Neoarchean

The final era of the Archean Eon, spanning approximately 2.8 to 2.5 billion years ago. It includes major continental growth and the spread of oxygen-producing photosynthesis.

Craton: A stable part of continental lithosphere that has survived major tectonic deformation for billions of years. Cratons grew and stabilized as continental crust developed during the Neoarchean.
Archean: A geological eon lasting from about 4.0 to 2.5 billion years ago. The Neoarchean is its final era.
Cyanobacteria: A group of bacteria that perform oxygen-producing photosynthesis. Their ancestors are central to hypotheses about oxygen production during the Neoarchean.
Archean Eon: An eon of Earth history from about 4.0 to 2.5 billion years ago. Its changing geological conditions frame debates about the Neoarchean's place in Earth's evolution.
Continental crust: The relatively buoyant, silica-rich outer layer of Earth that forms the continents. Its expansion and reworking are defining geological changes of this era.
Mesoarchean: The middle era of the Archean Eon, spanning approximately 3.2 to 2.8 billion years ago. It immediately precedes the Neoarchean in the Archean timescale.
Oxygenic photosynthesis: Photosynthesis that uses water as an electron donor and releases molecular oxygen. Its emergence may explain oxygen signals in Neoarchean rocks.
Faint young Sun paradox: The apparent mismatch between the young Sun's weaker output and evidence for early liquid water on Earth. Neoarchean climate records constrain explanations for persistent surface water under weaker sunlight.
Plate tectonics: The movement and interaction of rigid lithospheric plates over Earth's mantle. Neoarchean rocks preserve evidence used to investigate when modern-style plate tectonics began.
Paleoarchean: An early era of the Archean Eon, spanning approximately 3.6 to 3.2 billion years ago. Its earlier record provides context for crustal evolution before the Neoarchean.

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