HKU Department of Earth Science
Dr. Zuo, Jiawei
Dr. Zuo, Jiawei
Postdoctoral Fellow
I explore the tectonic evolution of Early Earth. More than 3.2 billion years ago, in contrast to plate tectonics, early Earth may have been evolved via hot stagnant-lid tectonics, where the lithosphere has been a single-plate dominated by volcanic processes. A global plate tectonic network only developed after the mantle sufficiently cooled. To test this hypothesis, I study Earth’s most ancient materials, including minerals and rocks that were formed during the Archean Eon. In particular, I focus on rocks preserved in southwest Greenland (Isua) and northwestern Australia (Pilbara) because they are the best-known rock records of Eoarchean or Paleoarchean, respectively. I use multi-disciplinary approaches coupled with advanced analytical tools (e.g., EBSD, TIMA, SIMS) to constrain their pressure-temperature-time-deformation pathways, thereby testing the tectonic models proposed for these ancient materials.
In addition to early Earth studies, I am also applying my research expertise to modern Earth’s plate tectonic subduction zones, including Himalaya.
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Selected Publications
- Zuo, J., Webb, A.A.G., Piazolo, S., Wang, Q., Müller, T., Ramírez‐Salazar, A., Haproff, P.J., 2021. Tectonics of the Isua Supracrustal Belt 2: Microstructures Reveal Distributed Strain in the Absence of Major Fault Structures. Tectonics 40, e2020TC006514.
- Zuo, J., Webb, A.A.G., Johnson, T.E., McKenzie, N.R., Kirkland, C.L., Ng, H.C., Lo, C.Y., 2021. Model versus measured detrital zircon age signatures of the early Earth. Earth Planet Sc Lett 575, 117182.
- Ramírez‐Salazar, A., Müller, T., Piazolo, S., Webb, A.A.G., Hauzenberger, C., Zuo, J., Haproff, P., Harvey, J., Wong, T.K., Charlton, C., 2021. Tectonics of the Isua supracrustal belt 1: P‐T‐X‐d constraints of a poly‐metamorphic terrane. Tectonics 40, e2020TC006516.
- Webb, A.A.G.*, Müller, T., Zuo, J., Haproff, P.J., Ramírez-Salazar, A., 2020. A non–plate tectonic model for the Eoarchean Isua supracrustal belt. Lithosphere-Us 12, 166-179.