The Archean covers more than one third of the earth's history. It is a key period that related to many global fundamental geological issues, such as the origin, growth and stabilization of the continental crust as well as the initiation and establishment of plate tectonics. Archean rocks have been widely exposed in the Sushui, Dengfeng, Taihua, Huoqiu and Wuhe complexes in the southern North China Craton (NCC), which is served as excellent areas for investigating the above important scientific issues. In the last decade, Hadean-Eoarchean captured/detrital zircons have been successively found in the Paleozoic or Mesozoic volcanic rocks or Early Precambrian metasedimentary rocks in the southern NCC, suggesting that the crustal materials of the beginning earth still exist in there. According to statistical analysis of the geochronology of the Archean rocks in the southern NCC, there are two prominent age intervals of 2850 similar to 2700Ma and 2580 similar to 2480Ma, with corresponding peak ages of similar to 2.76Ga and similar to 2.52Ga respectively. Rocks with ages of similar to 2.76Ga are mainly exposed in the Lushan, Huoqiu, Wuhe and Zhongtiaoshan regions. In addition, similar to 2.76Ga detrital zircons or inherited zircons have also been found in granitoid gneisses or metasedimentary rocks in many areas of the NCC, such as Huai'an, Fuping, Wutai and Zhongtiao areas, suggesting that the 2.85 similar to 2.70Ga rocks were likely more widely distributed than today. Similar to other typical regions in the NCC, similar to 2.52Ga rocks are also widely occurred in its south, especially for the Dengfeng Complex that almost entirely composed of Late Neoarchean rocks. The similar to 2.52Ga tectonothermal events are the most prominent and important period of the whole NCC, which make the craton obviously different from many other typical cratons worldwide. Hf-O isotopic data show that the southern as well as whole craton have experienced two prominent periods of crustal growth during the Archean. The earlier occurred around 2.85 similar to 2.70Ga, minor granitoid rocks of the Sushui Complex and nearly all of plutonic rocks and amphibolites in the lower part of the Taihua Complex in the Lushan area are formed at that time; the later happened at 2.58 similar to 2.48Ga, the Dengfeng Complex, majority of the Sushui Complex, and minor similar to 2.52Ga granitoid rocks in Xiaoqinling area have formed at the time interval. The NCC has accomplished its firstly cratonization via the above two stages of crustal growth events. We have identified contemporary TTGs, sanukitoids and MORB-back arc association in the Dengfeng Complex, which likely represent a Late Neoarchean tectonic melange, implying for a Neoarchean subduction-accretion process and the modern-style plate tectonics processes likely initiated in the southern NCC at end of the Neoarchean. A Neoarchean paired metamorphic belt are recently recognized from the Dengfeng Complex, which also support the operation of plate tectonics at the end of the Archean.
