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Insights into early continental crust formation from the most ancient heart of Scotland
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Journal Article
Insights into early continental crust formation from the most ancient heart of Scotland
2026
Overview
The paucity of rocks from Earth’s first billion years (4.5–3.5 Ga) limits understanding of early felsic (continental) crust formation and craton development. We present zircon U–Pb, O- and Hf-isotope and whole-rock geochemical data from deformed and metamorphosed (ultra)mafic and felsic rocks of the Archaean Lewisian Gneiss Complex, NW Scotland. The felsic, MgO-rich hornblende-bearing tonalite gneisses contain magmatic zircon populations at c. 3.6, 3.5, and 2.8 Ga, as do enclosed hornblendite pods (>95 vol.% hornblende). Zircons from hbl-tonalite preserve median δ¹
8
O
(zircon)
of ~5.8‰, indicating limited supracrustal input. The hornblendites have high-MgO (~18 wt%), Cr (up to 5500 µg/g), and Ni (up to 2800 µg/g) concentrations and record slightly higher δ¹
8
O
(zircon)
median values (~6.3‰). Zircon εHf
(zircon)
from both lithologies implies a Hadean to early Archaean (c. 4.1–3.9 Ga) depleted mantle source variably modified by low-temperature surface-derived fluids and/or incorporation of Hadean continental crust. We argue that the hornblendites represent vestiges of a hydrated (proto)crust that contributed to the growth of the earliest Archaean continental nuclei.
Ancient rocks from northwest Scotland show that early continental crust formed in water-rich environments. The data suggest that primordial water was already present in the lower crust and was recycled from altered surface rocks into deeper crustal levels.
