New evidence from Yinshan Block reveals Earth’s early supercontinent cycles

A new study published in Precambrian Research by Jawad Shabbir, a Ph.D. student at Peking University’s School of Earth and Space Sciences under Professor Song Shuguang, addresses a critical yet poorly understood period in Earth history. The Archean–Proterozoic transition witnessed global tectonic evolution, cratonization, glaciation, banded iron formations and the Great Oxygenation Event—events linked to supercontinent formation. Focusing on the Yinshan Block within the North China Craton (NCC), the research challenges previous ambiguities by revealing two complete orogenic cycles driven by tectonic processes similar to those on modern Earth.