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چکیده
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Earth exhibits a distinct bimodal distribution of continental and oceanic crust, a feature that differentiates it from other terrestrial planets in the solar system (Dilek and Polat, 2008; Dhuime et al., 2015). The continental crust plays a critical role in sustaining Earth’s habitable surface conditions and climatic equilibrium (Lee et al., 2016; Rozel et al., 2017; Huang et al., 2021), while also serving as a significant repository of mineral resources (Rudnick and Gao, 2014; Tang, 2020). However, the continental crust is frequently subjected to significant destruction or reformation through subsequent weathering, erosion, and tectonic processes (Sobolev and Brown, 2019; Zhu et al., 2021; Cawood et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2024), with only approximately 7% of the Archean crust remaining preserved across thirty-five ancient cratons (Rudnick and Gao, 2014; Wan et al., 2023). Furthermore, ancient cratons serve as repositories of numerous valuable pertaining to tectonic evolution, metamorphism, magmatism and metallic deposits (Sandiford et al., 2004; Moyen et al., 2006), which play crucial roles in sustaining the planet’s resource base and habitability, and provide essential insights into the transition from pre-plate tectonic regimes to modern plate tectonics on Earth (Hamilton, 2011; Zhang et al., 2014; Gerya et al., 2015; Hasie et al., 2016; Cawood et al., 2018; Windley et al., 2021; Zhao et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2025). Systematic studies on ancient cratons are essential, as they would enhance our understanding of global Precambrian geology and contribute to the exploration of earlyEarth evolution. We therefore propose the Research Topic entitled “The World’s Ancient Cratons: Tectonics, Metamorphism, Magmatism and Mineralization” in Frontiers in Earth Science.
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