinentalCycles
is considerable evidence for a period of growth at There is a growing consensusthat periodically the
about 1800 m.y. ago that is not clearly reflected in the continental massesunite to form one or two supercon-
sedimentarygeochemicalrecord. The major changein tinents [e.g., Nance et al., 1986; Hoffman, 1988, 1992;
upper crustal composition in the late Archean and the Unrug, 1992; Anderson, 1994]. These episodes are
recycling of sediments effectively swamp out the ef- followed by times, such as the present, when the
fects of later, smaller episodes. Detailed sedimento- continents are fragmented and dispersed. The recog-
logical, geochemicaland isotopic studies should un- nized periods of supercontinental accumulations
cover these effects [e.g., McLennan et al., 1995]. The [Nance et al., 1986; Young, 1991; Unrug, 1992] are
situation was different in the early Archean. Small during the Late Paleozoic (Pangea; 0.3 eons), Late
cratonic areas were isolated, resultingin the preserva- Proterozoic (0.9 eons), possibly at about 1.8 eons (for
tion of individualepisodesof cratoniZation,now re- North America/Baltica at least) and perhaps during the
flected-inthe local variations in REE patterns. late Archean (ca. 2.7 eons). During these episodes, sea
Nd model ages are now well establishedas a means level appears to be generally low (i.e., lowstands of
of estimating crustal formation ages [McCulloch and first-order sea level fluctuations) probably due to the
Wasserburg, 1978; DePaolo, 1981]. During extraction maturing of ocean basins associated with relatively
of materialfrom the mantleand its incorporationinto minor plate motion. Among other things, this conti-
the continental crust, major chemical fractionation of nental configuration appears to correlate with major
Sm and Nd occurs. Intracrustal melting events lead to climatic fluctuations [e:g., Young, 1991] and funda-
further fractionation of Sm and Nd, althoughthis gen- mental biological changes such as the radiation of
erally followscrestformationwithin 100-200m.y. and stromatolites and mass extinctions.
is comparatively minor. The Nd model ages of sedi- Apart from the geographicalconfigurationof conti-
mentary rocks in general give the average time of nents,supercontinental
cYClesalsolikely havean im-
formation of the various sources of the sediments portant connection with crustal evolution [McLennan
rather than the age of deposition. This assumesthat
and Taylor, 1991].For example,supercontinental cy-
Sm andNd are not fractionatedduringsedimentationcles may explain the apparent periodicity of crust-
ordiageneSis
(seeabove). forming events during the post-Archean. Apart from
Evidence regarding possible changes in upper the early Archean, these episodes of crustal growth,
crustalcomposition duringthe post-Archean canbe generally taken to have occurred at about 3.8-3.5,
obtained from the Nd model ages of sediments,as 2.9-2.7, 2.0-1.7, 1.3-1.1, and 0.5-0.3 eons [e.g., Mc-
discussed earlier (see sectionon loess).For post-Ar- Culloch and Bennett, 1993], appear to correlate rea-
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan' CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRYß 259

i .... I ß ß ß i .... 120

Intense High
T/ Low
P
.............................
Subductionregime
Modern
Island
arc
regime
.:•
???? ....................................................
Meteorite lOO
Bombardment

E• /
o
g.;a 1•8 ' • • I /
._o
60 •
• [ • •/ Majorepisodes
of
•.•• I/ • crustalgrowth
crustalgrowth 40 (•

ß . , • ,
' I'
•ajor •upercontinents
I• place
I' I 20

4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0

Age (Ae)
Figure 5. Schematic model for the growth and evolution of the continental crust. The actual values of crust
present at any given time are not well constrained; however, a value of 50% crust by about 2.5 eons is
likely a minimum value to satisfyfreeboardconstraints.Although major global episodesof crustal growth
and differentiation are well documentedduring the late Archean and at about 2.1-1.7 eons, it is less clear
if crustal growth is episodic on a global scale during younger times. In general, there appears to be a
relationship between crustal growth episodesand assemblyphasesof supercontinents.

sonably well with supercontinentalassembly phases.
During supercontinental assembly, subduction of old
oceanic crust would be at a maximum, leading to an
increasein arc volcanism [Nance et al., 1986;Zhong
and Gurnis, 1993]. In addition, the continental colli-
sions that terminated the assembly phases would
promote crustal thickening, intracrustal melting and
differentiation, granulite facies metamorphism,conti-
nental underplating, and, accordingly, preservation of
such crust in the geological record.
On the other hand, the strong contrast in crustal
geochemistry seen at the Archean-Proterozoic transi-
tion does not appear to be related simply to the accu-
mulation of a late Archean supercontinent[McLennan
and Taylor, 1991]. Comparable changes in composi-
tion are not seen during younger cycles. The massive
increase in crustal growth in the later Archean is most
probably related to higher mantle heat production.
Intracrustal differentiation of this newly formed crust
to form stabilized continents resulted in a widespread
"granitic" upper crust (as opposed to localized early
Archean differentiated cratons) possessingthe charac-
teristic negative Eu anomaly, enrichment in heat-pro-
ducing elements, and other geochemical characteris-
tics. Subsequentepisodesof crustal growth appear to
have followed a similar pattern because they have
produced little change in upper crustal compositions
[e.g., McLennan and Hemming, 1992].
poutings of basaltic lavas, a major debate has arisen
about whether such basaltic magmatism is the cause of
the breakup or merely a consequence of decompres-
sion melting of the mantle following the thinning of the
overlying crust [e.g., Storey et al., 1992]. Related to
this question are the role that deep mantle plumes play
in this process [Hill, 1993] and the influence of super-
continental cycles in controlling mantle convection
patterns [Gurnis, 1988; Zhong and Gurnis, 1993]. Do
mantle plumes initiate splitting of the crust by doming?
These chicken and egg arguments are extensively dis-
cussed by Storey et al. [1992]. Thus White [1992]
distinguishesvarious types of rifting that occur during
continental breakup. The extreme cases may be called
cold and hot rifts, respectively. During cold rifting
there is very little volcanism, and the continental rift is
"stretched like gum." When it breaks, this allows the
formation of a new oceanic spreadingcenter. Hot rifts,
in contrast, form as a consequence of massive volca-
nism originating from mantle plumes. Very large vol-
umes (several kilometers thick) of lava are extruded.
Thus mantle plumes, although not the cause of exten-
sion, may provide a trigger in the shape of additional
heat that boosts the splitting and breakup of the con-
tinents. Perhaps the most difficult aspect for plume-
related models is the linear nature of most rifting and
of many large igneousprovinces, such as the 3000-km-
long Ferrar-Tasman Province.

Causesof Continental Breakup

Another interesting question, although somewhat THE EARLIEST PRE-3.9 EON CRUSTS
peripheral to this review, is the cause of continental
breakup [e.g., Duncan and Turcotte, 1994]. Because The oldest preserved terrestrial rock is the 3.96-eon
such rifting is frequently accompanied by vast out- Acasta Gneiss, in the Northwest Territories of Canada
260 ß Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTALCRUSTGEOCHEMISTRY
[Bowring et al., 1990]. What happenedin the 500-m.y.
gap between the formation of the Earth and that of the
Acasta Gneiss? In order to place this question in an
appropriateperspective, it is necessaryto considerthe
problems encompassingboth the formation of this
planet and some associated events.
The gaseous parts of the solar nebula were dis-
persed very quickly on timescales of a few million or
less years following To (4.56 eons) by early violent
solar activity [Strom et al., 1989]. The Earth then
accreted from a hierarchy of rocky planetesimalsin a
gas-free environment [Wetherill, 1986, Taylor, 1992a,
1993a]between 10 and 100 m.y. after To. The Moon
was probably formed during the final stagesof plane-
tary accretionby the collisionwith the Earth of a body
0.15 Earth masses, somewhat larger than Mars [Benz
et al., 1989],with derivationof the Moon from the rocky
mantle of the impactor [Newsom and Taylor, 1989].
High temperaturesare a consequenceof the formationof
the Earth from planetesimals,and total melting of the
Earth seems unavoidable. Indeed the lunar-forming
event was sufficientlyenergeticto have accomplished
this on its own [Benz and Cameron, 1990].
In an initially molten Earth, separation of the me-
tallic core is effectively coeval with accretion. The
subsequent crystallization history of the terrestrial
mantle is a matter of intense geochemicaldebate. A
number of thingsdid not happen. The crystallizationof
large bodiesof molten rock, suchas the Skaergaardor
Stillwater layered intrusions,might lead one to expect
the productionof zonesof differingmineralogywhose
elemental and isotopicfingerprintswould inform us of
this early event in the mantle. This was the course of
events on the Moon. However, no terrestrial an-
orthositic crust, analogousto the lunar crust, formed
for various reasons: the Earth is less well endowed
with Ca and A1 than the Moon, so that plagioclasewill
not be an early crystallizing phase from a terrestrial
magmaocean;the massiveEu anomaliesproduced,as
on the Moon, by such an event, are missing;plagio-
case floated on the bone-dry lunar magma ocean but
would have sunk in the wet terrestrial magma;plagio-
claseis stable on the Earth only to 40 km, below which
it will react to form garnet.In addition,there is no sign
of a reservoirof primitive87Sr/86Sr
valuesfromsucha
feldspathic crest [Taylor, 1982, 1992b].
The molten mantle was so large that conventional
terrestrial analogies, derived from layered intrusions
or the Moon, which is 2 orders of magnitudesmaller,
are inadequate to describe the solidification of a mol-
ten terrestrial mantle. Probably, the mantle crystal-
lized without producingseparatemineral zones [Tonks
and Melosh, 1990].
No good evidence exists for that enduringgeologi-
cal myth of a primordial world-encircling crust of
"sial" or granite.Such modelsoriginatedthroughfalse and Goldstein, 1991]).
analogiesbetween the productionof a silicic residuum Another possibility is that the earliest crust was
duringcrystallizationof basalticmagmasand conditions composed of komatiite [Campbell and Jarvis, 1984;
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS
in an early molten Earth, and a lack of appreciationof
the difficultiesof producinggranite. The absenceof ev-
idencefor sucha crest is discussedearlier. A primitive
"sialic" crest is refuted, amongother evidence,by the
absence of an old zircon population in younger sedi-
ments [Stephensonand Patchett, 1990].
The conditionsfor the productionof massivegranitic
crestsare probablyuniqueto the Earth and requirethree
or more stages of derivation from a primitive mantle
composition.The Earth has transformed less than 0.5%
of its volume to continental crest of intermediate com-
positionand less than 0.2% of its volume into granitic
continentalcrest (i.e., upper continentalcrest) in over 4
billion years, so that the processis inefficient.The high-
land feldspathiccrest of the Moon, about 12% of lunar
volume,formed in contrastduringcrystallizationfrom a
magma ocean within a few million years.
Regardless of how the terrestrial mantle crystal-
lized, there is extensive evidence for some probably
localized early mantle differentiation. Rocks derived
from the upper mantle from 3900 m.y. ago onward
come from a source with high Sm/Nd ratios. Although
the evidence refers specifically to Sm and Nd, by
inference the other LREE and other incompatible el-
ements (e.g., K, Rb, Cs, Ba, Th, U, Zr, and Hf) were
also depletedin parts of the Archean mantle at a very
early stage[Galer and Goldstein, 1991]. This depletion
must have occurred well before the time of formation
of the oldest surface rocks. Although many Archean
rocks are derived from such a LREE-depleted (Sm/
Nd-enriched) reservoir, this may merely indicate that
duringthe Archean the mantle depletion in LREE was
restrictedto a small mantle reservoir (that presumably
grew in approximate proportion to crustal growth) and
not a planet-wide affair [McCulloch and Bennett, 1993,
1994]. After all, caution is warranted, since Archean
rocks now cover only a trivial percentage of the sur-
face of the Earth and so provide only limited informa-
tion on the state of the bulk mantle.
Apparently, portions of the upper mantle under-
went partial melting, which led to an increase in the
Sm/Nd ratio in the mantle as the LREE were extracted
into the melt. Extraction of an early crust is an obvious
way to carry this out, but early granitic or anorthositic
crests are unlikely candidatesas noted earlier. Basalts,
beingthe primary melt from silicateplanetarymantles,
are the most likely candidatesfor an early crest.
However, the basic problem is that if this primor-
dial early basaltic crust ever existed, it seems to have
vanishedinto the mantle without providing the finger-
print of its enriched LREE signature to rocks subse-
quently derived from that region. No Archean or later
rocks have been derived from such a primitive crust
(which would resemble an alkali basalt and be en-
riched in LREE, with low Sm/Nd ratios [e.g., Galer
33, 2 / REVIEWSOF GEOPHYSICS Taylor and McLennan: CONTINENTAL CRUST GEOCHEMISTRYß 261
Chaseand Patchett, 1988].Suchhigh-Mg meltsmightbe
producedunder the early high-temperatureconditionsin
the Hadean (pre-4.0 eons [Cloud, 1988]) Earth. Such a
crustwould be too refractoryto melt duringsubduction,
so it could have been recycled into the deep mantle
without the telltale signatureof LREE and incompatible
elementenrichmentsubsequentlyreappearingin surface
rocks. However, komatiitic rocks are producedby high
degreesof partial meltingand are unlikelyto be enriched
in incompatibleelementsto the degreerequired.
The probable explanation is that only small regions
of the early Archean mantle underwent partial melting
and that the early LILE-enriched mafic crust was
buried deep in the mantle and is no longer accessible.
Any crust existing before 4.0 eons was probably
highly disruptedand perhapsdestroyedby the ongoing
meteoritic bombardmentwhich was endemic through-
out the solar system down to about 3.9 or 3.8 eons.
Major basin-forming (>300 km diameter) events
ceased on the Moon only at that time. In the interval
between about 4.4 and 3.8 eons, at least 200 such
major collisions occurred on the Earth. This evidence
may need to be reevaluated if most of the basin-
forming events on the Moon were due to a late spike or
"cataclysm" in the cratering record around 3.8-4.0
eons [Grieve and Parmentier, 1985; Ryder, 1990].
UNIQUENESS OF TERRESTRIALCONTINENTAL
CRUST IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The formation of crustsdistinct from the bulk plan-
etary composition is a common planetary phenome-
non. However, no crusts similar to the continental
crust of the Earth appear to have formed on the other
terrestrial planets or on the icy satellitesof the giant
planets. On the inner planets these crustsare basaltic,
which are the typical partial melts derived from the
Fe-Mg silicate mantles. On the satellites of the giant
planets, crusts involving water, methane, or ammonia
ices form by melting of ice-rock mixtures. All such
crusts have been termed secondary [Taylor, 1989] be-
cause they form as a result of melting in planetary
interiors subsequentto planetary formation.
The Moon presentsa specialcaseof a primary crust
[Taylor, 1982] composed essentially of anorthosite,
which floated on an anhydrous magma ocean. This
was a consequence of total melting at the time of
formation of the Moon. There is no evidence of a
similar crust forming on the Earth, as was noted ear-
lier, nor any sign of a lunar granitic crust. The largest
"lunar granites" are tiny (<2 g) fragmentsof siliceous
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