The Hadean–Cenozoic Vertical Growth of the Continental Crust on Seismic and Geological Research

The relevance of the study is caused by the need to show the real evolution of the continents according to planetary seismic data. For the first time, the German geophysicists H. Closs and Ch. Behnke made a deep seismic section of the planet’s Earth's crust at latitude 40° N—in 1963. The origin and growth of the American and Eurasian continents in deep depressions (of deep to 50 km) of the Earth's mantle are visible in the section. Later, this discovery was subsequently confirmed in various parts of the planet. The main peculiarity of the continents’ formation is clearly expressed in these sections—from the Hadean to the Cenozoic time. The lower layer of the continental crust was formed in the Hadean era (4.4–4.0 billion years ago). It is represented by metabasalts and peridotites, which were later transformed into crystalline shales and amphibolites. The layer thickness is 10–35 km, and the density of rocks is 2.75–3.05 g/cm3. The middle layer of the Earth's crust was formed in the Archean–Lower Proterozoic time (4.0–1.7 billion years ago). Granites and gneisses represent it. The layer thickness is 5–20 km, and the density of rocks is 2.5–2.75 g / cm3. Finally, the upper layer of the Earth's crust was formed in the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic time (1.7 billion years to 1 million years ago). Carbonate, sedimentary–metamorphic rocks, and intrusive rocks of different compositions represent this layer. The layer's average thickness is 3 km, and the density of rocks is 1.8–2.5 g/cm3. The proof of the vertical growth of continental earth crust in the deep depressions of the upper mantle is a new important knowledge in the Earth sciences.