No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The Mesoarchean Witwatersrand Basin in the central Kaapvaal craton, South Africa, has been the largest gold-producing province in history. Although mining has reached a very mature state, this ore province remains the biggest regional gold anomaly in the world. Most recent research on the Witwatersrand gold deposits has focused on postdepositional processes, often on a microscale, thereby constraining conditions of gold transport in the host conglomerates. Here we review past and current observations on the geologic setting of the orebodies and first-order controls on gold mineralization, all of which strengthen the argument for a primarily syngenetic model. The Witwatersrand deposits are regarded as remnants of a gold megaevent at 2.9 Ga when environmental conditions are suggested to have been suitable for intense gold flux off the Archean land surface and early photosynthesizing microbes could act as trap sites for riverine and possibly shallow-marine gold. Sedimentary reworking of gold-rich microbial mats led to rich placer deposits which, in turn, became sources of younger placers higher up in the stratigraphy. The same gold concentration mechanism most likely operated on all Mesoarchean land masses, not only on the Kaapvaal craton. The uniqueness of the Witwatersrand gold province is explained by exceptional preservation of these easily erodible, largely continental sediments beneath a thick cover of flood basalt and a later impact melt sheet in the middle of a buoyant craton, with little tectonic overprint over the past two billion years.

No abstract

Clast morphometry and sedimentary facies analysis of polymictic conglomerate of the Hiriyur Formation in the Gadag greenstone Belt, Western Dharwar Craton, India, was conducted to constrain the palaeohydraulic condition, depositional environment, and type of sedimentary basin. The conglomerate grades from clast‐supported to matrix‐supported with siltstone‐sandstone intercalations. Eight lithofacies along with five major lithofacies associations are recognized in the Majjur and Attikatti Domains of the Gadag greenstone Belt. The lithofacies architecture suggests sedimentation commenced with rapid deposition of slope‐derived debris in a proximal high‐energy alluvial fan setting followed by a braided river environment. Clast morphometry and palaeohydraulic data indicate a low palaeoslope (0.000024 m/m), and stream discharge value (1.913 m3/s) calculated from the channel fill conglomerates. Greywacke overlying the conglomerate has been interpreted as turbidites from a continental slope. The accompanying 40‐m‐thick banded iron formation and carbonate rocks also support a marine context. The lack of transitional deposits between river and deep marine settings suggests that the greywacke turbidites sequence is separated from the conglomerate deposits by substantial unconformities. This change in depositional setting could be due to a change in basin subsidence rate, tectonic rejuvenation, or major sea‐level changes.

No abstract

No abstract