Geology and Tectonic Evolution of the Archean North Pilbara Terrain,Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

Kranendonk, Martin J. Van; Hickman, Arthur H.; Smithies, R. Hugh; Nelson, David R.; Pike, Geoff

doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.97.4.695

Cited by 95 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Note that (b) and (c) have a common scale. (b) The Mesoarchean East Pilbara Granite-Greenstone Terrane (modified after Van Kranendonk et al [2002] and Hickman and Van Kranendonk [2004]). Granite domes are typically pseudo-circular in plan view and separated from each other by greenstone keels with a variety of strike orientations.…”

Section: Thermal Consequences Of a Reverse-stratified Archean Crustmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both are characterized by the early development of regional greenstone-over-granite stratification [Swager, 1997;Krapez et al, 2000;Van Kranendonk et al, 2002] and an upper crust comprising felsic-dominated plutonic rocks and mafic-dominated volcanic rocks in roughly equal proportions by volume [Wellman, 2000;Goleby et al, 2004]. In addition, both preserve isotopic evidence for the widespread existence of felsic crust that is considerably older than the exposed granites: Smithies et al [2003] obtained 48 pre-3450 -Ma Nd model ages from 50 Pilbara granites with magmatic (U-Pb zircon) ages in the range 3450-2850 Ma, and Champion and Sheraton [1997] demonstrated that Nd model ages are at least 100 My older than magmatic crystallization ages for granites throughout the Goldfields.…”

Section: Geological Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The oldest exposed greenstone succession is the 3515-3495 Ma Coonterunah Group [Buick et al, 1995], which locally reaches 6 km in thickness [Green et al, 2000] and is overlain by the regionally extensive 3490-3425 Ma lower Warrawoona Group, which is up to 10-12 km thick [Hickman, 1983;Van Kranendonk et al, 2002]. Plutonic rocks of TTG composition were episodically emplaced into the lower parts of the both successions over the interval 3490-3410 Ma, and granite-greenstone contacts are intrusive and/or sheared.…”

Section: Pilbaramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In most cases, episodic but voluminous felsic magmatism (in the form of granite plutonism in dome cores and coeval, thick volcanic intercalations within overlying supracrustal successions) played an active role in the formation and amplification (or inflation) of dome-andkeel structure over an extended period (>500 My). Examples include the Zimbabwe Craton [e.g., Macgregor, 1951;Anhaeusser et al, 1969;Jelsma et al, 1993], the eastern Pilbara Craton (Figure 1b) of Western Australia [e.g., Hickman, 1983Hickman, , 1984Van Kranendonk et al, 2002], and the western Dharwar Craton of southern India [e.g., Choukroune et al, 1995Choukroune et al, , 1997Chardon et al, 1996Chardon et al, , 2002.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal and mechanical controls on the evolution of archean crustal deformation: Examples from Western Australia

Bodorkos

Sandiford

2006

Archean Geodynamics and Environments

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Dome-and-keel formation in Archean granite-greenstone terrains was uniquely favored by high abundances of heat-producing elements (HPEs) in the crust, and the ubiquity of pre-doming "greenstone-over-granite" stratification, which constituted large-scale density inversions and facilitated long-term steepening of the geotherm via burial of felsic basement-hosted HPEs. This contribution investigates the influence of these factors on the thermo-mechanical stability of the crust, with reference to two contrasting Archean granite-greenstone terrains in Western Australia. In the Neoarchean Eastern Goldfields Province, the rapid (2715-2665 Ma) accumulation of a thin (8-km) greenstone succession atop HPEpoor felsic crust (radiogenic heat flow contribution q c = 45 mW m −2 ) raised midcrustal temperatures from 230°C to 370°C prior to 2650 Ma dome-and-keel formation. In such cold, strong crust, the development of broad, granite-cored antiforms and narrow, greenstone-cored synforms with little strike variation is likely to directly reflect far-field, horizontal tectonic forces, oriented perpendicular to the regional structural grain. In contrast, the Mesoarchean East Pilbara Granite-Greenstone Terrane underwent slow (3515-3325 Ma) accumulation of tick (14-km) greenstones atop HPE-rich (q c = 70 mW m −2 ) basement, which raised mid-lower crustal temperatures from 400°C to 750-800°C, prior to 3300 Ma dome-and-keel formation. The effective viscosity of this hot, weak crust was further reduced by partial melting of the felsic basement; the resulting "classical" architecture (featuring granite domes flanked by greenstone keels with a variety of strike orientations) may therefore reflect partial convective overturn and vertical reorganization of the crust during thermo-mechanical stabilization.

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Section: Thermal Consequences Of a Reverse-stratified Archean Crustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pilbaramentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal and mechanical controls on the evolution of archean crustal deformation: Examples from Western Australia

Bodorkos

Sandiford

2006

Archean Geodynamics and Environments

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“…Some of the negative movement in the greenstone belts must also have been a relaxation after the tumescence accompanying the prolific eruption of the basic-ultramafic extrusive and intrusive rocks, as is observed in present-day rift valleys. [However, the papers by Van Kranendonk et al (2002, 2006 Part of the Archean sialic crust manifestly survived as relics of Archean terrain within the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic cratons, but part of it must have been reworked and lost its identity.…”

Section: Plume-sourced Greenstone Volcanics and Large Igneous Provincmentioning

confidence: 99%

New paradigm for the early Earth: did plate tectonics as we know it not operate until the end of the Archean?

McCall¹

2010

Australian Journal of Earth Sciences

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Oceanic Pillow Lavas and Hyaloclastites as Habitats for Microbial Life Through Time – A Review

Furnes

McLoughlin²,

Muehlenbachs³

et al.

Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences

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This chapter summarizes research undertaken over the past 15 years upon the microbial alteration of originally glassy basaltic rocks from submarine environments. We report textural, chemical and isotopic results from the youngest to the oldest in-situ oceanic crust and compare these to data obtained from ophiolite and greenstone belts dating back to c. 3.8 Ga. Petrographic descriptions of the granular and tubular microbial alteration textures found in (meta)-volcanic glasses from pillow lavas and volcanic breccias are provided and contrasted with textures produced by abiotic alteration (palagonitization). The geological setting in particular the degree of deformation and metamorphism experienced by each study site is documented in outcrop photographs, geological maps and stratigraphic columns (where possible). In addition, X-ray mapping evidence and carbon isotopic data that are consistent with a biogenic origin for these alteration textures is explained and a model for their formation is presented. Lastly, the petrographic observations and direct radiometric dating techniques that have been used to establish the antiquity and syngenicity of these microbial alteration textures are reviewed.

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Geology and Tectonic Evolution of the Archean North Pilbara Terrain,Pilbara Craton, Western Australia

Cited by 95 publications

References 81 publications

Thermal and mechanical controls on the evolution of archean crustal deformation: Examples from Western Australia

Thermal and mechanical controls on the evolution of archean crustal deformation: Examples from Western Australia

New paradigm for the early Earth: did plate tectonics as we know it not operate until the end of the Archean?

Oceanic Pillow Lavas and Hyaloclastites as Habitats for Microbial Life Through Time – A Review

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