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Geochemical analyses of magma reveal dynamic activity in the Earth’s lithosphere 4 billion years ago
Thanks to a unique geochemical analysis platform at the Institute of Earth Sciences in Grenoble (UGA/CNRS/USMB/IRD/Université Gustave Eiffel), scientists from Université Grenoble Alpes have revealed, contrary to prevailing theories, dynamic plate tectonic activity on our planet 4 billion years ago. This discovery, based on geochemical analyses of magmatic inclusions and complemented by numerical modeling conducted at the German Research Center for Geosciences, will be published in the journal Nature Communications on April 25, 2025.
This research was made possible by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC) as part of the Synergy 85655 MEET (Monitoring Earth Evolution through Time) project, led by Alexander V. Sobolev (ISTerre, UGA, France), Stephan V. Sobolev (GFZ, Germany), and John W. Valley (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA).
Bibliography
A. Vezinet, A. V. Chugunov, A. V. Sobolev, C. Jain, S. V. Sobolev, V. G. Batanova, E. V. Asafov, A. N. Koshlyakova, N. T. Arndt, L. V. Danyushevsky, and J. W. Valley, Nature Communications 2025.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59024-6
Scientific contacts
– Adrien Vézinet, Post-Doc UGA à l’institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTERRE- OSUG, CNRS / IRD / UGA / Univ. Savoie Mont-Blanc/ Univ. Gustave Eiffel)
– Alexander Sobolev, Professeur Emérite UGA à l’institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTERRE- OSUG, CNRS / IRD / UGA / Univ. Savoie Mont-Blanc/ Univ. Gustave Eiffel)
This article was published by Université Grenoble Alpes [https://www.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/english/].