Deformation‐driven,regional‐scale metasomatism in the Hamersley Basin,Western Australia

Mafic volcanic rocks of the Fortescue Group form the lowermost stratigraphic unit of the 100,000 km² Hamersley Basin on the southern margin of the Archean Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. A regional burial metamorphic gradient extends across the basin from prehnite–pumpellyite facies in the north to greenschist facies in the south. Phase equilibria modelling of mafic rocks with the computer program thermocalc , in subsets of the system Na₂O–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–Fe₂O₃, successfully reproduces observed metamorphic mineral assemblages, giving conditions of ~210 °C, 2 kbar in the north and 335 °C, 3.2 kbar in the south. Superimposed on this metamorphic gradient, regional‐scale metasomatism in the Fortescue Group progressively produces a suite of prehnite‐bearing and pumpellyite–quartz/epidote–quartz‐dominated assemblages. Further modelling of variably metasomatized samples consistently estimates conditions of 260–280 °C, 2.5–3 kbar across the basin. All modelled samples were likely metasomatized at approximately the same structural level, following regional deformation during the Ophthalmian orogeny. Folding during the Ophthalmian orogeny produced topographic and/or tectonic driving forces for regional‐scale fluid flow, pushing metasomatic fluid northwards across the Hamersley Basin. These new phase equilibria calculations support previous interpretations linking the Ophthalmian orogeny, fluid flow and upgrading of Hamersley iron ore deposits. We propose an extension of this fluid flow to the Fortescue Group, the metasomatism of which may have contributed a source of Fe to the Hamersley iron ore deposits.     

Tectonic setting and regional implications of ca 2.2 Ga mafic magmatism in the southern Hamersley Province,Western Australia

Although the presence of post-Hamersley Group mafic intrusive and extrusive rocks in the southern Hamersley province of Western Australia has been known since the area was first mapped in the early 1960s, details of the age, tectonic setting and significance of these rocks have only recently been determined, and are still controversial. These rocks are most commonly interpreted as the products of two temporally distinct periods of continental extension, separated by a hiatus of ～370 m.y. represented by the unconformity at the base of the Wyloo Group. However, the integration of published geochronological and geochemical data with detailed field observations documented in this study shows that ca 2.2 Ga dolerite sills pre- and post-date this unconformity, and were intruded during Ophthalmian orogenesis in a retroarc foreland basin. Furthermore, ca 2.2 Ga mafic magmatism is interpreted to include the Cheela Springs Basalt and is related to subduction beneath the southern Hamersley province, most likely resulting in accretion of part of the Gascoyne Province to the Pilbara Craton.     

A reconstruction of Archean biological diversity based on molecular fossils from the 2.78 to 2.45 billion-year-old Mount Bruce Supergroup, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia

Bitumens extracted from 2.7 to 2.5 billion-year-old (Ga) shales of the Fortescue and Hamersley Groups in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, contain traces of molecular fossils. Based on a combination of molecular characteristics typical of many Precambrian bitumens, their consistently and unusually high thermal maturities, and their widespread distribution throughout the Hamersley Basin, the bitumens can be characterized as ‘probably of Archean age’. Accepting this interpretation, the biomarkers open a new window on Archean biodiversity. The presence of hopanes in the Archean rocks confirms the antiquity of the domain Bacteria, and high relative concentrations of 2α-methylhopanes indicate that cyanobacteria were important primary producers. Oxygenic photosynthesis therefore evolved > 2.7 Ga ago, and well before independent evidence suggests significant levels of oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere. Moreover, the abundance of cyanobacterial biomarkers in shales interbedded with oxide-facies banded iron formations (BIF) indicates that although some Archean BIF might have been formed by abiotic photochemical processes or anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria, those in the Hamersley Group formed as a direct consequence of biological oxygen production. Biomarkers of the 3β-methylhopane series suggest that microaerophilic heterotrophic bacteria, probably methanotrophs or methylotrophs, were active in late Archean environments. The presence of steranes in a wide range of structures with relative abundances like those from late Paleoproterozoic to Phanerozoic sediments is convincing evidence for the existence of eukaryotes in the late Archean, 900 Ma before visible fossil evidence indicates that the lineage arose. Sterol biosynthesis in extant eukaryotes requires molecular oxygen. The presence of steranes together with biomarkers of oxygenic photosynthetic cyanobacteria suggests that the concentration of dissolved oxygen in some regions of the upper water column was equivalent to at least ∼1% of the present atmospheric level (PAL) and may have been sufficient to support aerobic respiration.     

Provenance of late Paleoproterozoic cover sequences in the central Gawler Craton: exploring stratigraphic correlations in eastern Proterozoic Australia using detrital zircon ages,Hf and Nd isotopic data

Provenance data from Paleoproterozoic and possible Archean sedimentary units in the central eastern Gawler Craton in southern Australia form part of a growing dataset suggesting that the Gawler Craton shares important basin formation and tectonic time lines with the adjacent Curnamona Province and the Isan Inlier in northern Australia. U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from the Eba Formation, previously mapped as the Paleoproterozoic Tarcoola Formation, yields exclusively Archean ages (ca 3300–2530 Ma), which are consistent with evolved whole-rock Nd and zircon Hf isotopic data. The absence of Paleoproterozoic detrital grains in a number of sequences (including the Eba Formation), despite the proximity of voluminous Paleoproterozoic rock units, suggests that the Eba Formation may be part of a Neoarchean or early Paleoproterozoic cover sequence derived from erosion of a multi-aged Archean source region. The ca 1715 Ma Labyrinth Formation, unconformably overlying the Eba Formation, shares similar depositional timing with other basin systems in the Gawler Craton and the adjacent Curnamona Province. Detrital zircon ages in the Labyrinth Formation range from Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic, and are consistent with derivation from >1715 Ma components of the Gawler Craton. Zircon Hf and whole-rock Nd isotopic data also suggest a source region with a mixed crustal evolution (ε_Nd –6 to –4.5), consistent with what is known about the Gawler Craton. Compared with the lower Willyama Supergroup in the adjacent Curnamona Province, the Labyrinth Formation has a source more obviously reconcilable with the Gawler Craton. Stratigraphically overlying the Eba and Labyrinth Formations is the 1656 Ma Tarcoola Formation. Zircon Hf and whole-rock Nd isotopic data indicate that the Tarcoola Formation was sourced from comparatively juvenile rocks (ε_Nd –4.1 to + 0.5). The timing of Tarcoola Formation deposition is similar to the juvenile upper Willyama Supergroup, further strengthening the stratigraphic links between the Gawler and Curnamona domains. Additionally, the Tarcoola Formation is similar in age to extensive units in the Mt Isa and Georgetown regions in northern Australia, also shown to be isotopically juvenile. These juvenile sedimentary rocks contrast with the evolved underlying sequences and hint at the existence of a large-scale ca 1650 Ma juvenile basin system in eastern Proterozoic Australia.     

Provenance of the Ordovician–lower Silurian Tumblagooda Sandstone,Western Australia

Detrital zircon U–Pb ages and heavy mineral assemblages provide conflicting evidence of the provenance of the Ordovician–lower Silurian Tumblagooda Sandstone, a fluvial to shallow marine, red-bed succession over 2000 m thick, within the northern Perth and Southern Carnarvon basins in Western Australia. Tourmaline composition indicates a main provenance from interior continental terranes dominated by ‘Li-poor granitoids, pegmatites and aplites’ and ‘Ca-poor metapelites, metapsammites and quartz-tourmaline rocks,’ akin to the Yilgarn Craton to the east of outcrop of the Tumblagooda Sandstone. Other possible source areas include orogens mostly to the south but lack tourmaline analyses for comparison. Taking into account the lack of garnets—a conspicuous component of the adjacent Proterozoic Northampton Inlier—the limited zircon data are compatible with the Albany–Fraser and Pinjarra orogens along the southern and western margins of Australia and/or terranes in or adjacent to East Africa and/or Antarctica, as ultimate source regions with a minor contribution from the Yilgarn Craton, as with other Phanerozoic strata in Western Australia. Whereas the textural and mineralogical maturity of the sandstone could be explained by derivation from such regions, it is more likely that the source was relatively local and that the sediment passed through several phases of reworking. The main source of ilmenite and hematite, by comparison, may have been mafic–ultramafic rocks and/or banded iron formations within the Archean Yilgarn Craton to the east or the Pilbara Craton to the northeast, mobilised by acidic meteoric waters. Iron oxides forming the earliest cements may have been derived from the oxidation of detrital hematite and ilmenite grains concentrated along some bedding laminae or transported in solution from beyond the zone of deposition. Whereas the detrital iron oxides most likely come from the craton to the east of outcrop of the Tumblagooda Sandstone, the sand grains appear to have originally come from a relatively local orogenic source.     

Australian island arcs through time: Geodynamic implications for the Archean and Proterozoic

The operation and extent of modern-style plate tectonics in the Archean and Paleoproterozoic are controversial, although subduction and terrane accretion models have been proposed for most Archean cratons in the world, including both the Yilgarn and Pilbara Cratons of Western Australia. The recognition of ancient island arcs can be used to infer convergent plate margin processes, and in this paper we present evidence for the existence of several intraoceanic island arcs now preserved in Australia. Beginning in the Archean, Australia evolved to its present configuration through the accretion and assembly of several continental blocks, by convergent plate margin processes. In Australia, possibly the best example of an Archean island arc (or primitive continental arc) is preserved within the Mesoarchean (ca. 3130–3112 Ma) Whundo Group in the Sholl Terrane of the West Pilbara Superterrane. Two younger, Neoarchean, island arc terranes, and associated accretion, have also been proposed for the Yilgarn Craton: the Saddleback island arc (ca. 2714–2665 Ma) in the southwest Yilgarn Craton and the Kurnalpi island arc (ca. 2719–2672 Ma) in the eastern Yilgarn Craton. In the early Proterozoic, in the Central Zone of the Halls Creek Orogen, northern Western Australia, the Tickalara Metamorphics (ca. 1865–1850 Ma) have been interpreted to represent an island arc. In the southwest Gawler Craton in South Australia, the St Peter Suite (ca. 1631–1608 Ma), of juvenile I-type calcalkaline tonalite to granodiorite, possibly represents an island arc. In the Musgrave Province in central Australia, age and geochemical constraints are poor due to later overprinting tectonic events, but felsic orthogneisses (ca. 1607–1565 Ma) possibly represent juvenile felsic crust which was emplaced though subduction-related processes into an oceanic island arc. The arcs are volumetrically insignificant, but important, in that they separate much larger tracts of, usually older, continental crust, often of different composition and geological history. The arcs were sutured to continental crust during arc–continent collisional events, which eventually resulted in the assembly of much of present-day Australia. The arcs, thus, indicate lost oceanic crust. The recognition of island arcs in the ancient rock record indicates that subduction processes, similar in many ways to modern day processes at convergent plate margins, were operating on Earth by at least 3100 Ma ago.     

Detrital zircon geochronology of the Speewah Group,Kimberley region,Western Australia: evidence for intracratonic development of the Paleoproterozoic Speewah Basin

Field observations integrated with new petrographic and sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb age data for detrital zircons from the Paleoproterozoic Speewah Group of northern Western Australia provide evidence of depositional conditions, source of detritus, timing and evolution of the sedimentary rocks in the Speewah Basin. The Speewah Group is a 1.5 km-thick succession of poorly outcropping, predominantly siliciclastic rocks that preserve a fluviatile to marine, transgressive and regressive event. The Speewah Group unconformably overlies crystalline rocks of the Lamboo Province that were stabilised by the 1870–1850 Ma Hooper Orogeny, then accreted as the Kimberley region onto the North Australian Craton during the 1835–1810 Ma Halls Creek Orogeny. Unconformably overlying the Speewah Group is about 4 km of predominantly siliciclastic marine sedimentary rocks of the Kimberley Group in the Kimberley Basin. This study has detected a detrital zircon component within the Speewah Basin at 1814 ± 10 Ma, with a youngest zircon at 1803 ± 12 Ma (1σ) in fluviatile sandstones located beneath a volcaniclastic rock with magmatic zircons that have been dated at ca 1835 Ma. Previous studies proposed that the Speewah Basin developed as a retro-arc foreland basin during accretion of the North Australian Craton. We interpret the ca 1835 Ma zircons in the volcaniclastic rocks to be xenocrystic in origin. This new 20 million years younger maximum depositional age indicates that the Speewah Group in the Speewah Basin, similarly to the overlying Kimberley Group in the Kimberley Basin, developed in a post-orogenic setting on the North Australian Craton rather than in a syn-orogenic setting associated with the 1835–1810 Ma Halls Creek Orogeny.     

Genetic modelling for banded iron-formation of the Hamersley Group, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

The banded iron-formation (BIF) of the Hamersley Group, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, particularly from the well studied Dales Gorge Member, is unique in its lateral stratigraphic and petrological continuity throughout an area exceeding 60,000 km², enabling reasonable estimates for the annual input of components to the depository. In the model of this paper, varying supply of materials for the medley of mesoband types, particularly of iron and silica in the oxide BIF, can be accommodated by the interaction of two major oceanic supply systems: (1) surface currents and (2) convective upwelling from mid-oceanic ridge (MOR) or hot-spot activity, both modified by varied input of pyrochastic material. (1) The surface currents were saturated in silica and carried minimal iron due to photic precipitation, but were periodically recharged by storm mixing. Precipitation from them gave rise to the banded chert-rich horizons, including the varves, whose regular and finely laminated iron/silica distribution resulted from seasonal meteorological influences. (2) Precipitation from convection driven upwelling of high iron solution from MOR or hot-spot activity periodically overwhelmed the delicate seasonal patterns of (1) to produce the iron-dominated mesobands. A wide range of intermediate mesoband types resulted where the deep water supply was modified by varied MOR activity, or by partial blocking of upwelling waters by surface currents (such as by the present El Niño). During these periods of oxide-dominated BIF, silica was deposited from saturated solution mainly by evaporative concentration, and iron by oxidation due to photolysis and photosynthetically produced oxygen.Superimposed on these supply differences was the varying effect of fine aluminous ash from dominantly northern distal volcanic sources, changing the meteorological and depositional conditions. Occasional input of extremely fi ash during BIF precipitation produced mesoband (cm) scale variations involving increased carbonate-silicate precipitation. Sustained volcanic periods resulted in S-macroband deposition (chert-carbonate-silicate BIF, with shale), gradually returning to the dominant hematite-magnetite-chert BIF as the volcanic input waned. During volcanic periods, the normally high capacity of sunlight to precipitate ferric iron directly by photolytic oxidation of ferrous iron, and by photosynthetic production of oxygen, was modified by turbidity in the atmosphere (aerosols and dust) and in the water (colloids from reactive ash). S Surface-precipitated ferric hydroxyoxide redissolved in the presence of decaying organic matter in the subphotic zone, augmenting the iron content of the zone. Precursor ferrous carbonates and silicates were precipitated when the iron concentration of this sub-photic zone exceeded their respective solubilities. During volcanism, the increased availability of nutrients, particularly phosphorus, to surface waters increased the organic contribution despite lower light values, leading to an almost total absence of ferric iron oxides in the S macrobands (i.e. no magnetite or hematite). Cooling of warm, silica-saturated sea-water during these periods of “olcanic winter” increased the ratio of precipitation of silica to iron, which, however, was still controlled by seasonal conditions. Intermediate concentrations of organic matter, insufficient to totally convert the ferric compounds either during precipitation or diagenesis, resulted in overgrowths of magnetite on hematite, and eventually in the substantial conversion of hematite to magnetite, where higher temperatures were achieved during low-grade regional metamorphism.Changes in sea-level to explain facies changes in BIF are not required in this model, but are not excluded. The preferred conditions are for a very low oxygen to anoxic atmosphere, a much higher level of MOR activity than at present, the presence of photosynthetic plankton, the absence of si silica-secreting organisms, and a deep sea-water temperature higher than 20°C. However, none of these conditions is essential to the model.A narrow carbonate bank is postulated for part of the Fortescue River Valley area during Marra Mamba Iron Formation times (basal Hamersley Group), with BIF precipitation on either side. The reef is postulated to have grown northward becoming a major shallow-water carbonate platform on the Pilbara continent during upper Marra Mamba Iron Formation and Wittenoom Dolomite times, but ceased to play an important role in subsequent periods.     

The Paleoproterozoic Wernecke Supergroup of Yukon,Canada: Relationships to orogeny in northwestern Laurentia and basins in North America,East Australia,and China

The Paleoproterozoic Wernecke Supergroup of Yukon was deposited when the northwestern margin of Laurentia was undergoing major adjustments related to the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia (Nuna) from 1.75 to 1.60 Ga. U–Pb detrital zircon geochronology coupled with Nd isotope geochemistry and major and trace element geochemistry are used to characterize the evolution of the Wernecke basin. The maximum depositional age of the Wernecke Supergroup is reevaluated and is estimated at 1649 ± 14 Ma. Detrital zircon age spectra show a bimodal age distribution that reflects derivation from cratonic Laurentia, with a prominent peak at 1900 Ma. Going upsection, the late Paleoproterozoic peak shifts from 1900 Ma to 1850–1800 Ma, and the proportion of Archean and early Paleoproterozoic zircon decreases. These modifications are a consequence of a change in the drainage system in western Laurentia caused by early phase of the Forward orogeny, several hundred km to the east. The exposed lower and middle parts of the Wernecke Supergroup are correlated with the Hornby Bay Group. Zircon younger than 1.75 Ga appear throughout the sedimentary succession and may have originated from small igneous suites in northern Laurentia, larger source regions such as magmatic arc terranes of the Yavapai and early Mazatzal orogenies in southern Laurentia, and possible arc complexes such as Bonnetia that may have flanked the eastern margin of East Australia. Basins with similar age and character include the Tarcoola Formation (Gawler Craton) and the Willyama Supergroup (Curnamona Province) of South Australia, the Isan Supergroup of North Australia, and the Dongchuan–Dahongshan–Hondo successions of southeast Yangtze Craton (South China). Nd isotope ratios of the Wernecke Supergroup are comparable with values from Proterozoic Laurentia, the Isan and Curnamona assemblages of east Australia, the Gawler Craton, and the Dahongshan–Dongchuan–Hondo successions of the Yangtze Craton of South China. These similarities are compelling evidence for a shared depositional system among these successions. Western Columbia in the Late Paleoproterozoic may have had a dynamic SWEAT-like configuration involving Australia, East Antarctica and South China moving along western Laurentia.     

Turbidite deposition in the Cambrian Kanmantoo Group,South Australia

The Kanmantoo Group of South Australia is a thick (～7–8 km) succession of predominantly clastic marine sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks that were deposited very rapidly in a localised basin (Kanmantoo Trough) during the Early Cambrian. Despite structural complexity and varying grades of metamorphism, a surprising amount of primary sedimentological information is still available. Although a variety of depositional facies are represented, the group is dominated by parallel, sharp‐based, mineralogically immature sandstone interbedded with mudstone. The sandstone beds are most commonly fine to medium grained, massive and lacking in obvious grading except at the top. Single beds often reach several metres in thickness and amalgamation of beds is not uncommon. We argue that these sandstone beds could be the products of sustained high‐density turbidity currents. Triggering mechanisms for such turbidity currents remain uncertain, but they may have been initiated as hyperpycnal flows during catastrophic flood events at the mouths of high‐load‐capacity rivers, or from the failure of unstable buildups of sediment on delta slopes. Palaeocurrent studies from sole marks suggest a southerly source, which was probably an active orogenic terrain in formerly contiguous Antarctica. It is likely that a major delta complex lay at the southern end of the basin.     

Marra Mamba Iron Formation stratigraphy in the eastern Chichester Range,Western Australia

The Marra Mamba Iron Formation is the basal member of the Hamersley Group in Western Australia and is host to major iron‐ore deposits in its upper Mt Newman Member. Previous studies have suggested that the Marra Mamba Iron Formation in the eastern Chichester Range was deposited in an isolated basin behind a barrier reef and was greatly reduced in thickness. New drilling covering a large part of the Chichester Range shows that only the lower part of the Nammuldi Member, the lowest unit of the Marra Mamba Iron Formation, remains over most of the range. However, 15 m of the Mt Newman Member, the complete MacLeod Member and the upper part of the Nammuldi Member were drilled in small north‐south synclines preserved near Mulga Downs homestead. This drilling shows that the Marra Mamba Iron Formation is similar in all respects to other occurrences in the Hamersley Province. There is no evidence of facies change or reduced thickness and therefore no evidence for a northern limit to the deposition of the Hamersley Group. Apart from the small synclines near Mulga Downs homestead, the Fortescue River alluvial deposits abutting the Chichester Range are underlain by the Roy Hill Shale Member of the Jeerinah Formation.     

Proterozoic deformation in the east Pilbara Craton and tectonic setting of fault-hosted manganese at the Woodie Woodie mine

Neoarchean and Mesoproterozoic sequences in the Oakover Basin provide a record of deformation and sedimentation along the eastern edge of the Archean Pilbara Craton. The early extensional history of the Oakover Basin is overprinted by subsequent compressional events. Five distinct deformation events are recognised in the Woodie Woodie region; the Archean D₁ event, comprising west-northwest–east-southeast extension associated with formation of the Neoarchean Hamersley Basin; the Mesoproterozoic D_2a event, with northwest–southeast extension and basin formation associated with manganese mineralisation; the D_2b event, with renewed extension associated with intrusion of Davis Dolerite during the ca 1090–1050 Ma Warakurna event; the D₃ event, comprising northeast–southwest-directed compression attributed to the ca 900 Ma Edmundian Orogeny; the Neoproterozoic D₄ event, with east-northeast–west-southwest extension producing large D₄ grabens associated with the opening of the Officer Basin; and, the Neoproterozoic D₅ event comprising north–south-directed compression attributed to the ca 550 Ma Paterson Orogeny. Abundant manganese deposits are hosted by the Neoarchean and Mesoproterozoic sequences in the Oakover Basin, including the large high-grade manganese deposits at Woodie Woodie. The orebodies are predominantly hydrothermal in origin, with a late supergene overprint, and deposition of primary manganese mineralisation was synchronous with northwest–southeast Mesoproterozoic D_2a extension and basin formation. The manganese is associated with normal faults, and many of these represent growth faults related to basin formation. Stratabound manganese is found above or adjacent to fault-hosted manganese. An initial structural framework established during Archean rifting was reactivated in the D_2a event and provided a major structural control on manganese distribution. High-grade manganese deposits at Woodie Woodie mine appear to be located in a zone of oblique dextral extension on major north-northwest- to north-trending faults that mark the eastern ‘active’ or faulted margin of an early rift basin. These large north-northwest-trending normal faults are linked to a major northwest-trending transform fault zone (Jewel-Southwest Fault Zone) that separates the Oakover Basin into a northern and southern basin. The transform fault represents a major deep fluid conduit for hydrothermal fluids and most likely accounts for the concentration of significant manganese occurrences immediately to the north and south of this structure.     

Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology of stromatolitic carbonates from the greenstone belts of Dharwar Craton and Cuddapah basin of Peninsular India

Oldest rocks are sparsely distributed within the Dharwar Craton and little is known about their involvement in the sedimentary sequences which are present in the Archean greenstone successions and the Proterozoic Cuddapah basin.Stromatolitic carbonates are well preserved in the Neoarchean greenstone belts of Dharwar Craton and Cuddapah Basin of Peninsular India displaying varied morphological and geochemical characteristics.In this study,we report results from U-Pb geochronology and trace element composition of the detrital zircons from stromatolitic carbonates present within the Dharwar Craton and Cuddapah basin to understand the provenance and time of accretion and deposition.The UPb ages of the detrital zircons from the Bhimasamudra and Marikanve stromatolites of the Chitradurga greenstone belt of Dharwar Craton display ages of 3426±26 Ma to 2650±38 Ma whereas the Sandur stromatolites gave an age of 3508±29 Ma to 2926±36 Ma suggesting Paleo-to Neoarchean provenance.The U-Pb detrital zircons of the Tadpatri stromatolites gave an age of 2761±31 Ma to1672±38 Ma suggesting Neoarchean to Mesoproterozoic provenance.The Rare Earth Element(REE)patterns of the studied detrital zircons from Archean Dharwar Craton and Proterozoic Cuddapah basin display depletion in light rare earth elements(LREE)and enrichment in heavy rare earth elements(HREE)with pronounced positive Ce and negative Eu anomalies,typical of magmatic zircons.The trace element composition and their relationship collectively indicate a mixed granitoid and mafic source for both the Dharwar and Cuddapah stromatolites.The 3508±29 Ma age of the detrital zircons support the existence of 3.5 Ga crust in the Western Dharwar Craton.The overall detrital zircon ages(3.5-2.7 Ga)obtained from the stromatolitic carbonates of Archean greenstone belts and Proterozoic Cuddapah basin(2.7-1.6 Ga)collectively reflect on^800-900 Ma duration for the Precambrian stromatolite deposition in the Dharwar Craton.     

Geological characteristics and origin of the Hadamengou gold deposit in Inner Mongolia,China

The Hadamengou gold deposit is located in the western segment of the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). It is hosted by Archean metamorphic rocks of the Wulashan Group. The main ore types include gold-bearing quartz vein type, gold-bearing quartz-potassic feldspar vein type, and gold-bearing altered rock type. Gold mineralization is closely related to K-feldspathization. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope data indicate that ore-forming fluids were dominated by magmatic water mixed with minor meteoric water. Sulfur and lead isotope data indicate that metallogenic materials were mainly supplied by the magmatic and Archean Wulashan Group. The gold mineralization was mainly formed during the Early Indosinian tectonic movement, which drove ore-forming fluids to the favorable depositional environment. The northern margin of the NCC is a prospective area for gold exploration. Gold deposits hosted by or related to alkaline intrusions have become one of the most important mineral exploration targets in northern China.     

Geochemistry of Archean shales from the Pilbara Supergroup,Western Australia

Archean clastic sedimentary rocks are well exposed in the Pilbara Block of Western Australia. Shales from turbidites in the Gorge Creek Group (ca. 3.4 Ae) and shales from the Whim Creek Group (ca. 2.7 Ae) have been examined. The Gorge Creek Group samples, characterized by muscovite-quartzchlorite mineralogy, are enriched in incompatible elements (K, Th, U, LREE) by factors of about two, when compared to younger Archean shales from the Yilgarn Block. Alkali and alkaline earth elements are depleted in a systematic fashion, according to size, when compared with an estimate of Archean upper crust abundances. This depletion is less notable in the Whim Creek Group. Such a pattern indicates the source of these rocks underwent a rather severe episode of weathering. The Gorge Creek Group also has fairly high B content (85 ± 29 ppm) which may indicate normal marine conditions during deposition.Rare earth element (REE) patterns for the Pilbara samples are characterized by light REE enrichment ($\text{La}{}_{\mathrm{N}}\text{Yb}{}_{\mathrm{N}}\text{≥ 7.5}$) and no or very slight Eu depletion ($\text{Eu}\text{Eu}{}^1\text{= 0.82 – 0.99}$). A source comprised of about 80% felsic igneous rocks without large negative Eu-anomalies (felsic volcanics, tonalites, trondhjemites) and 20% mafic-ultramafic volcanics is indicated by the trace element data. Very high abundances of Cr and Ni cannot be explained by any reasonable provenance model and a secondary enrichment process is called for.     

Ion microprobe baddeleyite and zircon ages for Late Archaean mafic dykes of the Pilbara Craton,Western Australia

Ion microprobe U–Th–Pb analyses of baddeleyite and zircon yield precise ages for several mafic intrusions in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia. Baddeleyite was dated from four dolerite dykes of the north‐northeast‐trending Black Range swarm intruded into granitoid‐greenstone basement in the northern part of the craton. The mean ²⁰⁷Pb*/²⁰⁶Pb* age of 2772 ± 2 Ma, interpreted as an unambiguous age of emplacement for the dykes, is within error of previous ion microprobe U–Pb zircon ages for the Mt Roe flood basalts and confirms that the dykes acted as feeders to the volcanic rocks. The Sylvania Inlier, in the southeastern Pilbara Craton, also contains north‐northeast‐trending dykes that were correlated previously with the Black Range swarm. Based on concordant and discordant zircon analyses from samples of two dykes, the best estimate of the age of the Sylvania dykes is 2747 ± 4 Ma. The Sylvania dykes thus appear to be significantly younger than, and hence unrelated to, the Black Range swarm, but may have acted as feeders to younger volcanic units in the Fortescue Group such as the Kylena Formation.     

古老造山带洋板块地层*

重点分析和总结了由前寒武纪增生复合体和造山带混杂岩重建的古老造山带洋板块地层,包括由英国威尔士安格尔西岛新元古代莫纳超群混杂岩重建的太平洋洋板块地层、由澳大利亚西北部皮尔巴拉早太古代克里夫维尔绿岩带重建的古印度洋洋板块地层。澳大利亚东皮尔巴拉地块大理石坝地区早太古代玄武岩-硅质岩-碎屑岩序列与日本二叠纪-三叠纪洋板块地层在岩石组成和地球化学特征方面具有高度的相似性,这一认识将为早太古代洋板块地层的沉积环境从高热流洋脊扩张区经过热点向低热流海沟陆源碎屑沉积区转变这一过程提供有力支持。从增生造山带洋板块地层保存的岩石记录看,不同年代洋板块地层的主要物质组成和岩石类型相似,因此在地球38亿年的演化进程中,洋壳扩张、海洋沉积、俯冲及增生的过程并没有显著变化;但随着时间推移,年轻造山带洋板块性质和洋板块地层组成与古老造山带相比,可能会发生一些变化。就古老造山带洋板块地层而言,前寒武纪的地幔温度略高,太古代局部熔融显著,熔融量大大超过洋壳扩张速率,因而没有形成席状岩墙群。     

Microplaty hematite ore in the Yilgarn Province of Western Australia: The geology and genesis of the Wiluna West iron ore deposits

The Wiluna West small (~ 130 Mt) high-grade bedded hematite ore deposits, consisting of anhedral hematite mesobands interbedded with porous layers of acicular hematite, show similar textural and mineralogical properties to the premium high-grade low-phosphorous direct-shipping ore from Pilbara sites such as Mt Tom Price, Mt Whaleback, etc., in the Hamersley Province and Goldsworthy, Shay Gap and Yarrie on the northern margin of the Pilbara craton. Both margins of the Pilbara Craton and the northern margin of the Yilgarn craton were subjected to sub-aerial erosion in the Paleoproterozoic era followed by marine transgressions but unlike the Hamersley Basin, the JFGB was covered by comparatively thin epeirogenic sediments and not subjected to Proterozoic deformation or burial metamorphism. The Joyner's Find greenstone belt (JFGB) in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia was exhumed by middle to late Cenozoic erosion of a cover of unmetamorphosed and relatively undeformed Paleoproterozoic epeirogenic sedimentary rocks that preserved the JFGB unaltered for nearly 2 Ga; thus providing a unique snapshot of the early Proterozoic environment.Acicular hematite, pseudomorphous after acicular iron silicate, is only found in iron ore and BIF that was exposed to subaerial deep-weathering in early Paleoproterozoic times (pre 2.2 Ga) and in the overlying unconformable Paleoproterozoic conglomerate derived from these rocks and is absent from unweathered rocks (Lascelles, 2002). High-grade ore and BIF weathered during later subaerial erosion cycles contain anhedral hematite and acicular pseudomorphous goethite. The acicular hematite was formed from goethite pseudomorphs of silicate minerals by dehydration in the vadose zone under extreme aridity during early Paleoproterozoic subaerial weathering.The principal high-grade hematite deposits at Wiluna West are interpreted as bedded ore bodies that formed from BIF by loss of chert bands during diagenesis and have been locally enriched to massive hematite by the introduction of hydrothermal specular hematite. No trace of chert bands are present in the deep saprolitic hematite and hematite–goethite ore in direct contrast to shallow supergene ore in which the trace of chert bands is clearly defined by goethite replacement, voids and detrital fill. Abundant hydrothermal microplaty hematite at Wiluna West is readily distinguished by its crystallinity.The genesis of the premium ore from the Pilbara Region has been much discussed in the literature and the discovery at Wiluna West provides a unique opportunity to compare the features that are common to both districts and to test genetic models.     

Three Palaeoproterozoic basins—Yerrida,Bryah and Padbury—Capricorn Orogen,Western Australia

The Palaeoproterozoic Yerrida, Bryah and Padbury Basins record periods of sedimentation and magmatism along the northern margin of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton. Each basin is characterised by distinct stratigraphy, igneous activity, structural and metamorphic history and mineral deposit types. The oldest of these basins, the Yerrida Basin (ca 2200 Ma) is floored by rocks of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton. Important features of this basin are the presence of evaporites and continental flood basalts. The ca 2000 Ma Bryah Basin developed on the northern margin of the Yilgarn Craton during backarc sea‐floor spreading and rifting, the result of which was the emplacement of voluminous mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks. During the waning stages of the Bryah Basin this mafic to ultramafic volcanism gave way to deposition of clastic and chemical sedimentary rocks. At a later stage, the Padbury Basin developed as a retroarc foreland basin on top of the Bryah Basin in a fold‐and‐thrust belt. This resulted from either the collision of the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cratons (Capricorn Orogeny) or the ca 2000 Ma westward collision of the southern part of the Gascoyne Complex and the Yilgarn Craton (Glenburgh Orogeny). During the Capricorn Orogeny the Bryah Group was thrust to the southeast, over the Yerrida Group. Important mineral deposits are contained in the Yerrida, Bryah and Padbury Basins. In the Yerrida Basin a large Pb–carbonate deposit (Magellan) and black shale‐hosted gossans containing anomalous abundances of Ba, Cu, Zn and Pd are present. The Pb–carbonate deposit is hosted by the upper units of the Juderina Formation, and the lower unit of the unconformably overlying Earaheedy Group. The Bryah and Padbury Basins contain orogenic gold, copper‐gold volcanogenic massive sulfides, manganese and iron ore. The origin of the gold mineralisation is probably related to tectonothermal activity during the Capricorn Orogeny at ca 1800 Ma.     

Multiple generations of carbonaceous material deposited in Apex chert by basin-scale pervasive hydrothermal fluid flow

The Pilbara Craton in Western Australia contains the best-preserved and most complete record of Archean rocks in the world. As such, they are some of the most studied rocks in the world; paleontologists, isotopic geochemists, geologists and geobiologists have all investigated these rocks for clues about the early biosphere and atmosphere. Here we show using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy that the carbonaceous material found in the Apex chert, and potentially in other associated units, was formed by multiple processes such as abiotic catalytic synthesis and/or biological synthesis. We use these data as well as the geological history of the craton to demonstrate that when the rocks of the Pilbara Craton experienced a high degree of post-depositional hydrothermal alteration, carbonaceous material could have been remobilized and redeposited. As the carbonaceous material within the Apex chert samples was formed over nearly a billion years, bulk chemistry, even at the micron level, will be unable to unambiguously delineate the presence of life in these ancient rocks, although nanoscale observations may provide a way forward in the search for ancient life.