Tectonic tales of an evolving lithosphere

The lithosphere is ever-changing and has gone through several major transformations since the Hadean. As the lithosphere grew and matured compositionally, so changed its geodynamic behaviour … or did it? And if it did, what happened before modern-style plate tectonics came into fashion? Did plates subduct at all during the first 30% of Earth's history and, if not, where did the first continents go? Is it just a coincidence that lithospheric change in the Archean coincided with the emergence of atmospheric oxygen and life? And to what do we compare the ancient rock record; what rocks record modern-style plate tectonics and how do these processes work? In this presentation, I will share some perspectives on these questions, as I attempt to condense 4 billion years of Earth history into an average 3+pers.-Zoom time allocation.