Sclavia Craton

The Sclavia Craton is an ancient piece of Earth's crust from the Archean time. It is thought to be the parent of several modern landmasses, including the Slave and Wyoming Cratons in North America, the Dharwar Craton in southern India, and the Zimbabwe Craton in southern Africa. The idea of Sclavia was suggested by Bleeker 2003.

Around 2.33–2.1 Gya, Sclavia and possibly other ancient lands broke apart. This happened because of a lot of magmatic activity. This activity was likely caused by movements in Earth’s mantle plume. One result was the formation of Precambrian dyke swarms about 2.3 Ga old in the Dharwar Craton. Similar swarms have also been found in Antarctica, Australia, Finland, Greenland, and North America.

Scientists think the Slave and Dharwar cratons may have shared a history long ago. But, exactly how these ancient lands were joined together is still not fully known. One idea is that a very old supercontinent called Kenorland might have been one big landmass, instead of three separate pieces called Superia, Vaalbara, and Sclavia.