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Geochemistry

Early start to volatile cycling

Ancient metamorphosed basalts show a sulfur isotopic fingerprint of surface sediment, suggesting volatile cycling by a subduction-like process was occurring more than 3.8 billion years ago.

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Fig. 1: Different geodynamic scenarios of sulfur cycling in the Eoarchean.

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Correspondence to J. Elis Hoffmann.

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Hoffmann, J.E. Early start to volatile cycling. Nat. Geosci. 18, 374–375 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01689-1

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