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Science 25 July 1986:
Vol. 233. no. 4762, pp. 446 - 449
DOI: 10.1126/science.233.4762.446
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Articles

A Budget for Continental Growth and Denudation

DAVID G. HOWELL 1 and RICHARD W. MURRAY 2

1 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
2 U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, and University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.

Oceanic crustal material on a global scale is re-created every 110 million years. From the data presented it is inferred that potential sialic material is formed at a rate of about 1.35 cubic kilometers per year, including hemipelagic volcanic sediments that accumulate at a rate of about 0.05 cubic kilometer per year. It is estimated that the influx of 1.65 cubic kilometers per year of terrigenous and biogenic sediment is deposited on the deep ocean, and this represents continental denudation. Because all this material is brought into a subduction zone, continental accretion rates, which could include all this material, may be as high as 3.0 cubic kilometers per year with a potential net growth for continents of 1.35 cubic kilometers per year.

Submitted on January 27, 1986
Accepted on May 8, 1986


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Venus: A Contrast in Evolution to Earth.
W. M. Kaula and W. M. Kaula (1990)
Science 247, 1191-1196
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)