The evolution of continents represents one of the most fundamental processes shaping our planet’s long-term physical, chemical, and biological development. Continental formation began early in Earth’s history, with episodic growth driven primarily by plate tectonics. Continents undergo significant reworking through a suite of dynamic processes, including tectonic deformation, metamorphism, intracrustal melting, and erosion and sedimentation, which collectively redistribute and refine the continental material. The formation, growth, and reworking of continents throughout Earth’s history involved transitions from non-plate to plate tectonics, supercontinent assembly and breakup, and the co-evolution of environment and life. This session explores the co-evolution of continents and Earth systems through deep time, addressing the following issues: processes and mechanisms of continental formation, assembly (accretion/collision) and breakup from Archean to the present; quantification of crustal growth (mantle-derived additions) vs. reworking (e.g., melting, metamorphism, erosion); feedbacks between continental evolution and surface environments; coupled deep-surface processes.
We invite contributions that integrate geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and numerical modeling to decode how continents act as planetary-scale regulators, driving the development of habitability through various tectonic processes, from pre-plate tectonics to plate tectonics, including plate subduction, collision, accretion, and coupled tectonics-topography-climate processes.