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Science 10 February 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5762, p. 779
DOI: 10.1126/science.1121080
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Technical Comments

Response to Comments on "Zircon Thermometer Reveals Minimum Melting Conditions on Earliest Earth"

E. B. Watson1* and T. M. Harrison2

The mean crystallization temperature of Hadean zircons estimated on the basis of titanium content is ~680°C. This value corresponds almost uniquely to the temperature of wet minimum melting in present-day crust. The low variance of the temperature distribution (±25°C) also points unequivocally to Hadean zircon growth under conditions that were highly reproducible and thermally regulated. Eutectic-like melting is particularly capable of providing such regulation and is consistent with Hadean zircon growth during wet crustal fusion.

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, USA.
2 Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: watsoe{at}rpi.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Impact melt sheet zircons and their implications for the Hadean crust.
J. Darling, C. Storey, and C. Hawkesworth (2009)
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Response to Comment on "Heterogeneous Hadean Hafnium: Evidence of Continental Crust at 4.4 to 4.5 Ga".
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