Mafic magma dominated the seafloor at around 3.9 Ga during the Hadean-Archean transition. Due to rapid silicification, the felsic continental crust began to form. In the Archean, the continental crust was composed of tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) as well as granite–monzonite–syenite suites.
The Mount Goldsworthy in the Pilbara Craton located in Western Australia holds one of the earliest silicification example with an Archean clastic meta-sedimentary rock sequence, revealing the surface environment of the Earth in the early times with evidence from silicification and hydrothermal alteration. The unearthed rocks are found to be SiO2 dominant in terms of mineral composition. The succession was subjected to a high degree of silicification due to hydrothermal interaction with seawater at low temperatures. Lithic fragments were replaced with microcrystalline quartz and protoliths were altered during silicification. The condition of silicification and the elements that were present suggested that the surface temperature and carbon dioxide contents were high during either or both syn-deposition and post-deposition.  
The Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa, specifically the Eswatini Supergroup of around 3.5–3.2 Ga, is a suite of well-preserved silicified volcanic-sedimentary rocks. With the composition ranging from ultramafic to felsic, the silicified volcanic rocks are directly beneath the bedded chert layer. Rocks are more silicified near the bedded chert contact, suggesting a relationship between chert deposition and silicification. The silica altered zones reveal that hydrothermal activities, as in seawater circulation, actively circulate the rock layers through fractures and fault during the deposition of bedded chert. The seawater was heated up and therefore picked up silicious materials from underneath volcanic origin. The silica enriched fluids bring about silicification of rocks through seeping into porous materials in the syn-depositional stage at a low-temperature condition.