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A craton ( /ˈkreɪtɒn/ KRAYT-on, /ˈkrætɒn/ KRAT-on, or /ˈkreɪtən/ KRAY-tən;[1][2][3] from Ancient Greek: κράτος kratos "strength") is an old and stable part of continental lithosphere (the Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the lithospheric mantle). Having often survived cycles of merging and rifting of continents, cratons are generally found in the interiors of tectonic plates; the exceptions occur where geologically recent rifting events have separated cratons and created passive margins along their edges. Cratons are composed of ancient crystalline basement rocks covered by younger sedimentary rocks. They have a thick crust and deep lithospheric roots extending several hundred kilometres into Earth's mantle.
Cratons contain the oldest continental crust rocks on Earth. They were formed in the Archaean (4 to 2.5 billion years ago) and the Proterozoic (2.5 billion- 538.8 million year ago) geologic eons. Most were formed in the Archaean.[4][5]
- ^ "Definition of craton in North American English". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
- ^ "Definition of craton in British and Commonwealth English". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
- ^ Macquarie Dictionary (5th ed.). Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd. 2009.
- ^ Frost and Mueller (2024)
- ^ Craton, Shield and Platform Explained in Geology (2052) GeologyPoint.com [1]