Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2011, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (1): 1-8.

• Article •     Next Articles

Pondering over the genesis of rocks and the evolution of lithosphere.

  

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Sun YatSen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
  • Received:2010-10-16 Revised:2010-11-28 Online:2011-01-15 Published:2011-01-15

Abstract:

Variation of intrinsic energy of the lithosphere results in forming and perishing of rocks. Evolution of the three kinds of rocks that constitute the lithosphere produces different tectonic effects on the earth surface, and the evolutional effects on the oceanic and continental crusts are found with complementing relationship: increasing intrinsic energy in the oceanic lithosphere leads to the birth of rocks, otherwise to the perish; and in the continental lithosphere, increasing intrinsic energy leads to the perish of rocks, otherwise to the birth. The former process creates a rocksequence in which the rocks become older from the mid oceanic ridge outwards either on a horizontal plane or on a vertical section, and the latter produces a rocksequence in which the rocks become younger from the core of a continent outwards on a horizontal plane and become younger from the MI upwards and downwards on a vertical section.

Key words:  rock genesis, tectonic effect, evolution of lithosphere, crustal melting

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