The Sclavia Craton is a late

Archean The Archean Eon ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan) is the second of four geologic eons of Earth's history, representing the time from . The Archean was preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic. The Earth during the Arc ...

super

craton A craton (, , or ; from grc-gre, κράτος "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. Having often survived cycles of merging an ...

thought to be parental to the Slave and

Wyoming Craton The Wyoming Craton is a craton in the west-central United States and western Canada – more specifically, in Montana, Wyoming, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and parts of northern Utah. Also called the Wyoming Province, it is the init ...

s in North America, the Dharwar Craton in southern India, and the

Zimbabwe Craton The Zimbabwe Craton is an area in Southern Africa of ancient continental crust, being a part of the ancient continent of Western Gondwana, with rocks dating back to the early Archean Eon, possibly as early as 3.46 billion years ago ( Ga.). The cra ...

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

. Sclavia was proposed by who estimated the number of Archean cratons to be about 35; cratonic fragments which he suggested were derived from a single or a few supercratons. The break-up of Sclavia, and possibly other continents or supercratons, can be linked to a global pulse of

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

tic activity around 2.33–2.1 Gya probably caused by increased

mantle plume A mantle plume is a proposed mechanism of convection within the Earth's mantle, hypothesized to explain anomalous volcanism. Because the plume head partially melts on reaching shallow depths, a plume is often invoked as the cause of volcanic hot ...

activity. Related results of this mantle activity include the 2.3 Ga-old Precambrian

dyke swarm A dike swarm (American spelling) or dyke swarm (British spelling) is a large geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented magmatic dikes intruded within continental crust or central volcanoes ...

s in the Dharwar Craton in southern India which were emplaced in only five million years. Similar swarms have been found in what is today Antarctica, Australia, Finland, Greenland, and North America. There is growing evidences that support that the Slave and Dharwar cratons shared a common history through the Archean but the exact configuration of the Archean supercraton from which they were derived is unknown.

Kenorland Kenorland was one of the earliest known supercontinents on Earth. It is thought to have formed during the Neoarchaean Era c. 2.72 billion years ago (2.72 Ga) by the accretion of Neoarchaean cratons and the formation of new continental crust. ...

, a proposed supercontinent, is a "one-piece" alternative to three separate supercratons:

Superia Superia (Dr. Deidre Wentworth) is a supervillain and criminal scientist appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history She first appeared in ''Captain America'' #387 (1991) and was created by writer Mark Grue ...

Vaalbara Vaalbara was an Archean supercontinent consisting of the Kaapvaal Craton (now in eastern South Africa) and the Pilbara Craton (now in north-western Western Australia). E. S. Cheney derived the name from the last four letters of each craton's name ...

, and Sclavia.;

References

; Notes ; Sources * * * * Former cratons Archean {{Palaeo-geo-stub