Recognition of ≥3850 Ma water-lain sediments in West Greenland and their significance for the early Archaean Earth

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Volumn 61, Issue 12, 1997, Pages 2475-2484

  Nutman, Allen P ^a   Mojzsis, Stephen J ^b   Friend, Clark R L ^c  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^c OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AMPHIBOLITE; ARCHAEAN; BANDED IRON FORMATION; HYDROSPHERE; ULTRAMAFIC ROCK; WATERLAIN SEDIMENTATION;

GREENLAND, AKILIA;

IRON; ISOTOPE; LEAD; SEA WATER; SILICATE; THORIUM; URANIUM; ZIRCONIUM;

ARTICLE; ASTRONOMY; AUSTRALIA; BIOGENESIS; COMPARATIVE STUDY; GREENLAND; METHODOLOGY; NASA DISCIPLINE EXOBIOLOGY; NON-NASA CENTER; PALEONTOLOGY; SEDIMENT;

NASA DISCIPLINE EXOBIOLOGY; NON-NASA CENTER;

AUSTRALIA; BIOGENESIS; EARTH (PLANET); EVOLUTION, PLANETARY; GEOLOGIC SEDIMENTS; GREENLAND; IRON; ISOTOPES; LEAD; PALEONTOLOGY; SEAWATER; SILICATES; THORIUM; URANIUM; ZIRCONIUM;

EID: 0030608628     PISSN: 00167037     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0016-7037(97)00097-5     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. Appel P. W. U. (1979) Cosmic grains in an iron-formation from the early Precambrian Isua supracrustal belt, West Greenland, J. Geol. 87, 573-578.
2. Awramik S. M., Schopf J. W., and Walter M. R. (1988) Carbonaceous filaments from North Pole, Western Australia: Are they fossil bacteria in ancient stromatolites? A discussion. Precamb. Res. 39, 303-309.
3. Baadsgaard H., Nutman A. P., Bridgwater D., McGregor V. R., Rosing M. T., and Allaart J. H. (1984) The zircon geochronology of the Akilia association and the Isua supracrustal belt. West Greenland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 68, 221-228.
4. 9 years ago? Icarus 23, 157-166.
5. Barley M. E., Dunlop J. S. R., Glover J. E., and Groves D. J. (1979) Sedimentary evidence for Archaean shallow-water volcanic-sedimentary facies, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia. Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 43, 74-84.
6. Black L. P., Williams I. S., and Compston W. (1986) Four zircon ages from one rock: The history of a 3930 Ma-old granulite from Mount Sones, Enderby Land, Antarctica. Contrib Mineral. Petrol. 94, 427-437.
7. Bridgwater D. et al. (1981) Micro-fossil-like objects from the Archaean of Greenland: A cautionary note. Nature 289, 51-53.
8. Bowring S.A. and Housh T. (1995) The Earth's early evolution. Science 269, 1535-1540.
9. Bowring S. A., Williams I. S., and Compston W. (1989) 3.96 Ga gneisses from the Slave Province, Northwest Territories, Canada. Geology 17, 760-764.
10. Campbell I. H. and Taylor S. R. (1983) No water, no granites - no oceans, no continents. Geophys. Res. Lett. 10, 1061-1064.
11. Chauvel C., Dupré B., and Jenner G. A. (1985) The Sm-Nd age of Kambalda volcanics is 500 Ma too old! Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 74, 315-324.
12. 39Ar analysis. In Geochronology, Timescales and Global Stratigraphic Correlation; Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publication 54, 3-21.
13. Compston W. and Kröner A. (1988) Multiple zircon growth within early Archaean tonalitic gneiss from the Ancient gneiss complex. Swaziland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 87, 13-28.
14. Compston W., Williams I. S., and Myer C. (1984) U-Pb geochronology of zircons from lunar breccia 73217 using a sensitive high mass-resolution ion microprobe. J. Geophys. Res. 89B, 525-534.
15. Compston W., Kinny P. D., Williams I. S., and Foster J. J. (1986) The age and lead loss behaviour of zircons from the Isua supracrustal belt as determined by ion microprobe. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 80, 71-81.
16. Cumming G. L. and Richards J. R. (1975) Ore lead ratios in a continuously changing Earth. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 28, 155-171.
17. DiMarco M. J. and Lowe D. R. (1989) Stratigraphy and sedimentology of an Early Archean felsic volcanic sequence, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia, with special reference to the Duffer Formation and implications for crustal evolution. Precambrian Res. 44, 147-169.
18. England P.C. and Bickle M. J. (1984) Continental thermal and tectonic regimes during the Archaean. J. Geol. 92, 353-368.
19. Friend C. R. L., Nutman A. P., Baadsgaard H., McGregor V. R., and Kinny P. D. (1996) SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronological evidence for ca. 2700 Ma terrane assembly, granites and melamorphism in the Godthåbsf jord region of southern West Greenland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 142, 353-366.
20. Griffin W. L., McGregor V. R., Nutman A. P., Taylor P. N., and Bridgwater D. (1980) Early Archaean granulite-facies metamorphism south of Ameralik, West Greenland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 50, 59-74.
21. Gruau G., Nutman A. P., and Jahn B. M. (1986) Significance of the Sm-Nd isotopic systematics of the Akilia association. In Workshop on Early Crustal Genesis: The World's Oldest Rocks (ed. L. D. Ashwal), pp. 55-58. LPI Tech. Rpt. 86-04. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.
22. Hamilton P. J., O'Nions R. K., Bridgwater D., and Nutman A. P. (1983) Sm-Nd studies of Archaean metasediments and metavolcanics from West Greenland and their implications for the Earth's early history. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 62, 263-272.
23. Hirschler A., Lucas J., and Hubert J.-C. (1990) Bacterial involvement in apatite genesis. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 73, 211-220.
24. Ireland T. R. (1995) Ion microprobe mass spectrometry: Techniques and application in Cosmochemistry, Geochemistry and Geochronology. In Advances in Analytical Geochemistry (ed. M. Hyinan and M. Rowe). pp. 1-188. JAI press.
25. James H. L. (1954) Sedimentary fades of iron-formation. Econ. Geol. 49, 235-293.
26. Lovelock J. E. (1979) Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. Oxford.
27. Lowe D. R. and Bryerly G. R. (1986) Sedimentological and stratigraphical evolution of the southern part of the Barberton greenstone belt: A case of changing provenance and stability (abstr.) In Workshop on the Tectonic Evolution of Greenstone Belts: Houston Technical Report 86-10, 72-74. Lunar and Planetary Institute.
28. McGregor V. R. (1973) The early Precambrian gneisses of the Godthåb district, West Greenland. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London A273, 343-358.
29. McGregor V. R. and Mason B. (1977) Petrogenesis and geochemistry of metabasaltic and metasedimentary enclaves in the Amîtsoq gneisses, West Greenland. Amer. Mineral. 62, 887-904.
30. McGregor V. R., Friend C. R. L., and Nutman A. P. (1991) The late Archaean mobile belt through Godthåbsf jord: A continent-continent collision zone? Bull. Geol. Suc. Denmark 39, 179-197.
31. Mojzsis S. and Arrhenius G. (1995) Phosphate microaggregates in Proterozoic and older cherts. Geol. Soc. Amer. Absr. with Prog. 27, A373.
32. Mojzsis S., Nutman A. P., and Arrhenius G. (1994) Evidence for a marine sedimentary system at >3.872 Ga in southern West Greenland. Eos Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union 75, 690.
33. Moizsis S., Arrhenius G., McKeegan K. D., Harrison T. M., Nutman A. P., and Friend C. R. L. (1996) Evidence for life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago. Nature 385, 55-59.
34. Moorbath S., O'Nions R. K., and Pankhurst R. J. (1973) Early Archaean age for the Isua iron formation. Nature 245, 138-119.
35. Moorbath S., Taylor P. N., and Jones N. W. (1986) Dating the oldest terrestrial rocks - Fact and fiction. Chem. Geol. 57, 63-86.
36. Nagy B., Zumberge J. E., and Nagy L. A. (1975) Abiotic, graphite microstructures in micaceous quartzite about 3760 million years old from southwestern Greenland - Implications for early Precambrian microfossils. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 72, 1206-1209.
37. Nutman A. P. (1994) Anatomy of an early Archaean gneiss complex: 3900 to 3600 Ma crustal evolution in southern West Greenland: Reply. Geology 22, 571-572.
38. Nutman A. P. and Collerson K. D. (1991) Very early Archaean crustal-accretion complexes preserved in the North Atlantic Craton. Geology 19, 791-794.
39. Nutman A. P., Allaart J. H., Bridgwater D., Dimroth E., and Rosing M. (1984) Stratigraphic and geochemical evidence for the depositional environment of the Early Archaean Isua supracrustal belt, southern West Greenland. Precamb. Res. 25, 365-396.
40. Nutman A. P., Fryer B., and Bridgwater D. (1989) The early Archaean Nulliak (supracrustal) assemblage, northern Labrador. Canadian J. Earth Sci. 26, 2159-2168.
41. Nutman A. P., Kinny P. D., Compston I. S., and Williams I. S. (1991) SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology of the Narryer Gneiss Complex, Western Australia. Precamb. Res. 52, 275-300.
42. Nutman A. P., McGregor V. R., Friend C. R. L., Bennett V. C., and Kinny P. D. (1996) The Itsaq Gneiss Complex of southern West Greenland: The World's Most Extensive Record of Early Crustal Evolution (3,900-3,600 Ma). Precamb. Res. 78, 1-39.
43. Pflug H. D. and Jaeschke-Boyer H. (1979) Structural and chemical analysis of 3,800-Myr-old microfossils. Nature 280, 483-486.
44. Pflug H. D. and Reitz E. (1992) Palynostratigraphy in Phanerozoic and Precambrian metamorphic rocks. In Early Organic Evolution: Implications for Mineral and Energy Resources (ed. M. Schidlowski et al.), pp. 508-518. Springer.
45. Pidgeon R. T. (1978) 3540 M.y. old volcanics in the Archaean layered greenstone succession of the Pilbara Block. Western Australia. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 37, 421-428.
46. Robbins E. I. and Iberall A. S. (1991) Mineral remains of early life on Earth? On Mars? Geomicrobiol. J. 9, 51-66.
47. Roddick J. C. and van Breemen O. (1994) U-Pb zircon dating: A comparison of ion microprobe and single grain conventional analyses. In Radiogenic age and Isotopic Studies: Report 8; Geological Survey of Canada Current Research 1994-F, 1-9.
48. Rosing M. T., Rose N. M., Bridgwater D., and Thomsen H. S. (1996) Earliest part of the Earth's stratigraphie record: A reappraisal of the >3.7 Ga Isua (Greenland) supracrustal sequence. Geology 24, 43-46.
49. Sambridge M. S. and Compston W. (1994) Mixture modelling of multi-component data sets with application to ion-probe zircon ages. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 128, 373-390.
50. Schidlowski M. (1988) A 3,800-million-year isotopic record of life from carbon in sedimentary rocks. Nature 333, 313-318.
51. Schidlowski M. (1993) The beginnings of life on Earth: Evidence from the geological record. In The Chemistry of Life's Origins (ed. J. M. Greenberg et al.), pp. 389-414. Kluwer.
52. Schiøtte L., Compston W., and Bridgwater D. (1989a) U-Th-Pb ages of single zircons in Archaean supracrustals from the Nain Province, Labrador, Canada. Canadian J. Earth Sci. 26, 2636-2644.
53. Schiøtte L., Compston W., and Bridgwater D. (1989b) Ion probe U-Th-Pb zircon dating of polymetamorphic orthogneisses from northern Labrador, Canada. Canadian J. Earth Sci. 26, 1533-1556.
54. Schopf J. W. (1993) Microfossils of the Early Archaean Apex Chert: New evidence for the antiquity of life. Science 260, 640-646.
55. Schopf J. W. and Klein C., ed. (1992) The Proterozoic Biosphere - A Multidisciplinary Study. Cambridge.
56. Schopf J. W. and Packer B. M. (1987) Early Archaean (3.3-billion to 3.5-billion-year-old) microfossils from the Warrawoona Group, Australia. Science 237, 70-73.
57. Schopf J. W. and Walter M. R. (1983) Archaean microfossils - New evidence for ancient microbes. In Earth's Earliest Biosphere - Its Origin and Evolution (ed. J. W. Schopf), pp. 214-239. Princeton.
58. Sleep N. H., Zahnle K. J., Kasting J. F., and Marowitz H. J. (1989) Annihilation of ecosystems by large asteroid impacts on the early Earth. Nature 342, 139-142.
59. Song B. Nutman A. P., Lm D., and Wu J. (1996) 3800 to 2500 Ma crustal evolution in the Anshan area of Liaoning Province, northeastern China. Precamb. Res. 78, 79-94.
60. Williams I. R. and Myers J. S. (1987) Archaean geology of the Mount Narryer Region, Western Australia. Geol. Surv. West Australia Rept. 22.