Geology and tectonostratigraphy of the Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Wit, Maarten J. de; Furnes, Harald; Robins, Brian

doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2010.12.007

Cited by 107 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Kusky et al 2001;Polat et al 2005;Santosh et al 2013;Dey et al 2013), Mesoarchaean (e.g. Polat et al 2007;Smithies et al 2007;Windley & Garde 2009;de Wit et al 2011) and Eoarchaean (e.g. Polat et al 2002;Furnes et al 2007Furnes et al , 2013Kusky et al 2013;Nutman et al 2013) provides evidence for much earlier forms of plate convergence.…”

Section: The Onset Of Plate Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The zircon archive of continent formation through time

Roberts¹,

Spencer²

2014

194

136

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The strong resilience of the mineral zircon and its ability to host a wealth of isotopic information make it the best deep-time archive of Earth's continental crust. Zircon is found in most felsic igneous rocks, can be precisely dated and can fingerprint magmatic sources; thus, it has been widely used to document the formation and evolution of continental crust, from pluton-to global-scale. Here, we present a review of major contributions that zircon studies have made in terms of understanding key questions involving the formation of the continents. These include the conditions of continent formation on early Earth, the onset of plate tectonics and subduction, the rate of crustal growth through time and the governing balance of continental addition v. continental loss, and the role of preservation bias in the zircon record.

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Section: The Onset Of Plate Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The zircon archive of continent formation through time

Roberts¹,

Spencer²

2014

194

136

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“…Titanite is the only mineral that can accommodate the relatively large fraction of Ti in basaltic glass (TiO 2 is around 1 wt% in the actual metabasalts) that is incompatible with other greenschist facies minerals. Titanite occurs mostly as metamorphic mineral growths in the chloritized glass, but it also commonly replaces varioles, a common quench texture in the pillow lavas of the Hooggenoeg Complex of the BGB (12). Clearly identifiable titanite-based biotextures are much rarer than the broadly occurring titanite in these metamorphic rocks.…”

Section: Glass Bioalteration Preservation By Titanitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biogenicity of microborings has been well established in soil silicates (10) for carbonates (11) and in association with lichens on natural and manmade rock surfaces, including boring by fungi as well as prokaryotes (12,17). Although much of the processes of microboring remain to be explored, it is reasonable to call on microbial boring by eukaryotes or prokaryotes as a good firstorder explanation for biocorrosion features in volcanic glass (2).…”

Section: Biogenicity Of Putative Cenozoic and Archean Biotexturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The early geological history of Hooggenoeg pillow lavas is well known (12,27): They erupted at >2 km ocean depth between 3.47 and 3.46 Ga and underwent in situ hydrothermal metamorphism. Then they were uplifted and eroded to within 70 m below a regional unconformity and then overlain by shallow water to subaerial terrestrial sediments dated at ca.…”

Section: Antiquity Of Paleoarchean Trace Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paleoarchean trace fossils in altered volcanic glass

Staudigel

Furnes

DeWit

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Microbial corrosion textures in volcanic glass from Cenozoic seafloor basalts and the corresponding titanite replacement microtextures in metamorphosed Paleoarchean pillow lavas have been interpreted as evidence for a deep biosphere dating back in time through the earliest periods of preserved life on earth. This interpretation has been recently challenged for Paleoarchean titanite replacement textures based on textural and geochronological data from pillow lavas in the Hooggenoeg Complex of the Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa. We use this controversy to explore the strengths and weaknesses of arguments made in support or rejection of the biogenicity interpretation of bioalteration trace fossils in Cenozoic basalt glasses and their putative equivalents in Paleoarchean greenstones. Our analysis suggests that biogenicity cannot be taken for granted for all titanite-based textures in metamorphosed basalt glass, but a cautious and critical evaluation of evidence suggests that biogenicity remains the most likely interpretation for previously described titanite microtextures in Paleoarchean pillow lavas.biogeosciences | early life | Paleoarchean | astrobiology | ichnofossil

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“…This controversy on the nature of Archean tectonics has been extensively debated over the last two decades without reaching consensus. Recent field-based research has provided some evidence for plate tectonics as early as 3.1 Ga and possibly as early as 3.8 Ga, but this is not generally accepted as conclusive (Schoene and Bowring, 2010;de Wit et al, 2011;Furnes et al, 2009). Geochemical analysis of Archean rocks shows that between 3.5 Ga and 3.8 Ga, Archean crust formation can, with apparent equal validity, be interpreted to have been generated during mantle plume magmatism or through subduction processes similar to that associated with plate tectonics (Bédard, 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-Deep Drilling through 3.5-Billion-Year-Old Crust in South Africa

Wit¹

2011

Scientific Drilling

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Geology and tectonostratigraphy of the Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Cited by 107 publications

References 78 publications

The zircon archive of continent formation through time

The zircon archive of continent formation through time

Paleoarchean trace fossils in altered volcanic glass

Ultra-Deep Drilling through 3.5-Billion-Year-Old Crust in South Africa

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