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These changes are associated with supercontinent cycles, a primary archive of lithosphere and convecting mantle behaviour, and impact orogen duration and thermal state. However, the lack of precise data on orogen duration during Columbia assembly limits our understanding of the long-term tectonic evolution and comparison with younger orogens. Through in-situ garnet Lu\u2013Hf and monazite microdomain U\u2013Pb geochronology, here we constrain a 220\u2009Myr hot collisional orogen during Columbia assembly, significantly longer than contemporary cold orogens (110\u2013160\u2009Myr). Secular changes in collisional orogen duration indicate a non-monotonic trend from Neoarchaean to Neoproterozoic. This trend implies enhanced plate rigidity and mobility during Columbia assembly, followed by a marked decline during Rodinia assembly, consistent with inferred plate velocity proxies. These findings support evolving tectonic regimes alternating between sluggish lid and more active plate tectonics during the Neoarchaean-Proterozoic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-026-76530-3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T09:34:36Z","timestamp":1786440876000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Secular change in orogenic duration reveals alternating tectonic regimes during the Archaean-Proterozoic"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Lei","family":"Zou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2062-8095","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guangyu","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinghui","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1200-3826","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter A.","family":"Cawood","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jia-Hui","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pinghua","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7389-7611","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shujuan","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3203-039X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiao-Ping","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3816-0192","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Huijuan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9979-6376","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jun-Bo","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meiyun","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5118-8811","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lifei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5429-0758","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guochun","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"76530_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Cawood, P. 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