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A craton (/ ˈ k r eɪ t ɒ n / KRAYT-on, / ˈ k r æ t ɒ n / KRAT-on, or / ˈ k r eɪ t ən / KRAY-tən; [1] [2] [3] from Ancient Greek: κράτος kratos "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle.
A craton is an ancient part of the Earth's continental crust which has been more or less stable since Precambrian times. Cratons whose ancient rocks are widely exposed at the surface, often with relatively subdued relief, are known as shields.
craton An old and stable part of the continental crust that has survived the merging and splitting of continents and supercontinents for at least 500 million years. cross-bedding An inclined sedimentary structure in a horizontal unit of rock. Such tilted structures indicate the type of depositional environment, not post-depositional deformation.
Laurentia basement rocks. Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America.Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, although originally it also included the cratonic areas of Greenland and the Hebridean terrane in northwest Scotland.
The stable core of the continent is the North American Craton. Much of it was also the core of an earlier continent, Laurentia. [3] The part of the craton where the basement rock is exposed is called the Canadian Shield. Surrounding this is a stable platform where the basement is covered by sediment; and surrounding that are a series of ...
A craton is a large part of the Earth's crust that has been stable and subjected to very little geological changes over a long time. [2] The size of Superior Craton is about 1,572,000 km 2. [3] The craton underwent a series of events from 4.3 to 2.57 Ga. These events included the growth, drifting and deformation of both oceanic and continental ...
The geology of the Northwest Territories has been mapped in different quadrangles by the Canadian government. The region has some of the oldest rocks in the world and among the oldest in North America, formed from several sections of stable craton continental crust, including the Slave Craton, Rae Craton and Hearne Craton.
The Kalahari Craton is a craton, an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, that occupies large portions of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It consists of two cratons separated by the Limpopo Belt : the larger Kaapvaal Craton to the south and the smaller Zimbabwe Craton to the north.