0000000000190180
AUTHOR
Donald R. Lowe
Chronology of early Archaean granite-greenstone evolution in the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa, based on precise dating by single zircon evaporation
We report precise 207Pb/206Pb single zircon evaporation ages for low-grade felsic metavolcanic rocks within the Onverwacht and Fig Tree Groups of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB), South Africa, and from granitoid plutons bordering the belt. Dacitic tuffs of the Hooggenoeg Formation in the upper part of the Onverwacht Group yield ages between 3445 +/- 3 and 3416 +/- 5 Ma and contain older crustal components represented by a 3504 +/- 4 Ma old zircon xenocryst. Fig Tree dacitic tuffs and agglomerates have euhedral zircons between 3259 +/- 5 and 3225 +/- 3 Ma in age which we interpret to reflect the time of crystallization. A surprisingly complex xenocryst population in one sample documents …
Sm-Nd dating of Fig Tree clay minerals of the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa.
Sm-Nd isotopic data from carbonate-derived clay minerals of the 3.22-3.25 Ga Fig Tree Group, Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, form a linear array corresponding to an age of 3102 +/- 64 Ma, making these minerals the oldest dated clays on Earth. The obtained age is 120-160 m.y. younger than the depositional age determined by zircon geochronology. Nd model ages for the clays range from approximately 3.39 to 3.44 Ga and almost cover the age variation of the Barberton greenstone belt rocks, consistent with independent evidence that the clay minerals are derived from material of the belt. The combined isotopic and mineralogical data provide evidence for a cryptic thermal overprint in the …