The setting in which Earth’s first continental crust formed is unclear because few rocks survive from that time. Geochemical analysis of 4.03-billion-year-old rocks discovered in the Acasta Gneiss Complex, Canada, reveals rocks that are strikingly similar to those formed in Iceland today, implying Earth’s first continental crust was generated in an Iceland-like setting.
- Jesse R. Reimink
- Thomas Chacko
- Larry M. Heaman
