Understanding of secular evolution of the Earth system is based largely on the rock and mineral archive preserved in the continental lithosphere. Based on the frequency and range of accessible data preserved in this record, we divide the secular evolution into seven phases: (a) “Proto-Earth” (ca. 4.57–4.45 Ga); (b) “Primordial Earth” (ca. 4.45–3.80 Ga); (c) “Primitive Earth” (ca. 3.8–3.2 Ga); (d) “Juvenile Earth” (ca. 3.2–2.5 Ga); (e) “Youthful Earth” (ca. 2.5–1.8 Ga); (f) “Middle Earth” (ca. 1.8–0.8 Ga); and (g) “Contemporary Earth” (since ca. 0.8 Ga). Integrating this record with knowledge of secular cooling of the mantle and lithospheric rheology constrains the changes in the tectonic modes that operated through Earth history. Initial accretion and the Moon forming impact during the Proto-Earth phase likely resulted in a magma ocean. The solidification of this magma ocean produced the Primordial Earth lithosphere, which preserves evidence for intra-lithospheric reworking of a rigid lid, but which also likely experienced partial recycling through mantle overturn and meteorite impacts. Evidence for craton formation and stabilization from ca. 3.8 to 2.5 Ga, during the Primitive and Juvenile Earth phases, likely reflects some degree of coupling between the convecting mantle and a lithosphere initially weak enough to favor an internally deformable, squishy-lid behavior, which led to a transition to more rigid, plate like, behavior by the end of the early Earth phases. The Youthful to Contemporary phases of Earth, all occurred within a plate tectonic framework with changes between phases linked to lithospheric behavior and the supercontinent cycle.

中文翻译：

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大陆和地球系统的长期演化

对地球系统长期演化的理解主要基于保存在大陆岩石圈中的岩石和矿物档案。根据该记录中保存的可访问数据的频率和范围，我们将长期演化分为七个阶段：（a）“原始地球”（约 4.57–4.45 Ga）；(b) “原始地球”（约 4.45–3.80 Ga）；(c) “原始地球”（约 3.8–3.2 Ga）；(d) “少年地球”（约 3.2–2.5 Ga）；(e) “年轻的地球”（约 2.5–1.8 Ga）；(f) “中土”（约 1.8–0.8 Ga）；(g) “当代地球”（自约 0.8 Ga 起）。将这一记录与地幔长期冷却和岩石圈流变学的知识相结合，限制了贯穿地球历史的构造模式的变化。原始地球阶段的初始吸积和月球形成的影响可能导致了岩浆海洋。这种岩浆海洋的凝固产生了原始地球岩石圈，它保留了岩石圈内刚性盖改造的证据，但也可能通过地幔翻转和陨石撞击经历了部分再循环。来自 ca 的克拉通形成和稳定的证据。3.8 到 2.5 Ga，在原始地球和少年地球阶段，可能反映了对流地幔和岩石圈之间某种程度的耦合，该岩石圈最初足够弱，有利于内部可变形的软盖行为，这导致在早期地球阶段结束时转变为更僵硬的板状行为。地球的年轻到现代阶段，都发生在板块构造框架内，阶段之间的变化与岩石圈行为和超大陆循环有关。