Episodic, mafic crust formation from 4.5 to 2.7 Ga: new evidence from detrital zircons, Slave Province, Canada

The Hf and 18O values in detrital zircons from the Slave craton, Canada, indicate three episodes of crust formation between ca. 4.5 and 2.8 Ga, namely at ca. 4.4–4.5 Ga, ca. 3.8 Ga, and ca. 3.4 Ga. Most of the juvenile crust appears to have been mafic in composition, and there is no clear evidence for initial granitic protocrust in the Hadean of the Slave craton. The range of initial Hf values in zircons increases from 3.9 to 2.8 Ga, indicating that both extraction of new material from mantle and reworking of the older crust are important for the secular evolution of the continental crust. A preliminary review of available Hf data in zircons suggests that the three episodes of crust generation may have been of global importance. The mafic crust formed in the Archean and the Hadean was then reworked for at least ~0.5–1.5 b.y., as indicated by data from the Slave craton, Gondwana, and the Limpopo Belt of Africa.