Search results for "Precambrian"
showing 10 items of 65 documents
The Gabal Gerf complex: A precambrian N-MORB ophiolite in the Nubian Shield, NE Africa
1995
We report geochemical and isotopic data for tectonically dismembered units of the Cabal Gerf mafic-ultramafic complex, the largest Neoproterozoic (Pan-African) ophiolite in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and located near the Red Sea in the border region between Egypt and the Sudan. The complex consists of basaltic pillow lavas, sheeted dykes, isotropic and layered gabbros and an ultramafic melange, all in tectonic contact along thrust sheets. Major- and trace-element data, including REE, for the pillow lavas and sheeted dykes are indistinguishable from modem high-Ti N-MORB. Chemical variations in the various rock types can be ascribed to fractionation and accumulation involving olivine, clinopyr…
Geochemical evidence for arsenic cycling in living microbialites of a High Altitude Andean Lake (Laguna Diamante, Argentina)
2020
Arsenic is best known as an environmental toxin, but this element could also serve as a metabolic energy source to certain microorganisms. Moreover, As cycling may have driven microbial life on early Earth prior to oxygenation of the atmosphere. Still, little is known about the arsenic cycling processes occurring in the presence of microorganisms and the possible traces that could be preserved in the rock record. To advance our understanding of this we studied the geochemical proxies of microbial As metabolism in living microbialites from Laguna Diamante, a likely Precambrian ecosystem analogue (Catamarca, Argentina). In this study, we show that the coexistence of As(III) and As(V) strongly…
Precambrian crustal evolution and continental drift
1981
One of the major questions of Precambrian research is whether present-day plate tectonic models can be applied to the evolution of the ancient continental crust or whether the tectonic style suggests a unidirectional and therefore non-uniformitarian development in response to gradual changes in the global thermal regime through time.
Detrital and xenocrystic zircon ages from Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic arc terranes of Mongolia: Significance for the origin of crustal fragments in …
2011
Abstract The Central Asian Orogenic Belt contains many Precambrian crustal fragments whose origin is unknown, and previous speculations suggested these to be derived from either Siberia, Tarim or northern Gondwana. We present an age pattern for detrital and xenocrystic zircons from Neoproterozoic to Palaeozoic arc and microcontinental terranes in Mongolia and compare this with patterns for Precambrian rocks in southern Siberia, the North China craton, the Tarim craton and northeastern Gondwana in order to define the most likely source region for the Mongolian zircons. Our data were obtained by SHRIMP II, LA-ICP-MS and single zircon evaporation and predominantly represent arc-related low-gra…
Multiple zircon growth within early Archaean tonalitic gneiss from the Ancient Gneiss Complex, Swaziland
1988
Abstract U Pb age determinations by ion microprobe reveal multiple episodes of zircon growth and recrystallization within a single sample of tonalitic gneiss from the Ancient Gneiss Complex. The oldest episode at3644 ± 4Ma(2σ) produced the dominant type of zircon, characteristically purplish-brown and massive in texture; this probably constitutes unaltered zircon precipitated from the original magma. Recrystallization accompanied (and obscured) by early Pb loss took place within the oldest grains at3504 ± 6Ma and3433 ± 8Ma. Whole new grains grew at these times also. We interpret the post-3644 Ma growth as due to episodic deformational and metamorphic events that transformed the tonalite plu…
Data for: Nitrogen isotope evidence for stepwise oxygenation of the ocean during the Great Oxidation Event
2020
Iron speciaton data in shales from the Turee Creek Formation, Western Australia THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOVE
Chronology of early Archaean granite-greenstone evolution in the Barberton Mountain Land, South Africa, based on precise dating by single zircon evap…
1991
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 …
The oldest rocks of Greece: first evidence for a Precambrian terrane within the Pelagonian Zone
2005
The Pelagonian Zone in Greece represents the westernmost belt of the Hellenide hinterland (Internal Hellenides). Previous geochronological studies of basement rocks from the Pelagonian Zone have systematically yielded Permo-Carboniferous ages. In this study we demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of a Precambrian crustal unit within the crystalline basement of the Pelagonian Zone. The U–Pb single-zircon and SHRIMP ages of these orthogneisses vary from 699 ± 7 Ma to 713 ± 18 Ma, which identify them as the oldest rocks in Greece. These Late Proterozoic rocks, which today occupy an area of c. 20 × 100 km, are significantly different from the neighbouring rocks of the Pelagonian Zone.…
Evolution of Pan-African island arc assemblages in the southern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, and in southwestern Arabia as exemplified by geochemistry and g…
1991
Kr6ner, A., Linnebacher, P., Stern, R.J., Reischmann, T., Manton, W. and Hussein, I.M., 1991. Evolution of Pan-African island arc assemblages in the southern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, and in southwestern Arabia as exemplified by geochemistry and geochronology. In: R.J. Stern and W.R. van Schmus (Editors), Proterozoic Crustal Evolution in the Late Proterozoic. Precambrian Res., 53:99-117. We report Rb-Sr whole-rock and zircon ages for metavolcanic and plutonic associations in the southeastern part of the Red Sea Hills, Sudan, and show that these rocks constitute one of the earliest Pan-African arc assemblages within the Arabian-Nubian shield. The remarkable similarity in geochemistry and age bet…
A late Precambrian (∼ 710 Ma) high volcanicity rift in the southern Eastern Desert of Egypt
1991
The late Precambrian Shadli Metavolcanics of SE Egypt constitute a slightly metamorphosed bimodal sequence that has been previously interpreted as manifesting volcanic activity at an island arc. We report the first Rb-Sr geochronologic, trace element (including REE), and Nd isotopic data for these rocks. Two types of basalt are recognized, the stratigraphically lower suite having compositions like N-MORB ferrobasalt while the overlying basalt is similar to slightly fractionated E-MORB. The two basalt types were derived from melting of a strongly depleted source, most likely within the upper 60–75 km of the upper mantle. The origin of the felsic melts is problematic, and these could either h…