TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the composition of the present upper crust and deal with possible compositions for the total crust and the inferred composition of lower crust, and the question of the uniformity of crustal composition throughout geological time is discussed.
Abstract: This book describes the composition of the present upper crust, and deals with possible compositions for the total crust and the inferred composition of the lower crust. The question of the uniformity of crustal composition throughout geological time is discussed. It describes the Archean crust and models for crustal evolution in Archean and Post-Archean time. The rate of growth of the crust through time is assessed, and the effects of the extraction of the crust on mantle compositions. The question of early pre-geological crusts on the Earth is discussed and comparisons are given with crusts on the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus and the Galilean Satellites.
TL;DR: In this paper, the present-day composition of the continental crust, the methods employed to derive these estimates, and the implications of continental crust composition for the formation of the continents, Earth differentiation, and its geochemical inventories are discussed.
Abstract: This chapter reviews the present-day composition of the continental crust, the methods employed to derive these estimates, and the implications of the continental crust composition for the formation of the continents, Earth differentiation, and its geochemical inventories. We review the composition of the upper, middle, and lower continental crust. We then examine the bulk crust composition and the implications of this composition for crust generation and modification processes. Finally, we compare the Earth's crust with those of the other terrestrial planets in our solar system and speculate about what unique processes on Earth have given rise to this unusual crustal distribution.
TL;DR: In this paper, a new calculation of the crustal composition is based on the proportions of upper crust (UC) to felsic lower crust (FLC) to mafic lower-crust (MLC) of about 1.6:0.4.
TL;DR: A table of abundances of the elements in the various major units of the Earth's lithic crust with a documentation of the sources and a discussion of the choice of units and data is presented in this article.
Abstract: This paper presents a table of abundances of the elements in the various major units of the Earth's lithic crust with a documentation of the sources and a discussion of the choice of units and data.
TL;DR: Two end member models of how the high elevations in Tibet formed are (i) continuous thickening and widespread viscous flow of the crust and mantle of the entire plateau and (ii) time-dependent, localized shear between coherent lithospheric blocks.
Abstract: Two end member models of how the high elevations in Tibet formed are (i) continuous thickening and widespread viscous flow of the crust and mantle of the entire plateau and (ii) time-dependent, localized shear between coherent lithospheric blocks. Recent studies of Cenozoic deformation, magmatism, and seismic structure lend support to the latter. Since India collided with Asia ∼55 million years ago, the rise of the high Tibetan plateau likely occurred in three main steps, by successive growth and uplift of 300- to 500-kilometer-wide crustal thrust-wedges. The crust thickened, while the mantle, decoupled beneath gently dipping shear zones, did not. Sediment infilling, bathtub-like, of dammed intermontane basins formed flat high plains at each step. The existence of magmatic belts younging northward implies that slabs of Asian mantle subducted one after another under ranges north of the Himalayas. Subduction was oblique and accompanied by extrusion along the left lateral strike-slip faults that slice Tibet's east side. These mechanisms, akin to plate tectonics hidden by thickening crust, with slip-partitioning, account for the dominant growth of the Tibet Plateau toward the east and northeast.