However, the past two decades have witnessed the potential beginning of a change in geologic understanding as new evidence is increasingly indicative of episodic, non-shallow subduction.
Gravitational pull from dense slabs provides approximately 90% of the driving force for plate tectonics,[2] and consequently subduction is crucial in changing the Earth's layout, guiding its thermal evolution[3] and building its compositional structure.
[1] In particular, subduction zones are the primary sites of present-day continental crust formation,[4] another process of modern Earth that has a mysterious past.
[6] Considering the importance of subduction in many geological processes, it is clear that studying its past and present nature is essential to developing our understanding of the Earth as a dynamic system.
The higher temperatures of the Archean Earth can be attributed to the release of tremendous amounts of energy from the accretion of Solar System material and subsequent differentiation into core and mantle.
Moving forward, the rheology of early-Earth materials should be emphasized in future research as it is not well understood, and therefore subduction dynamics are poorly constrained.