China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, is proud to announce that the International Union of Geological Sciences’ International Lithosphere Program (IUGS ILP) has established a new program and task force on “Formation, Character, History and Behavior of Earth’s Oldest Lithospheres”, led by Academicians Timothy M. Kusky (China University of Geosciences, Wuhan) and T. Mark Harrison (University of California, Los Angeles). Participants of the task force include 30 members from 10 countries, including 9 academicians from China, USA, Canada, Turkey, and Russia.

The aims of the project and task force are1)obtaining a better understanding of early Earth’s tectonic regime and its relationship to planetary heat loss, and2),determining when and by what mechanisms modern plate tectonics emerged on Earth. These fundamental questions are linked with when and how did life emerge on Earth, and what is its relationships to the tectonic circulation system, and how does plate tectonics, or other tectonic regime, maintain a habitable planet?

The team is poised to examine the oldest well-preserved crustal/lithospheric remnants on Earth, and ask if they are representative of the conditions of the times they formed in, and to extract information about the planetary conditions that led to their formation and preservation. Were these ancient rock records formed as a result of plate tectonics, or some other mode of planetary heat loss? What is the relationship between the evolution of plate tectonics and the emergence of life and the establishment of a habitable planet?

The task force, including many of the world’s leading scientists in studies of the early Earth, will address these issues though ongoing research, symposiums, open-format online discussions and seminars, and field-based meetings in critical areas, using the most up-to-date methodologies and ideas to obtain a deeper understanding of the early evolution of Earth, and how it became our habitable planet, and how we must maintain the balance to survive as a species in this dynamic system.

近日，国际地质科学联盟（IUGS）启动了一个新的国际岩石圈计划（ILP）项目和特别工作组（Task Force），旨在研究“地球最老岩石圈的形成、特征、历史和行为”。该项目由中国地质大学（武汉）全球大地构造中心主任、欧洲科学院外籍院士、地质过程与矿产资源国家重点实验室固定研究人员Timothy M. Kusky教授和美国国家科学院院士、加州大学洛杉矶分校T. Mark Harrison教授共同负责。项目组成员包括来自10个国家的30名成员，含来自中国、美国、加拿大、土耳其和俄罗斯的9名院士。我室成秋明院士、肖龙教授、王璐研究员、陈国雄副研究员、王振胜副研究员等作为不同子课题共同负责人参与该项目。

该项目科学目标主要为：更好理解早期地球的构造体制及其与行星热散失的关系；明确在地球上，现代板块构造在何时、以何种机制出现。这两个基本问题与“地球上的生命何时及如何出现?”，“生命起源与大地构造循环体系有何关系？”以及“板块构造或其他构造机制是如何维持行星宜居性？”等科学问题密切相关。

该项目以地球上保存完好的古老地壳/岩石圈残余为研究对象，研究它们能否反映其形成期间的地质背景和环境，提取相关岩石记录形成和保存时的行星地质条件。厘清这些古老的岩石记录是板块构造的结果，还是其他构造体制下的行星热散失的结果。进而分析板块构造的演化与生命的出现和宜居行星的建立存在什么联系。

该项目组包括许多研究早期地球的世界顶尖科学家，拟通过持续的研究项目、学术论坛、开放式在线研讨会以及关键地区的野外考察会议等形式，使用最新的方法、理论，更深入地了解地球的早期演化、宜居星球形成、以及我们作为一个物种如何在这个动力学系统中维持平衡。

国际地质科学联盟（International Union of Geological Sciences，简称IUGS）是一个国际性的非政府和非营利性科学组织，于1961年创建于法国巴黎。作为国际科学理事会的成员组织，IUGS是目前世界上最大的科学组织之一，在组织开展全球性基础和应用地学研究、“地学为社会服务”、以及运用地学研究成果为政府决策服务等方面发挥了重要作用。

国际岩石圈计划（International Lithosphere Program，简称ILP）是20世纪70年代由国际科学联合会理事会发起，国际大地测量学和地球物理学联合会和IUGS协商提出一项国际计划。这是一项旨在研究阐明地球岩石圈的性质、动力学、成因和演化，特别是以大陆及其边缘作为重点的国际多学科研究计划。ILP项目及特别工作组所涉及的科学问题、科研团队和实施方案需经过国际同行的严格评审，需面向重大基础科学问题并对认识岩石圈形成演化有重要意义，方可获得批准。