Gliding and overthrust nappe tectonics in the Barberton Greenstone Belt

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.