Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.v43d..04o&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #V43D-04
Biology
[1020] Geochemistry / Composition Of The Continental Crust, [1040] Geochemistry / Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry, [1065] Geochemistry / Major And Trace Element Geochemistry, [5225] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Early Environment Of Earth
Scientific paper
Investigation of Earth’s primitive crust is biased towards felsic rocks because they contain zircons that provide robust geochronological constraints. Felsic rocks, however, cannot be derived directly from the mantle thus the first crust had to be mafic in composition. Obtaining precise ages on old mafic rocks is however difficult due to their lack of zircon and the metamorphic overprinting they have suffered. 143Nd and 142Nd analyses on the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt suggests that its mafic components formed more than 4 billion years ago and that the dominant lithology of the belt, known as the “faux-amphibolite”, represents the only relict of Hadean crust formed at ~4.3 Ga. Its protolith is interpreted to be mafic volcanic rocks and volcanic pyroclastic deposits. The faux-amphibolite can be divided into three distinct geochemical group stratigraphically superimposed. The faux-amphibolite at the base of the sequence is tholeiitic with a composition indicating derivation of primary melts from an undepleted mantle and fractionation under dry conditions. Towards the top of the volcanic sequence, the faux-amphibolites are characterized by higher Al/Ti ratios. They appear to have fractionated under elevated water pressure and are geochemically similar to modern boninite and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks. A new series of faux-amphibolite was analysed for 142Nd isotopic composition. 21 samples have deficits in 142Nd ranging from -7 to -18 ppm compared to the terrestrial standard. These deficits have now been confirmed by measurements of the same samples at ETH (Roth et al., GCA, A886, 2010). A 146Sm-142Nd isochron constructed for all faux-amphibolite yields an age of 4368 +72-142 Ma (n=30). A line fit only to the faux-amphibolite compositional group that shows the widest range in LREE enrichment, including corresponding co-genetic ultramafic sills gives a 146Sm-142Nd age of 4381 +67-123 Ma (n=21). The Hadean age for the faux-amphibolite is supported by a 4079 ± 110 Ma (n=15) 147Sm-143Nd age for intruding gabbro sills. The supracrustal sequence has been highly metamorphosed with isotopic data suggesting metamorphic events at circa 3.8 Ga and 3.1 Ga with the last significant heating event recorded at ~2.65 Ga in Sm-Nd data for garnets from the faux-amphibolite. This supports a mafic composition for Earth’s primitive crust with a compositional transition from tholeitic to boninitic and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks. The presence of pillow basalts supports a subaqueous eruption for at least a portion of the province. The Nuvvuagittuq faux-amphibolite shares some chemical characteristics with the 3.8 Ga Garbenschiefer unit of the Isua greenstone belt in SW Greenland. Both the Garbenschiefer and the faux-amphibolite are chemically similar to modern-day suprasubduction volcanic arc lavas suggesting that modern plate tectonic regime already may have been established on Earth by the Hadean/Eoarchean. Regardless of the tectonic regime, the similarities between the 3.8 Ga Garbenschiefer and the Nuvvuagittuq 4.3 Ga faux-amphibolite suggest that their chemical features are perhaps characteristic of Earth’s early mafic crust.
Carlson Richard W.
O'Neil James
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