polydiapirism of the archean mount edgar batholith pilbara block western australia structural analysis of the mount edgar batholith and the enveloping greenstone belt indicates that the batholith and rocks around its margin were subjected to similar deformation events that involved progressive and stepwise diapiric uplift of the batholith these events may be correlated on the basis of fold style orientation and fabric development early recumbent to reclined structures d1 including thrusts were buckled d2 by rounded upright folds prior to shearing d4 along normal faults parallel with the batholith margin d4 deformation was responsible for uplifting the batholith to its present structural position a deep seated linear deformation zone d3 within the batholith did not affect the supracrustal belt syntectonic granite intrusion amphibolite facies metamorphism and migmatisation were associated with d1 in the batholith whereas greenschist facies metamorphism was associated with d1 in the lowermost unit of the greenstone belt the talga talga subgroup amphibolite facies conditions were maintained within the batholith throughout the structural history but this grade was reached in the supracrustal belt only near the batholith margin progressive deformation d1 d2 and metamorphism occurred in response to early massive granite generation and emplacement producing a first order plutonic dome that reached full maturity during d2 solid state diapirism d4 followed producing a gneiss dome of similar dimension restriction of early recumbent folds and thrusts in the supracrustal belt to areas within or adjacent to the batholith is consistent with the model elsewhere deformation is minor the late stage diapirism brought a gneiss complex within the batholith into juxtaposition with lowermost greenschist facies rocks of the pilbara supergroup this complex represents in part sialic material that existed below the pilbara supergroup before diapirism began the complex closely resembles other archean high grade gneiss terranes which suggests that some of these terranes are deeper crustal exposures of granite greenstone terranes

mesoarchean assembly and stabilization of the eastern kaapvaal craton a structural thermochronological perspective 1 understanding the construction and stabilization of archean continental lithosphere has important implications for models of tectonic and thermal regimes in the early earth as well as for the subsequent evolution of continents we provide new constraints for the amalgamation and stabilization of the eastern kaapvaal craton in the vicinity of the barberton greenstone belt circa 3 3 3 1 ga isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry u pb geochronology and thermochronology are combined with mapping and structural analysis around the margins of this belt in order to constrain movement on major shear zones that separate high grade orthogneiss terranes from low grade supracrustal rocks and to relate this movement to the timing of differential exhumation new and existing data are consistent with accretion at 3 23 ga within an oblique subduction plate boundary manifested in the bgb as an asymmetric flower like structural geometry for 100 ma following terrane assembly transform boundary tectonics manifested partially as transtension on reactivated faults led to large scale juxtaposition of middle to lower crustal basement orthogneiss complexes against upper crustal greenstone sequences and episodic emplacement of granitic batholiths stabilization of this portion of archean lithosphere involved at least a three stage process 1 creation of a thick and rigid mantle lithosphere during crustal growth subduction and terrane assembly from circa 3 30 to 3 23 ga 2 generation of a rigid crust during strike slip and transtensional tectonics coupled with migration of granites and heat producing elements into the upper crust between circa 3 2 and 3 1 ga and 3 erosion and removal of the uppermost crust during regional peneplanation that lasted until circa 2 9 ga

structural geological and metamorphic significance of the kaapvaal craton limpopo belt contact abstract the hout river shear zone forms the terrane boundary between the granite greenstone terrane of the kaapvaal craton cratonic terrane and the high grade granulite terrane high grade gneiss province of the limpopo belt this structure is superimposed onto a thin skinned northward verging thrust system which exercises a significant control on the distribution of the ene wsw trending greenstone belts the hout river shear zone however dips steeply to the north and flattens out toward the south this structure was responsible for the emplacement of hot granulites against and over the cooler granite greenstone terrane and strongly influenced the metamorphic evolution of the area the shear zone acted as a conduit for infiltrating co2 rich h2o bearing fluids into still hot crust producing a retrograde isograd and associated zone of rehydration in the granulitic hanging wall of the structure retrogressed granulites in the hanging wall are characterized by fine grained kyanite as part of the retrograde assemblages while the greenstones in the footwall are characterized by coarse grained prograde kyanite the terrane boundary appears to be in thermal equlibrium with the lithologies in both the footwall and hanging wall so that tectonically mixed prograde greenstones and retrogressed granulites in and adjacent to the shear zone are apparently at a similar metamorphic grade the granulites appear to have had a hot iron effect on the cooler footwall rocks over which they have been displaced

archaean cratonization and deformation in the northern superior province canada an evaluation of plate tectonic versus vertical tectonic models abstract the archaean minto block northeastern superior province is dominated by tonalite trondhjemite enderbite pyroxene tonalite granodiorite and granite with subordinate mafic rocks and supracrustal belts the plutons have been interpreted as the batholithic roots of andean type plate margins and intra oceanic arcs existing horizontal tectonic models propose that penetrative recrystallization and transposition of older fabrics during terrane assembly at 2 77 and 2 69 ga produced a n nw tectonic grain in the douglas harbour domain northeastern minto block tonalite and trondhjemite dominate the faribault thury complex 2 87 2 73 ga and enderbite constitutes 50 100 km scale ovoid massifs troie and qimussinguat complexes 2 74 2 73 ga magmatic muscovite and epidote in tonalite trondhjemite have corroded edges against quartz plagioclase suggesting resorption during ascent of crystal charged magma foliation maps and air photo interpretation show the common development of 2 10 km scale ovoid structures throughout the douglas harbour domain outcrop and thin section scale structures imply that many plutons experienced a phase of syn magmatic deformation typically followed by high temperature sub magmatic overprints thermobarometric data for plutons indicate near solidus recrystallization at 4 6 kbar pressures the common preservation of syn magmatic fabrics in plutons of different ages seems incompatible with the origin of these fabrics through superimposed regional orogenesis the broad uniformity of intrusion ages and lithologies throughout the minto block and the rarity of shallowly dipping planar fabrics also seem inconsistent with accretion of disparate older terranes each of which should preserve distinct histories a possible alternative explanation for these features is provided by vertical tectonic models whereby buoyant felsic magmas ascended as crystal slurries while dense supracrustal rocks and solidified felsic intrusions emplaced into them subsided as cold fingers 10 20 km scale instabilities shear between upwelling and downwelling limbs would have concentrated in the weak intrusions generating steeply plunging syn magmatic fabrics and producing ductile overprints in solidified rocks

the continental and oceanic crust and lithosphere in the archaean isostatic thermal and tectonic models simple isostatic models of the development of selected archaean basins and greenstone belts can be used to constrain models of the archaean lithosphere geophysical geochemical and thermal data imply that in southern africa the late archaean crust was probably comparable in thickness to the modern continental crust and the whole lithosphere was perhaps over 80 100 km thick two archaean belts studied may have developed by stretching of the order of 1 3 1 6 1 isostatic and thermal data and petrological assumptions allow the construction of simple models of the archaean oceanic lithosphere oceans were probably deep mid ocean ridges were probably subaqueous and fed by komatiitic liquids calc alkaline volcanism in the archaean may have been produced as a consequence of the subduction of hydrated komatiitic oceanic crust into a hot low viscosity asthensophere

paleoarchean detrital zircon ages from the earliest tectonic basin in the barberton greenstone belt kaapvaal craton south africa abstract detrital zircon grains in coarse grained sedimentary rocks of the noisy formation traditionally considered as the h6 unit of the uppermost hooggenoeg formation in the paleoarchean barberton greenstone belt bgb south africa are investigated by laser ablation la icp ms to constrain their u pb and 207pb 206pb ages for depositional age and provenance determination drill core and field observations indicate that these rocks are clastic polymictitic diamictites and sandstones a wide range in 207pb 206pb ages between ca 3600 and 3430 ma is reported the youngest detrital zircon grain identified has an age of 3432 10 ma constraining the maximum depositional age of the sedimentary sequence and the formation of a major underlying erosional unconformity the youngest grains correspond in age to the ca 3460 3430 ma tonalite trondjemite granodiorite ttg gneisses of the stoltzburg terrane and felsic intrusions of the uppermost hooggenoeg formation that constitute most of the songimvelo block of the bgb on the kaapvaal craton the 207pb 206pb ages of the oldest grains identified corresponds to plutonic sources identified in older proto continental blocks of the kaapvaal craton namely the ca 3509 ma steynsdorp block and ca 3667 3223 ma ancient gneiss complex agc this new data indicates provenancial linkage between the songimvelo block and older proto continental blocks exposed on the kaapvaal craton at ca 3432 ma it is argued here that the noisy formation is a remnant of the earliest tectonic basin in the bgb that developed during major tectonic accretion and uplift at ca 3432 ma that lead to formation of the erosional unconformity in conjunction with new drill core and field observations the geochronological constraints presented here support plate tectonic processes operating in the proto kaapvaal craton that resulted in its formation as a stable continental landmass as early as ca 3432 ma

determining accurate temperature time paths from u pb thermochronology an example from the kaapvaal craton southern africa thermochronology has revolutionized our understanding of the establishment and evolution of lithospheric thermal structure however many potential benefits provided by the application of diffusion theory to thermochronology have yet to be fully exploited this study uses apatite tc 450 550 c and titanite tc 550 650 c u pb id tims thermochronology at the single to sub grain scale to separate the variable effects of volume diffusion of pb from metamorphic over growth above and below the tc of a mineral data are presented from two ca 3227 ma tonalite samples from north and south of the barberton greenstone belt bgb southern africa two distinct populations of apatite from a sample north of the bgb record fast cooling followed by metamorphic growth 10 myr later both apatite and titanite dates from south of the bgb show a strong correlation with the grain size and record 100 myr of post emplacement cooling complex core rim zoning observed in cathodoluminescence images of apatite is interpreted to reflect metamorphic overgrowth above the tc the age and topology of grain size versus date curves from titanite and apatite are used in combination with a finite difference numerical model to show that slow non linear cooling and not thermal resetting is responsible for the observed distribution the thermal histories from either side of the bgb are very different and provide unique insight into the bgb s tectonic evolution a 70 myr period of apparent stability after ca 3 2 ga terrane assembly was followed by fast exhumation south of the bgb that led to lower crustal melting and intrusion of granitic batholiths ca 3 14 3 10 ga

origin and timing of the metasomatic silicification of an early archean komatiite sequence barberton mountain land south africa abstract stratiform units of pervasively silicified early archean ultramafic rocks occur near the boundary between the onverwacht and fig tree groups in the barberton mountain land republic of south africa the origin of these units has been variously ascribed to early archean subaerial weathering or submarine alteration to cataclastic metamorphism and to the alteration of silicic tuffs an exceptionally well exposed example of such an alteration sequence along the skokohla river valley in the central barberton mountain land was studied to determine the nature of the precursor rocks and the timing and nature of the alteration processes well preserved ghosts of spinifex and culmulate textured olivines and pyroxenes establish the komatiitic ancestry of the skokohla rocks rock units of several distinctive lithofacies can be correlated over the entire 1 5 km strike of the sequence and were derived from the metasomatic conversion of a series of ultramafic flow units to rocks dominated by quartz dioctohedral mica and chlorite the original ultramafics have been strongly enriched in si k rb and ba and depleted in fe mg ca na mn sr zn and ni the elements al ti p cr zr y and nb were immobile alteration apparently occurred soon after extrusive activity and before any significant tectonic deformation it is most probable that alteration resulted from the dynamic hydrothermal upwelling of fluids through original fracture porosity in the ultramafic flows

archaean flow top alteration zones formed initially in a low temperature sulphate rich environment the 3 500 3 400 myr onverwacht group in the southern part of the barberton greenstone belt south africa includes up to 12 km of komatiitic and tholeiitic lavas containing minor sedimentary and felsic volcanic units1 komatiitic lavas showing spinifex textures chrome spinels and high ni and cr contents are common throughout the sequence2 the rocks have been subject to polyphase archaean deformation and low grade metasomatism2 4 at several positions within the onverwacht group fig 1 the tops of komatiitic lavas underlying chert beds are marked regionally by 1 50 m thick zones of silicification carbonatization and k2o enrichment fig 2 because these zones have been variously interpreted to represent the felsic tops of mafic to felsic volcanic cycles weathering horizons and shear zones their origin is germane to any interpretation of the stratigraphy structure and evolution of the barberton belt here we present evidence that they formed inlarge part by low temperature near surface alteration of komatiitic lavas during intervals of volcanic quiescence they do not mark fault zones and cannot be used to subdivide the greenstone belt sequence into a series of fault bounded structural slices

prolonged magmatism and time constraints for sediment deposition in the early archean barberton greenstone belt evidence from the upper onverwacht and fig tree groups the single zircon evaporation shrimp ion microprobe and conventional dissolution techniques were used to determine 207pb 206pb and u pb ages on samples from the upper onverwacht and fig tree groups of the early archean barberton greenstone belt south africa zircons from dacitic rocks of the upper hooggenoeg formation yield ages of 3445 3452 ma a tuff in the basal kromberg formation has a mean age of 3416 5 ma a tuffaceous band 5 cm thick in the uppermost kromberg formation contains igneous zircons with a mean age of 3334 3 ma the 1700 m section of kromberg formation between these two samples is composed of basaltic lavas minor komatiites and cherty metasediments the overlying mendon formation is composed of interbedded komatiitic lavas and metasediments with a minimum thickness of 600 m a cherty stromatolitic metasediment 300 m above the base contains several thin ash layers with a mean zircon age of 3298 3 ma the basal fig tree group has units as old as 3259 3 ma and upper units in the fig tree are as young as 3225 3 ma xenocrystic zircons in the upper onverwacht and overlying fig tree group samples suggest that successive igneous units inherited zircons from underlying units and that over several hundred million years episodes of intermediate to felsic igneous activity took place at 20 40 ma intervals structural repetition by isoclinal folding and thrust faulting are important components of late greenstone belt evolution but should not obscure the importance of the prolonged interval of magmatic evolution represented by the thick pile of volcanic rocks observed in the barberton greenstone belt

tectonic evolution in the archaean and proterozoic kre high heat flow probably favoured global hotspot activity with crustal growth of iceland type through vertical magmatic accretion the tectonic environment for the generation of about 3 9 2 5 ga granite gneiss greenstone terrains with volurnlnous production of tonalite trondhjemite granodlorite magmas is still uncertain and both piate ma and intrapiate scenarios arc possible deformanon atylea in greenstones and adjacent high grade orthognersses with intercalated shallow water supracrustal assemblages suggest extensive horizontal shortening and crustal interstacking this probably resulted from collisional and or rotational motion and produced significant intracrustal melting as early as 3 9 ga by the end of the archaean and locally much earlier crustal thicknesses reached 35 50 km or more and the cxtl aordinary hhlding to erogenic deformation may have been due to delamination and crustal subduction towards the end of the proterozoic evidence for modern style plate tectonics becomes abundant through the recognition of laland a16 accretion ophiolite obducdon foreland thrust and fold belts and exotic terranes one of the best documented example for this tectonic environment is the arabian nubian shield 4lthough it is doubtful whether modern plate tectonic settings can serve as analogues for all precambrian tectonic styles it i clear that global crustal evolution since the early archaean was governed by the motion of plates which repeatedly came togethel tv fotm supercontinents and then dlspersetl again we shall not understand the detailed mechanism of precambrian crustal itlton cs before we learn horn lo irltejpret recent large scale crustal deformation and its causes

late archaean 2550 2520 ma juvenile magmatism in the eastern dharwar craton southern india constraints from geochronology nd sr isotopes and whole rock geochemistry the results of field geochronologic geochemical and isotopic studies are presented for the granitoids that occur east of the closepet batholith up to the kolar schist belt ksb field data such as common foliation strong shear deformation occasionally leading to mylonitization together with petrographic data including reduction in grain size with corroded borders show characteristics of the syn kinematic emplacement of the granitoids single zircon evaporation ages define a minimum age of 3127 ma for the tonalitic trondhjemitic granodioritic ttg basement and 2552 2534 ma plateau ages for the emplacement of the granitoids which slightly predate 20 30 ma the emplacement of the 2518 ma closepet batholith major and trace element data together with isotopic data suggest at least four magmatic suites from closepet batholith to the east which have independent magmatic evolution histories the observed data are compatible with magma mixing for the closepet batholith melting of ttg and assimilation fractional crystallization processes for bangalore granites either melting of heterogeneous source or different degree of melting of the same source for the granitoids of hoskote kolar and fractional crystallization for the western margin of the ksb isotopic nd sr and geochemical data lree and lil elements suggest highly enriched mantle and ancient ttg crust for the closepet batholith enriched mantle and ttg crust for the bangalore granites c a chondritic mantle source for the granitoids of hoskote kolar and the quartz monzonites of the western margin of the ksb and slightly depleted mantle for granodiorites of the eastern margin of the ksb we interpret all these geochronologic geochemical and isotopic characteristics of granitoids from the closepet batholith to the east up to the ksb in terms of a plume model the centre of the plume would be an enriched hot spot in the mantle that lies below the present exposure level of the closepet batholith melting of such an enriched mantle hot spot produces high temperature magmas closepet that penetrate overlying ancient crust where they strongly interact and induce partial melting of the surrounding crust these magmas cool very slowly as the hot spot maintains high temperatures for a long time thus they appear younger 2518 ma on the contrary to the east the plume induces melting of c a chondritic or slightly depleted mantle that produces relatively colder and less enriched magmas which show less or no interactions with the surrounding crust and cool rapidly and appear slightly older 2552 2534 ma this plume model can also account for late archaean geodynamic evolution including juvenile magmatism heat source for reworking inverse diapirism and granulite metamorphism in the dharwar craton

a model of ocean crust accretion for the superior province canada abstract one of the keys to understanding the origin of archaean greenstone belts lies in the geological relationships between mafic and ultramafic greenstones felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks and terrigenous sediments traditional models for greenstone belt evolution have been based on in situ stratigraphic relationships most of these models for example an oceanic island arc developed on oceanic basement back arc basins and the recently popular plume model predict concordant stratigraphic relationships among the various greenstone belt lithologies however rather than being depositional in nature several authors have indicated that many of the relationships between the different lithologies in greenstone belts are in fact tectonic suggesting an allochthonous origin for most greenstone sequences all of these latter models make analogies to phanerozoic tectonic processes involving accretion of oceanic materials with volcanism related to both plate subduction and rifting in this paper we have evaluated the geological relationships between volcanic rocks and sediments in three regions in the superior province where the accretion of oceanic material can be documented and direct comparisons are made to geological processes in phanerozoic accretionary complexes in the malartic area in the southeastern abitibi subprovince 3 to 4 km thick slices of komatiite and tholeiite with intercalated terrigenous sediment are tectonically imbricated and are overlain by calc alkaline volcanics which postdate tectonic stacking in both the larder lake region of the southwestern abitibi belt and in the beardmore geraldton belt at the south eastern limit of the wabigoon belt slices of iron rich tholeiite and chemical sediments of an oceanic origin are tectonically imbricated with terrigenous sediment the malartic val d or area is considered to be an example of accretion of an archaean oceanic plateau while the larder lake and the beardmore geraldton regions are potentially typical of accretion of normal oceanic crust in an arc environment phanerozoic accretion of oceanic crust is accompanied by a step back in subduction and in this paper we suggest that oceanic crust accretion may have been the principal mechanism by which the locus of subduction migrated towards the south of the superior province asthenospheric upwelling associated with the isolated sinking plate may have been responsible for widespread late magmatism this scenario requires that magmas be erupted through previously accreted volcanic plutonic and sedimentary material furthermore later ridge subduction will result in transpressional tectonics and eruption of mafic sequences over mature and immature volcano plutonic sequences the combined result of the plate tectonic scenario envisaged would result in the well described cyclic stratigraphy of many granite greenstone sequences

gliding and overthrust nappe tectonics in the barberton greenstone belt abstract regional recumbent folds inverted stratigraphy nappes and olistostromes are described from the southern part of the 3 3 3 5 ga barberton greenstone belt overthrusting of thin rigid silicified slabs with minimum dimensions of 25 km2 and up to 500 m in thickness occurred over minimum distances of 86 km more ductile and coherent units were overfolded up to at least 2 km during their emplacement the glide planes on which these nappes travelled were zones of high fluid pressures related to hydrothermal fluid circulation patterns driven by heat sources from igneous intrusions the upwelling areas of the geothermal convection cells were sites of mud pools and hydrothermal vents which may mark the trailing edges pull aparts of the overthrust units progressive silica and carbonate precipitation due to decreasing temperatures within the zones of fluid migration distant from the areas of high heat flow probably acted as built in braking systems below the travelling slabs active sedimentation and metasomatism during this tectonism indicates a protracted history for the evolution of the greenstone belt the recognition of nappe and overthrust tectonics in the barberton belt processes which may have been commonplace in archaean terrains necessitates a re evaluation of the stratigraphy of this belt

emplacement features of archaean ttg plutons along the southern margin of the barberton greenstone belt south africa abstract the barberton greenstone belt in south africa and its surrounding granitoid terrane represents one of the type localities for archaean granite greenstone tectonics contact relationships between early archaean granitoids and greenstone sequences along the southern margin of the greenstone belt illustrate multiple simultaneously operating emplacement mechanisms for the plutons these emplacement mechanism which can be identified in individual plutons comprise ductile wall rock deformation stoping assimilation and the intrusion of ring dykes the interaction between these various mechanisms is interpreted to be responsible for the complex and highly variable discordant and concordant contact relationships observed in the granite greenstone terrane as well as the deformation observed within wall rocks and country rock xenoliths the absence of regionally consistent fabrics within the plutons suggests considerable competence contrasts between the tonalitic trondhjemitic plutons and in many cases the hydrated greenstone cover sequence during later subhorizontal crustal shortening which occurred parallel to the greenstone granitoid interface this competence contrast is interpreted to have resulted in the accentuation of cuspate lobate folds along the granitoid greenstone interface being partly responsible for the typical arcuate dome and keel geometry of the barberton greenstone belt

do graded units of accretionary spheroids in the barberton greenstone belt indicate archaean deep water environment we report here a re analysis of the sedimentology of the msauli chert oolite which shows that environmental conditions during the early depositional phase of the fig tree group in the barberton greenstone belt were of a deep water nature the unit is compared with quaternary sediments deposited in the pacific ocean at bathyal to abyssal depths

a comment on weathering of quartz as an archean climatic indicator by n h sleep and a m hessler earth planet sci lett 241 2006 594 602

sedimentology of archean greenstone belts signatures of tectonic evolution abstract stratigraphic styles in archean greenstone belts are compared to those of modern and phanerozoic depositional basins in order to test the conformity of tectonic style through time six lithological associations in greenstone belts are recognized 1 mafic ultramafic volcanic 2 calc alkaline volcanic 3 bimodal volcanic 4 quartz arenite iron formation or carbonate 5 conglomerate wacke and 6 conglomerate arenite examples of the associations are described from the kaapvaal superior and zimbabwe provinces and the pilbara block each association differs only slightly between the four regions thereby emphasizing a common tectonostratigraphic theme sedimentary rocks are a minor component of the mafic ultramafic volcanic association they were deposited in two types of volcanic basin environments one similar to barred lagoons and bays around oceanic volcanic islands and the other similar to sediment starved platforms adjacent to coalesced volcanoes in inter arc intra arc and back are basins in contrast sedimentary rocks in the calc alkaline volcanic association comprise thick wedges of epiclastic and volcaniclastic detritus deposited in elongate sedimentary basins and thick wedges of pyroclastic and volcaniclastic detritus deposited adjacent to volcanic centers sedimentary facies were identical to those of forearc trench and marine volcanoplutonic arc settings chemogenic lithofacies in both volcanic associations were deposited in shallow to deep marine waters although shallow water profiles were selectively preserved in some terrains sedimentary rocks of the bimodal volcanic association are thick wedges of siliciclastic and volcaniclastic deposits interbedded with subaerial to submarine erupted flows of komatiite basalt and rhyolite depositional environments ranged from braid plain and braid delta to coastal marine and submarine fan starved basin deposits include banded iron formation and sulfidic black shale the association is identical to that of cratonic extensional basins in arc continent and intracontinental rifts sedimentary rocks of the quartz arenite iron formation or carbonate association onlap weathered basement or bimodal volcanic association rocks depositional environments were either transitional from fluvial to siliciclastic and carbonate marginal marine to offshore pelagic hemipelagic or from inshore intrabasinal clastic and volcaniclastic to offshore pelagic hemipelagic siliciclastic deposits are supermature two tectonic sites are represented those with siliciclastic facies represent continent adjacent syn to post rift stable shelves and those dominated by banded iron formation with volcaniclastic deposits represent arc adjacent post rift stable shelves sedimentary rocks of the conglomerate wacke association are represented by thick wedges of siliciclastic or volcaniclastic sandstone with minor volcanic components these were deposited in braid plain braid delta and submarine fan environments within elongate sedimentary basins coastal plain and pelagic basin facies are also present siliciclastic detritus was derived from syndepositional magmatic and metasedimentary thrust belts two stratigraphic styles are preserved one that records a flysch like stage of deep to marginal marine environments and the other that records a molasse like stage of marginal marine to fluvial environments the association is identical to that of compressional foreland basins of arc continent collisional and compressional arc tectonic affinities the conglomerate arenite association is preserved in elongate structural basins that transgress crustal components and all other supracrustal units it is dominated by thick wedges of siliciclastic sandstone although bimodal volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks can also be present depositional environments ranged from talus and alluvial fan and braid plain to either lacustrine or coastal marine local basin margins often show lateral offsets from source terrains and vertically skewed facies patterns longitudinal facies geometries are typical the association is similar to that of strike slip collisional graben in hinterland tectonic escape and terrane accretion orogens the examples show that despite all the ramifications of secular geophysical geothermal and geochemical global change the stratigraphic style of sedimentary rocks in archean greenstone belts can be matched with modern tectonic analogues thereby emphasizing the conformity of stratigraphic style through time the inseparable link between stratigraphic and tectonic styles implies that the tectonic style of greenstone belts was not temporally unique major differences exist with regards to the chemical composition of certain magmatic and sedimentary products but these are compensated for by their constant stratigraphic function in terms of depositional processes depositional environments and tectonic sites

near surface velocities and attenuation at two boreholes near anza california from logging data to investigate near surface site effects in granite rock we drilled 300 m deep boreholes at two sites which are collocated with stations from the digital array at anza california the first borehole was sited at station knw keenwild fire station which is located along a ridge line about 8 7 km east of the san jacinto fault zone station pfo pinon flat observatory chosen for the second site is another 6 km further to the east of station knw and is located on a gently sloping hillside we logged each borehole for p and s wave velocities as well as for crack density and orientation p waves were generated by striking a plate with a hammer at the surface a tool consisting of weighted anvils driven by compressed air against end plates along a 3 5 m beam was used to generate shear waves signals were recorded downhole with a three component sensor package at 2 5 m intervals from the surface to 50 m depth and at 5 m intervals from 50 m depth to the bottom of the hole velocities were determined by differencing the measured arrival times of first arrivals or peaks over each interval in depth travel times were computed for the first breaks at shallow depths however below about 100 m depth times were computed for the first peaks rather than for first breaks since the first arrival was no longer clearly distinguishable the knw site yielded a shear velocity of 1 9 km sec by only 30 m in depth and reached close to 2 6 km sec at the bottom of the hole p wave velocities at knw were also high at 5 4 km sec starting at 120 m depth the pfo site had similar but slightly higher shear wave velocities the bottom hole shear wave velocity reached 3 0 km sec and the p wave velocity was 5 4 km sec shear wave attenuation was computed using both the pulse rise time and spectral ratio methods at station knw attenuation was significant only in an interval between 17 5 and approximately 40 m in depth over the top 50 m attenuation corresponding to a q of about 8 was obtained a total t of 0 004 sec was measured for this interval pulse rise times also increased rapidly in this zone the spectral ratio data for station pfo yields two peaks in attenuation above 50 m similar to the attenuation found for station knw the peak in attenuation corresponds to a q of about 11 averaged over the top 50 m spectra of the seismic pulses produced by the hammer give good signal between 20 to 80 hz significant motion perpendicular to the polarizations of the first shear wave arrival was recorded within a few meters of the surface apparently the rock structure is sufficiently complicated that body waves are being converted sh to sv at oblique incidence very close to the surface the presence of these elliptical particle motions within a mere few m of the pure shear wave source suggests that the detection of polarizations perpendicular to the main shear arrival at a single location at the surface is not by itself a good method for detecting shearwave splitting within the upper few tens of kilometers of the earth s crust crack densities and orientations were determined from televiewer records these records showed cracks with a preferred direction at station knw and of a greater density than at station pfo at station pfo crack densities were smaller and more diffuse in orientation

dynamothermal transition zone between archaean greenstone and granitoid gneiss at lake dundas western australia abstract a 500 m wide shear zone occurs between the base of an archaean greenstone sequence and adjacent granitoid gneiss complex on the shores of lake dundas western australia the dynamothermal margin remains distinguishable due to the preservation of upper amphibolite facies assemblages related granitoid anatectites and mylonitic schistose and gneissose fabrics developed parallel to the contact which itself lies subparallel to the greenstone bedding surface the margin contrasts with less deformed greenschist to low amphibolite facies assemblages which characterize lithologies within the greenstone belt many of which retain igneous textures and relict primary phases structural petrological and textural evidence indicates that the dynamothermal contact originally evolved as a subhorizontal ductile shear zone during juxtaposition of the greenstone pile with granitoid gneiss and that its formation preceded regional folding greenschist facies overprinting and granitoid intrusion which occurred at about 2700 ma the amount of heat generated within the transition zone during thrusting was limited to maximum temperatures of c 650 c due to the buffering effect of granitoid anatexis

sm nd isotopic mapping of lithospheric growth and stabilization in the eastern kaapvaal craton whole rock sm nd isotope systematics of 79 archean granitoids from the eastern kaapvaal craton southern africa are used to delineate lithospheric boundaries and to constrain the timescale of crustal growth assembly and geochemical differentiation c 3 66 2 70 ga offsets in end values for 3 2 3 3 ga granitoids across the barberton greenstone belt bgb are consistent with existing models for c 3 23 ga accretion of newly formed lithosphere north of the bgb onto pre existing c 3 66 ga lithosphere south of the bgb along a doubly verging subduction margin the nd isotopic signature of c 3 3 3 2 ga magmatic rocks show that significant crustal growth occurred during subduction accretion after c 3 2 ga however the nd signature of intrusive rocks c 3 1 and 2 7 ga is dominated by intracrustal recycling rather than by new additions from the mantle signalling cratonic stability

lithostratigraphy and composition of 2 1 ga greenstone belts of the west african craton and their bearing on crustal evolution and the archean proterozoic boundary we have determined the lithostratigraphy of three early proterozoic 2 1 ga birimian greenstone belts in the west african craton and measured the concentrations of major and trace elements in samples of volcanic rocks from those belts the nangodi belt largely consists of tholeiitic basalt flows with mg numbers of 37 to 69 and flat to slightly lree depleted chondrite normalized ree patterns overlain by sodic na 2 o k 2 o 3 7 29 calc alkaline dacitic tuffs and lavas that are hree depleted la yb 4 5 8 9 times chondrites yb 3 9 8 7 times chondrites the volcanic sequence is capped by calc alkaline andesitic crystal tuffs with high mg numbers 66 75 and a high la yb ratio 10 5 times chondrites similar to archean and modern sanukitoids the dixcove belt largely consists of tholeiitic hyaloclastites and pillow lavas mg numbers 52 61 that grade upward into high mg mg numbers 59 calc alkaline andesitic tuffs and flows the winneba belt largely consists of massive tholeiitic h

3230 3200 ma post orogenic extension and mid crustal magmatism along the southeastern margin of the barberton greenstone belt south africa abstract the barberton granitoid greenstone terrain south africa preserves a complex and protracted evolution involving several events of magmatism and terrain accretion along convergent tectonic boundaries recent studies propose that the main period of tectonic accretion and arc related magmatism is linked to a system of divergent subduction zones above which voluminous ttg magmas were emplaced between ca 3236 and 3227 ma our structural and la icp ms u pb geochronology study along the southeastern margin of the barberton greenstone belt bgb ties the waning stages of this ttg magmatism to a short ca

syn extensional faulting controlling structural inversion insights from the palaeoproterozoic vargfors syncline skellefte mining district sweden the vargfors basin in the central skellefte district sweden is an inverted sedimentary sub basin within a palaeoproterozoic 1 89 ga marine volcanic arc the sub basin formed from upper crustal

isovolumetric silicification of early archean komatiites geochemical mass balances and constraints on origin stratiform quartz phyllosilicate carbonate alteration zones are a common feature of archean greenstone terranes and determining their origin is an important aspect of understanding the nature of shallow crustal alteration during the early history of the earth komatiites and komatiitic basalts of the uppermost onverwacht group ca 3 4 3 5 ga barberton greenstone belt south africa were regionally metasomatized prior to major tectonic deformation to the assemblage quartz dioctahedral mica chlorite pm dolomite subsequent metamorphism of these rocks has been restricted to greenschist facies and they thus record processes that may be obscured in analogous sequences from more highly metamorphosed terranes the isovolumetric nature of much of the alteration and the relative immobility of elements such as al zr and y permit a quantitative assessment of elemental gains and losses during metasomatism for each m 3 of komatiite altered approximately 10 3 kg one ton of mgo were removed

sm nd rb sr pb pb dating of carbonates from the early archaean barberton greenstone belt south africa evidence for post depositional isotopic resetting at low temperature abstract two silicic carbonate sequences occurring in the onverwacht group og and the overlying fig tree group ftg of the early archaean barberton greenstone belt south africa contain silicified dolomites with primary structures and textures they occur with volcanic rocks dated by single zircons the associated onverwacht felsic volcanics have an age of 3440 3416 ma whereas the fig tree volcanics are 3225 ma old therefore the depositional age of both sequences is between 3440 and 3225 ma pb isotopic data for different parts of a single og whole rock sample form a linear array corresponding to a pb pb age of 2632 99 ma sm nd and rb sr isotopes were analysed in four whole rock samples of the ftg silicified carbonates and form an sm nd array corresponding to an age of 2612 84 ma with initial end 8 1 0 5 and an rb sr array of 2743 36 ma with initial 87 sr 86 sr 0 7013 0 0003 these whole rock samples have rb sr ratios of 1 and unusually high rb concentrations for carbonates 100 ppm which derive from processes accompanying silicification all three isotopic systems of whole rocks indicate ages of 2 7 ga much younger than the depositional age of the successions the agreement provides strong evidence that an alteration event reset all of the isotopic systems sm nd as well as rb sr and u pb we suggest that the ages represent the timing of silicification and sericitization of the carbonates by large scale fluid movement at an apparent temperature of 200 c

silica alteration zones in the barberton greenstone belt a window into subseafloor processes 3 5 3 3 ga ago abstract silicification of volcanic rocks ranging from komatiitic to dacitic in composition is a common phenomenon of the 3 5 to 3 2 ga old volcano sedimentary succession of the barberton greenstone belt silica enrichment occurs in zones several tens of metres thick at the top of volcanic sequences that are capped by sedimentary chert horizons sio2 contents increase upsection from the original igneous value up to 92 silicification is associated with a depletion of most elements commonly mobile during water rock interaction while k2o rb and ba are enriched in these zones some transition metals sc v and cr were immobile whereas ni and co and some other metals cu zn were mobile and are depleted the 18o values of volcanic rocks show a positive linear relationship with silica content and range from 9 0 to 17 3 the element depletion enrichment patterns and oxygen isotope data indicate low temperature c 100 150 c hydrothermal processes for the origin of the alteration zones the loss of most elements coupled with the addition of sio2 as well as ree systematics indicate high water rock ratios and a fluid ree composition typical of archaean seawater that had a 18o value of 0 hydrothermal activity is attributed to heat derived from cooling of volcanic rocks and a high regional heat flow in an oceanic plateau like setting and resulted in the establishment of shallow subseafloor convection cells diffuse venting of hydrothermal fluids over broad areas of the ancient ocean floor provided an ideal environment for both seafloor and subsurface biota 3 5 ga ago

iib trioctahedral chlorite from the barberton greenstone belt crystal structure and rock composition constraints with implications to geothermometry iib trioctahedral chlorite in the barberton greenstone belt bgb metavolcanic rocks was formed during pervasive greenschist metamorphism the chem ical composition of the chlorite is highly variable with the fe fe mg ratio ranging from 0 12 to 0 8 among 53 samples the chemical variation of the chlorite results from the chemical diversity of the host rock especially the mgo content of the rock but major details of the variation pattern of the chlorite are due to the crystal structure of the chlorite all major cation abundances in the chlorite are strongly correlated with each other sil icon increases with mg and decreases with fe while aliv and alvi decrease with mg and increase with fe2 a complex exchange vector explains over 90 of the chlorite compositional variation mg4sife2 3alvi 1 aliv 1 which has 3 parts fe mg substitution coupled with one part tschermakite substitution this ratio is required to maintain the charge and site balances and the dimensional fit between the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets the subtle change in al substitution in chlorite implies that alvi is preferentially ordered in the m 4 site and about 84 of the alvi present is in the m 4 sites when they are nearly filled with alvi based on 47 analyzed chlorite bearing rock samples chlorite chl composition is strongly correlated with the mgo content of the host rock calculated correlation coefficients are 0 91 for sio2chl mgorock 0 87 for al2o3chl mgorock 0 89 for mgochl mgorock and 0 85 for feochl mgorock only weak correlations have been found between chlorite oxides and other oxides of rock between same oxides in chlorite and rock sio2 0 67 al2o3 0 59 feo 0 41 however mgochl is saturated at about 36 wt in rocks that have mgo above 22 wt the mgochl is about 5 wt when the host rock approaches 0 wt of mgo this implies that mg substituting into the chlorite is approximately limited to 1 5 9 2 mg atoms per formula unit and 1 0 3 2 aliv chlorite geothermometers can not be applied to all bgb samples however the empirical chlorite geothermometer based on aliv of chlorite may be applicable to chlorites formed under metamorphic conditions because it can predict the chemical composition of the chlorite from basaltic and dacitic samples in this study an estimated temperature of about 320 c for the greenschist metamorphism of the greenstone belt through this geothermometer is consistent with that obtained by other geothermometers

horizontal tectonic deformation geometries in a late archaean sedimentary sequence belingwe greenstone belt zimbabwe in the belingwe greenstone belt of zimbabwe structural evidence from the circa 2 65 ga old sedimentary cheshire formation which overlies and is imbricated with a mafic volcanic unit is consistent with thrusting of the greenstone sequence the cheshire formation consists of a karstified carbonate ramp sequence overlain by siliciclastic turbidite deposits that formed in a southeast deepening basin the earliest deformational structures formed during a syndepositional to postdepositional thin skinned thrusting event d1 that affected poorly consolidated sediments and is recorded in bedding parallel ductile shear zones boudins folds and block in matrix structures d1 shear zones separate the volcanic sequence and the overlying sediments and occur between the carbonate and siliciclastic units syntectonic sulphide mineralization and silicification of mainly fine grained sediments along the main thrust faults gave rise to the formation of rocks similar in appearance to banded iron formations stratigraphic units were locally duplicated along the d1 thrust faults including a tectonic slice of mafic volcanics that was emplaced onto carbonates along a chaotic unit similar to a tectonic melange the elongation of inclusions in the melange zone and lineations in ironstones together with kinematic indicators suggest that stratigraphic duplication resulted from northwestward directed tectonic transport deposition of the cheshire formation took place in an asymmetric foreland type basin contemporaneously with thrusting soon after deposition the formation was incorporated into the thrust stack subsequent deformation events include tight upright folding gentle cross folding and dextral strike slip faulting of the greenstone succession evidence for early thrusting suggests that horizontal tectonic processes played an important role in the evolution of the belingwe greenstone belt

evidence for structural repetition in the greenstones of the kalgoorlie district western australia abstract regional mapping and air photographic interpretation of an area of about 20 000 km 2 centred on kalgoorlie provided compelling evidence that some previously published polycyclic stratigraphies cannot be substantiated large areas of rocks formerly proposed as younger cycles represent repetition mainly by faulting of a somewhat simpler stratigraphic sequence the main lines of support are 1 the similarity of older and younger mafic ultramafic successions 2 the tendency of younger sequences to merge with older ones when traced along strike and 3 the abundant evidence of faulting along critical contacts the subtle concordant nature of some of the faulting is consistent with an origin by thrusting at an early stage in the tectonic history especially where repeat sequences are folded around major upright structures later reactivation of sheared contacts and initiation of new ones during upright folding and faulting and transcurrent shearing is believed to have widely occurred gravitational gliding is proposed as a possible mechanism for thrust generation this being consistent with evidence of earlier instability in the sedimentation style of turbidites debris flows and olistostromes however conclusive evidence of a mechanism is lacking due to incomplete field evidence the repetition is viewed as a rearrangement of recognisable elements of the local stratigraphy rather than the result of a major collisional event at a plate margin this tends to favour an intracratonic rather than an oceanic setting for the local greenstones though the characteristic geological features of modern continental rifts have not been observed

a post deformational post peak metamorphic timing for mineralization at the archaean big bell gold deposit western australia abstract previous workers were unable to find any suitable criteria to time gold mineralization at big bell mine an enigmatic low grade large tonnage deposit hosted in an upper amphibolite facies greenstone belt sequence in the murchison province of the archaean yilgarn craton western australia earlier studies suggested that the gold mineralization occurred by hydrothermal alteration either synchronous with volcanism or prior to peak metamorphism the following conclusions have been drawn from a detailed meso and microstructural analysis of the mine sequence and greenstone belt hosting the orebody 1 1 prior to mineralizaton the big bell area underwent five phases of deformation and m1 regional metamorphism to the staurolite andalusite zone of the amphibolite facies for metasediments 2 2 granite emplacement post dated d5 folding causing local m2 thermal metamorphism this peaked at the ms qtz breakdown reaction for pelites on or close to the and sil transition but below the onset of partial melting characterized by the narrow non degenerate divariant field involving seven kfmash phases qtz ms bt crd kfs als h2o this hornfelsing consumed cross cut and post dated s5 cleavage prograde qtz and sil veins replaced this hornfels assemblage and s5 cleavage and were caused by volatile escape at depth and hydraulic fracturing coincident with a reduction in bulk rock permeability resulting from post deformational hornfelsing 3 3 retrograde m3 assemblages and two stages of gold related mineralization cross cut and replaced all previous structures the retrograde gold bearing assemblages are both underformed stage 1 mineralization is typically found with widespread retrograde muscovite plates and consists of the following mineral associations py po ccp ilm mag au tur sch rt spn zrn ms bt ep czo qtz the second stage of mineralization is characterized by pervasive sericitic alteration that is locally developed to an extent where all pre existing mineralogies including quartz are totally destroyed within sericitic domains the stage 2 mineral associations are apy sbt sb mo sp au py po ilm mag ccp sericite chl carbonate cal ep czo qtz 4 4 gold mineralization at big bell was post deformational and post peak metamorphic unlike many archaean gold deposits there are no obvious shear zones controlling the formation of the big bell gold deposit at the structural level exposed either on the surface or in drill core big bell mine was in a low strain domain during the formation of late stage sinistral sub vertical d6 shear zones that are typically concentrated at the granitoid greenstone contacts the retrograde character of the mineralization has been deduced from detailed meso and microstructural observations and demonstrates the emplacement of this gold deposit was very late in the overall orogenic history of the murchison province

early archaean spherule beds in the barberton mountain land south africa no evidence for impact origin abstract detailed petrographical and geochemical studies are reported for several well documented occurrences of spherule rich layers in the barberton mountain land south africa which were previously inferred by lowe and co workers to be the result of early archaean meteorite impacts in contrast we made the following observations the textures of most spherules are not necessarily the result of impact but could instead be the product of radial or intersertal growth of crystals during secondary mineral formation there is no difference in the content of siderophile elements between spherule layers and layers devoid of spherules the siderophile element abundances are high where sulphide minerals e g pyrite gersdorffite and chalcopyrite and or chromite are present independent of the presence or absence of spherules high contents of e g ir up to 2700 ppb ni 0 96 wt and cr 1 6 wt were found in various samples abundances of these elements in chondritic meteorites are approximately 600 ppb 1 4 wt and 0 35 wt respectively resulting in respective meteoritic components in these samples of 450 70 and 460 we do not accept these high concentrations as primary meteoritic signatures impact melt rocks have typically 1 of a meteoritic component furthermore spherules of any kind are very rare in known impact deposits including the k t boundary if present at all they are not usually associated with any significant ir or pge anomaly the high abundances of the siderophile elements in some barberton samples and their enrichment in secondary minerals indicate that these elements have been remobilized and reconcentrated the pge interelement ratios have changed during remobilization as well thus the pge abundance patterns and ratios are not primary and cannot be used as an argument in favour of an impact origin either nickel rich cr spinels which are found in some of the barberton spherule samples have low fe 3 fe total ratios these ratios are incompatible with an extraterrestrial or impact origin because such impact derived spinels including those found at the k t boundary are highly oxidized and also have different chemical compositions there is also no indication of any evidence of shock metamorphism associated with the barberton spherule layers which is the commonly accepted definitive criterion for recognition of an impact origin this is unusual because such evidence is preserved even in heavily altered samples from deeply eroded archaean impact structures we conclude that while these spherule layers are clearly unusual and deserve further attention there is no convincing evidence for an origin by impact we suggest that they were formed by volcanic processes followed by extensive hydrothermal alteration

tectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt south africa 490 million years of archean crustal evolution rocks of the 3570 3080 ma barberton greenstone belt record a geological history of at least 490 million years m y and were affected by regional thermal perturbations for over 1500 m y small tectonic wedges of 3570 3511 ma schistose tonalite are the oldest rocks yet recognized but little is known about their tectonothermal history the earliest well recognized tectonothermal events 3490 3450 ma represent mid ocean ridge like processes these were followed by two periods of arc related and trench related processes separated by 160 m y the first 3445 3416 ma recording an intraoceanic suprasubduction like environment and the second 3260 3225 ma intra arc and interarc like processes culminating in arc amalgamation accretion like convergent processes dominated between 3230 ma and 3080 ma overlapping with the assembly of the kaapvaal craton at 3080 ma the barberton greenstone belt experienced a sudden shift from dominantly convergent to dominantly transtensional tectonism and was mineralized with mesothermal gold along a regional shear system soon afterward transtension became distributed across the entire kaapvaal craton heralding the onset of formation of the witwatersrand basin by 3070 ma

evidence for archean ocean opening and closing in the southern slave province archean mafic volcanic and plutonic rocks of the cameron and beaulieu river greenstone belts outcrop in the southern slave structural province of the canadian shield lower portions of the greenstone belts have ophiolitic characteristics but young felsic units may represent superimposed arc magmatism the greenstone belts are separated from older circa 2 7 3 2 ga quartzo feldspathic gneisses of the sleepy dragon complex by a regional decollement zone patterson lake structural complex consisting of deformed mafic volcanic rocks thin slivers of gneiss ultramafic rocks and banded iron formation mixed in a highly deformed phyllonitic and phacoidally cleaved metapelitic matrix high synmetamorphic strains are indicated by abundant intrafolial folds transposed layering rare sheath folds and by the parallelism of elongated primary features and metamorphic mineral lineations the patterson lake structural complex is similar to melanges of phanerozoic mountain belts adjacent quartzo feldspathic gneisses are strongly mylonitized the melange and deeper mylonites formed when the greenstone belts were emplaced as thrust sheets wildflysch shed from tips of emergent thrusts was in part incorporated into the basal melange as the allochthon overrode its own detritus continued compression involved the basement in the deformation uplifting the sleepy dragon complex in a structural culmination mantled by the imbricated greenstone stack late granodioritic to granitic intrusions formed regional thermal aureoles which overprint earlier metamorphic fabrics

the role of komatiites in plate tectonics evidence from the archaean and early proterozoic crust in the eastern baltic shield abstract the early archaean continental crust of the eastern part of the baltic shield had been submitted to repeated rifting during the archaean and the early proterozoic the newly formed rifting belts evolved by sagduction and seemingly subduction in the archaean and subduction and collision in the lapland fold belt and in the svecokarelides of the central baltic shield the comparative evolution of these domains suggests that sagduction compatible with plate motion is a process competitive with subduction it is postulated what the sagduction subduction duality characterizing the archaean is equivalent to the intracontinental marginal orogenies encountered in proterozoic and phanerozoic times and that both represent at different periods variations in crustal interaction within an overall plate tectonic framework

unexpected features of the ion precipitation in the so called cleft low latitude boundary layer region association with sunward convection and occurrence on open field lines ion precipitations along the boundary of the polar cap are studied using the akebono exos d observations of plasma electric field and magnetic field during the dawn dusk crossings across the dayside polar cap at the altitudes of 7500 km to 10 000 km only the cases where the convection streamlines consisted of two cells rather than four have been chosen for analysis and hence the kp index was moderate or high and the imf polarity was southward in most of the intervals studied it is found that the ion precipitations in morning and evening sectors along the polar cap boundary are associated with the sunward convection at the above heights and judging from the presence of the polar rain the high latitude part of these precipitations occur in the region of open field lines association with the sunward convection and occurrence on open field lines contradict the view that these ions originate from the low latitude boundary layer llbl on closed field lines we propose to designate these ions as circumpolar ion precipitation cpip in order to avoid questionable presumptions on their source region the sunward convection in the morning and evening sectors of the cpip is observed systematically has speeds of about 1 km s and often extends over a few degrees or more in invariant latitude the cpip ions may have leaked from the boundary region of the plasma sheet may have been generated in the distant neutral sheet or may have entered from the magnetosheath only within a few hours of the noon meridian the cpip ions are associated with the antisunward flow at the height range of the akebono observations

the non glacial and non cratonic origin of an early archean felsic volcaniclastic unit barberton greenstone belt south africa abstract recent studies have suggested that 3 445 ga felsic volcaniclastic rocks of member h6 of the hooggeneoeg formation in the barberton greenstone belt south africa show evidence for deposition above a major erosional unconformity under glacial to periglacial conditions and contain debris eroded from older granitic continental crust these conclusions represent fundamental re interpretations of this sequence its crustal setting and processes of deposition we here present evidence that these felsic strata represent terrestrial to shallow water mass flows deposits storm influenced shallow marine units and turbidity current like storm driven submarine flows all of which lack any evidence of a glacial influence during sedimentation they accumulated as part of a conformable stratigraphic sequence and show no evidence of mantling an erosional surface the debris consists entirely of volcanic derived materials no clasts of plutonic rock are found in the conglomerates low temperature diagenesis and potash metasomatism have altered primary volcanic feldspar in the volcaniclastic debris to tartan twinned microcline previously thought to be characteristic of granitic plutonic rocks this potassium feldspar is quite distinctive and unlike the microcline found in plutons surrounding the greenstone belt this succession is part of a classic felsic volcaniclastic sequence deposited as an apron flanking a major felsic volcanic center

evidence for a complex archean deformational history southwestern michipicoten greenstone belt ontario the michipicoten greenstone belt extends for about 150 km ene from the northeastern angle of lake superior in common with many other archean greenstone belts it is characterized by generally steep bedding dips and a distribution of major lithologic types suggesting a crudely synclinal structure for the belt as a whole detailed mapping and determination of structural sequence demonstrate that the structure is much more complex the archean history of the belt includes formation of at least three regionally significant cleavages kilometer scale overturning extensive shearing and diabase intrusion most well defined mappable packages of sedimentary rocks appear to be bounded by faults these faults were active relatively early in the structural history of the belt when extensive overturning also occurred steepening of dips nw se shortening development of steep ne cleavage and pervasive shearing all postdate the early faulting and the regional overturning obscuring much of the detail needed to define the geometry of the earlier structures the results obtained so far suggest however that the michipicoten greenstone belt underwent an early stage of thrusting and associated isoclinal folding probably in a convergent tectonic environment

accretion of japanese island arcs and implications for the origin of archean greenstone belts the present day region of arc arc collision between the izu bonin arc and mainland japan honshu arc in the western pacific called the izu collision zone or icz provides a useful kinematic model for the development of many archean greenstone belts the compositional assemblage thermal structure and structural style of the crust in the icz are very similar to those inferred for many archean greenstone belts in both cases thick young and flaky arc crust with a high heat flux is in collision with another crustal block the icz has resulted in the imbrication of very thick slices of crust and associated sediments juxtaposed against older accretionary prisms many archean greenstone belts show similar geological features and we suggest that the incremental imbrication of the crust was a common tectonic style in some archean convergent margins

chronology of early archaean granite greenstone evolution in the barberton mountain land south africa based on precise dating by single zircon evaporation abstract we report precise 207 pb 206 pb single zircon evaporation ages for low grade felsic metavolcanic rocks within the onverwacht and fig tree groups of the barberton greenstone belt bgb south africa and from granitoid plutons bordering the belt dacitic tuffs of the hooggenoeg formation in the upper part of the onverwacht group yield ages between 3445 3 and 3416 5 ma and contain older crustal components represented by a 3504 4 ma old zircon xenocryst fig tree dacitic tuffs and agglomerates have euhedral zircons between 3259 5 and 3225 3 ma in age which we interpret to reflect the time of crystallization a surprisingly complex xenocryst population in one sample documents ages from 3323 4 to 3522 4 ma we suspect that these xenocrysts were inherited during the passage of the felsic melts to the surface from various sources such as greenstones and granitoid rocks now exposed in the form of tonalite trondhjemite plutons along the southern and western margins of the bgb and units predating any of the exposed greenstone or intrusive rocks several of the granitoids along the southern margin of the belt have zircon populations with ages between 3490 and 3440 ma coeval with or slightly older than onverwacht felsic volcanism while the kaap valley pluton along the northwestern margin of the belt is coeval with fig tree dacitic volcanism these results emphasize the comagmatic relationships between greenstone felsic volcanic units and the surrounding plutonic suites some of the volcanic and plutonic units contain zircon xenocrysts older than any exposed rocks these indicate the existence of still older units possibly stratigraphically lower and older portions of the greenstone sequence itself older granitoid intrusive rocks or bodies of older unrelated crustal material our data show that the onverwacht and fig tree felsic units have distinctly different ages and therefore do not represent a single tectonically repeated unit as proposed by others unlike the late archaean abitibi greenstone belt in canada which formed over about 30 ma exposed rocks in the bgb formed over a period of at least 220 ma the complex zircon populations encountered in this study imply that conventional multigrain zircon dating may not accurately identify the time of felsic volcanic activity in ancient greenstones a surprising similarity in rock types tectonic evolution and ages of the bgb in the kaapvaal craton of southern africa and greenstones in the pilbara block of western australia suggests that these two terrains may have been part of a larger crustal unit in early archaean times

tectonic evolution of a greenstone sequence in northern zimbabwe sequential early stacking and pluton diapirism structural metamorphic relationships in the 2 71 2 64 ga harare shamva greenstone belt in northern zimbabwe demonstrate that the archean stratigraphy of the zimbabwe craton can not be regarded as a coherent and nonrepetitive autochthonous succession of ultra mafic and felsic greenstones the greenstone belt shows an early set of amphibolite grade d1 m1 structures and associated synkinematic metamorphic assemblages that were formed during an episode of layer parallel shearing at about 2 64 ga this resulted in sequential west directed imbricate stacking and recumbent folding of distinct tectonostratigraphic greenstone sequences and includes the development of a syntectonic sedimentary succession d2 m2 fabrics strain patterns and contact aureoles overprint d1 geometries and are related to the diapiric emplacement of the chinamora batholith the structural data indicate that granite gneiss terrains can be subdivided into two types 1 structurally emplaced terrains the madziwa gneiss terrain and 2 diapiric domes the chinamora batholith the history of the harare shamva greenstone belt indicates that the late archean 2 7 2 6 ga evolution of the zimbabwe craton must allow for accretion of diverse crustal fragments including oceanic and back arc mafic crust volcanic arc felsic crust continental crust and related sedimentary sequences the process of accretion was probably diachronous across the craton and may have involved concomitant diapirism strike slip faulting magma intrusion and sedimentation

an open system fractional crystallization model for very early continental crust formation abstract a model is discussed which seeks to explain the origin of archaean tonalitic trondhjemitic granodioritic ttg crust by an open system fractional crystallization mechanism following the assumption that in the pre and early archaean the melt which formed above sites of large scale mantle upwelling was too voluminous and too hot to solidify an almost global near surface partially molten zone could form the magma in this layer would converge above mantle sinks and undergo fractional crystallization recharged fractionating reservoirs would form at sites of convergence the major element composition of the magma in such reservoirs would evolve towards one resembling that of ttg rocks provided that amphibole was a significant fractionating phase from such reservoirs their incompatible as well as compatible trace element abundances would also become similar to those of ttg terrains it is proposed that such terrains resulted from the consolidation of these recharged fractionating reservoirs it is shown that the reservoirs would remain indistinguishable from the primitive mantle in terms of radiogenic isotopes so that model ages cannot be greater than the age of their consolidation consideration of the main aspects of greenstone belts and archaean high grade terrains indicates no contradictions with the model the intrusion of late archaean adamellites and granites is interpreted as an indirect effect of pressure induced breakdown of amphibole in the cumulate underlying the ttg crust which in turn resulted from crustal shortening cratonization is seen as the result of consolidation not only of the crust but also of the underlying cumulate as subcontinental lithosphere

the stratigraphy of the 3 5 3 2 ga barberton greenstone belt revisited a single zircon ion microprobe study abstract recent field and geochemical studies indicate a need to test the stratigraphy of the ca 3 5 ga barberton greenstone belt as it is presently adopted 1 2 this work uses the ion microprobe shrimp to attempt such a test results show that 1 volcaniclastic sediments of the theespruit formation