Archean to early Paleoproterozoic iron formations document a transition in iron oxidation mechanisms

Wang, Changle; Robbins, Leslie J.; Planavsky, Noah J.; Beukes, Nicolas J.; Patry, Laureline A.; Lalonde, Stefan V.; Lechte, Maxwell A.; Asael, Dan; Reinhard, Christopher T.; Zhang, Lianchang; Konhauser, Kurt O.

doi:10.1016/j.gca.2022.12.002

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 185 publications

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“…The Archean IFs mostly exhibit variable and positive δ 56 Fe values, while the Proterozoic IFs span a wider range, including a negative shift in δ 56 Fe (Figure 11). The data presented here re‐emphasize the published finding (e.g., Rouxel et al., 2018) that the δ 56 Fe of modern Fe‐Si oxyhydroxide deposits encompasses the range of Proterozoic IFs (Figure 11; e.g., Planavsky et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2023), with important implications for the Archean to Paleoproterozoic transition in Fe oxidation mechanisms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…As illustrated in Figure 11, the Fe isotope compositions ( 1.47 to 0.82‰) of Fe-Si oxyhydroxide deposits at the ultraslow-spreading SWIR resemble those reported for other modern deposits from the Jan Mayen vent fields (Moeller et al, 2014), the Loihi Seamount (Rouxel et al, 2018), and additional locations along the SWIR (Dong et al, 2022). Meanwhile, global compilations of δ 56 Fe in IFs reveal a statistically significant difference between the (Dong et al, 2022), (2) the Loihi Seamount (Rouxel et al, 2018), and (3) the Jan Mayen vent fields (Moeller et al, 2014); Proterozoic IFs, including (4) 2.4 Ga Hotazel IFs (Wang et al, 2023), (5) 2.45Ga Joffre IFs (Haugaard et al, 2016), (6) 2.46 Ga Griquatown IFs (Thibon et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2023), (7) 0.64-2.48 Ga IFs (Planavsky et al, 2012); Archean IFs, including (8) 2.5-2.56 Ga IFs from China (Dai et al, 2017;Z. H. Li et al, 2008Wang et al, 2023), ( 9) 2.5-3.24 Ga IFs (Planavsky et al, 2012), (10) 3.24 Ga Manzimnyama IFs (Satkoski et al, 2015), (11) 3.46 Ga Marble Bar Chert (W. , (12) 3.7 Ga Isua IFs (Czaja et al, 2013;Dauphas et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2023), ( 13) 3.7-3.8 Ga SW Greenland IFs (Dauphas et al, 2004).…”

Section: Implications For the Origin Of Ancient Banded Ifssupporting

confidence: 63%

“…Thus, a significant implication of our study is that a similar mechanism, namely varying degrees of Fe(II) oxidation across the redox boundary of a stratified water column, might explain the spatiotemporal Fe isotope variations in Proterozoic IFs. Consequently, Fe isotope records in IFs could be invaluable for reconstructing oxygen levels in ancient oceans (e.g., Czaja et al., 2013; W. Li et al., 2013; Planavsky et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also shown are Fe isotope compositions of ancient iron formations (IFs) worldwide for comparison. Data sources include modern Fe‐Si oxide deposits from (1) the Southwest Indian Ridge (Dong et al., 2022), (2) the Loihi Seamount (Rouxel et al., 2018), and (3) the Jan Mayen vent fields (Moeller et al., 2014); Proterozoic IFs, including (4) 2.4 Ga Hotazel IFs (Wang et al., 2023), (5) 2.45Ga Joffre IFs (Haugaard et al., 2016), (6) 2.46 Ga Griquatown IFs (Thibon et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2023), (7) 0.64–2.48 Ga IFs (Planavsky et al., 2012); Archean IFs, including (8) 2.5–2.56 Ga IFs from China (Dai et al., 2017; Z. H. Li et al., 2008, 2012; Wang et al., 2023), (9) 2.5–3.24 Ga IFs (Planavsky et al., 2012), (10) 3.24 Ga Manzimnyama IFs (Satkoski et al., 2015), (11) 3.46 Ga Marble Bar Chert (W. Li et al., 2013), (12) 3.7 Ga Isua IFs (Czaja et al., 2013; Dauphas et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2023), (13) 3.7–3.8 Ga SW Greenland IFs (Dauphas et al., 2004). The vertical gray bar represents the δ 56 Fe range (0.07–0.14‰) of the MORB (Teng et al., 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Al/Fe ratio typically indicates a detrital silicate contribution to the deposits. Since the oxidation of Mn 2+ requires a higher redox potential than that of Fe 2+ , the Mn/Fe ratio can indicate the local redox state of the deposit (e.g., Rouxel et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2023). Therefore, an elevated Mn/Fe ratio Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 10.1029/2023GC011185 suggests a greater contribution of oxygenated seawater in marine hydrothermal systems.…”

Section: The Formation Processes Of Fe-si Oxyhydroxides Inferred From...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemical and Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Fe Isotopic Constraints on the Formation of Fe‐Si Oxyhydroxide Deposits at the Ultraslow‐Spreading Southwest Indian Ridge

Li,

Sun,

et al. 2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Modern Fe‐Si oxyhydroxide deposits occur in global marine hydrothermal vent sites. Despite their role as biogenic substrates and potential ore resources, much remains unknown about their formation processes. Here, we apply analyses of major and trace elements as well as Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Fe isotopes combined with 238U‐230Th dating to Fe‐Si oxyhydroxides obtained from several hydrothermal fields along the Southwest Indian Ridge. These mineralized oxyhydroxides primarily consist of poorly crystalline two‐line ferrihydrite and amorphous opal‐A, with lesser amounts of nontronite and birnessite. The ubiquitous and characteristic Fe‐rich ultrastructures in the oxyhydroxides directly indicate microbial activity. The 238U‐230Th dating constrains their crystallization ages from ca. 11,873 to 384 years old. The seawater‐like 87Sr/86Sr and varying 143Nd/144Nd ratios underline a high proportion of seawater mixed with hydrothermal fluids. The radiogenic Pb isotopic patterns suggest a primary derivation of Pb leached from substrate basalts and to a lesser extent Pb from seawater. Stable iron isotopic compositions for different oxyhydroxides display a remarkable range between −1.47 and 0.82‰, which were interpreted as reflecting the fractionation processes during the formation of the deposits under evolving depositional redox conditions. The partial oxidation of Fe(II) and the subsurface removal of isotopically heavy Fe oxyhydroxides are suggested to play a vital role in shifting the Fe isotopic signature toward more negative values. Given that these Fe‐Si oxyhydroxide deposits exhibit features similar to certain ancient iron formations (IFs), Fe isotope systematics of these deposits may hold significant potential for fingerprinting the biological Fe oxidation processes that drove IF deposition on early Earth.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Implications For the Origin Of Ancient Banded Ifssupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Formation Processes Of Fe-si Oxyhydroxides Inferred From...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemical and Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Fe Isotopic Constraints on the Formation of Fe‐Si Oxyhydroxide Deposits at the Ultraslow‐Spreading Southwest Indian Ridge

Li,

Sun,

et al. 2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Geochemistry and Sm─Nd─Fe─Si isotope compositions as insights into the deposition of the late Neoarchean Qidashan banded iron formation, North China Craton

Wang,

Peng,

Tong

et al. 2024

Miner Deposita

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The Possible Role of Anoxic Alkaline High Subcritical Water in the Formation of Ferric Minerals, Methane and Disordered Graphitic Carbon in a BARB3 Drilled Sample of the 3.4 Ga Buck Reef Chert

Bassez

2023

Orig Life Evol Biosph

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The present article reports Raman spectroscopic observations of siderite, hematite, disordered graphitic carbon and possibly greenalite inside the quartz matrix of a banded iron sample from the BARB3 core drilled inside the 3.4 Ga Buck Reef Chert of the Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa. The article also reports Raman spectroscopic observations of quartz cavities, concluding in the presence of water, methane and sodium hydroxide at high concentration leading to pH ~ 15 inside the inclusion, suggesting an Archean water which was strongly basic. FeIII-greenalite may also be present inside the inclusion. The possible role of anoxic alkaline high subcritical water in the formation of ferric minerals and the CO required for the synthesis of molecules of biological interest has been demonstrated theoretically since 2013 and summarized in the concept of Geobiotropy. The present article experimentally confirms the importance of considering water in its anoxic strongly alkaline high subcritical domain for the formation of quartz, hematite, FeIII-greenalite, methane and disordered graphitic carbon. Methane is proposed to form locally when the carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the Archean anoxic alkaline high subcritical water, interacts with the molecular hydrogen that is emitted during the anoxic alkaline oxidation of ferrous silicates. The carbon matter is proposed to form as deposition from the anoxic methane-rich fluid. A detailed study of carbon matter from diverse origins is presented in a supplementary file. The study shows that the BARB3_23B sample has been submitted to ~ 335 °C, a temperature of the high subcritical domain, and that the graphitic structure contains very low amounts of oxygen and no hydroxyl functional groups. The importance of considering the structure of water is applied to the constructions of the Neoproterozoic and Archean banded iron formations. It is proposed that their minerals are produced inside chemical reaction chambers containing ferrous silicates, and ejected from the Earth’s oceanic crust or upper mantle, during processes involving subduction events or not.

show abstract

Archean to early Paleoproterozoic iron formations document a transition in iron oxidation mechanisms

Cited by 16 publications

References 185 publications

Geochemical and Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Fe Isotopic Constraints on the Formation of Fe‐Si Oxyhydroxide Deposits at the Ultraslow‐Spreading Southwest Indian Ridge

Geochemical and Sr‐Nd‐Pb‐Fe Isotopic Constraints on the Formation of Fe‐Si Oxyhydroxide Deposits at the Ultraslow‐Spreading Southwest Indian Ridge

Geochemistry and Sm─Nd─Fe─Si isotope compositions as insights into the deposition of the late Neoarchean Qidashan banded iron formation, North China Craton

The Possible Role of Anoxic Alkaline High Subcritical Water in the Formation of Ferric Minerals, Methane and Disordered Graphitic Carbon in a BARB3 Drilled Sample of the 3.4 Ga Buck Reef Chert

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