Archaean sedimentary sequences of the Slave craton

Corcoran, Patricia L.

doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.08.006

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 62 publications

(123 reference statements)

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“…[66]). Rift-related facies associations consist of clastic, often terrestrial to lacustrine sedimentary units, including evaporites, with interstratified mafic and bimodal igneous rocks, and display rapid along and across strike changes in facies [67][68][69][70]. They unconformably overlie a now stabilized, predeformed and metamorphosed continental crust assemblage.…”

Section: (A) Divergent Plate Boundary Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geological archive of the onset of plate tectonics

Cawood

Hawkesworth

Pisarevsky

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

294

204

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Plate tectonics, involving a globally linked system of lateral motion of rigid surface plates, is a characteristic feature of our planet, but estimates of how long it has been the modus operandi of lithospheric formation and interactions range from the Hadean to the Neoproterozoic. In this paper, we review sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic proxies along with palaeomagnetic data to infer both the development of rigid lithospheric plates and their independent relative motion, and conclude that significant changes in Earth behaviour occurred in the mid- to late Archaean, between 3.2 Ga and 2.5 Ga. These data include: sedimentary rock associations inferred to have accumulated in passive continental margin settings, marking the onset of sea-floor spreading; the oldest foreland basin deposits associated with lithospheric convergence; a change from thin, new continental crust of mafic composition to thicker crust of intermediate composition, increased crustal reworking and the emplacement of potassic and peraluminous granites, indicating stabilization of the lithosphere; replacement of dome and keel structures in granite-greenstone terranes, which relate to vertical tectonics, by linear thrust imbricated belts; the commencement of temporally paired systems of intermediate and high dT/dP gradients, with the former interpreted to represent subduction to collisional settings and the latter representing possible hinterland back-arc settings or ocean plateau environments. Palaeomagnetic data from the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons for the interval 2780–2710 Ma and from the Superior, Kaapvaal and Kola-Karelia cratons for 2700–2440 Ma suggest significant relative movements. We consider these changes in the behaviour and character of the lithosphere to be consistent with a gestational transition from a non-plate tectonic mode, arguably with localized subduction, to the onset of sustained plate tectonics.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Earth dynamics and the development of plate tectonics'.

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Section: (A) Divergent Plate Boundary Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geological archive of the onset of plate tectonics

Cawood

Hawkesworth

Pisarevsky

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

294

204

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Archean fluvial deposits: A review

Long

2019

Earth-Science Reviews

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Secular changes in sedimentation systems and sequence stratigraphy

et al. 2013

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________________________________________________________________________The ephemeral nature of most sedimentation processes and the fragmentary character of the sedimentary record are of first-order importance. Despite a basic uniformity of external controls on sedimentation resulting in markedly similar lithologies, facies, facies associations and depositional elements within the rock record across time, there are a number of secular changes, particularly in rates and intensities of processes that resulted in contrasts between preserved Precambrian and Phanerozoic successions. Secular change encompassed (1) variations in mantle heat, rates of plate drift and of continental crustal growth, the gravitational effects of the Moon, and in rates of weathering, erosion, transport, deposition and diagenesis;(2) a decreasing planetary rotation rate over time; (3) no vegetation in the Precambrian, but prolific microbial mats, with the opposite pertaining to the Phanerozoic; (4) the long-term evolution of the hydrosphere-atmosphere-biosphere system. A relatively abrupt and sharp turning point was reached in the Neoarchaean, with spikes in mantle plume flux and tectonothermal activity and possibly concomitant onset of the supercontinent cycle. Substantial and irreversible change occurred subsequently in the Palaeoproterozoic, whereby the dramatic change from reducing to oxidising volcanic gases ushered in change to an oxic environment, to be followed at ca. 2.4-2.3 Ga by the "Great Oxidation Event" (GOE); rise in atmospheric oxygen was accompanied by expansion of oxygenic photosynthesis in the cyanobacteria. A possible global tectono-thermal "slowdown" from ca. 2.45-2.2 Ga may have separated a preceding plate regime which interacted with a higher energy mantle from a ca. 2.2-2.0 Ga Phanerozoicstyle plate tectonic regime; the "slowdown" period also encompassed the first known global-scale glaciation and overlapped with the GOE. While large palaeodeserts emerged from ca. 2.0 -1.8 Ga, possibly associated with the evolution of the supercontinent cycle, widespread euxinia by ca. 1.85 Ga

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Archaean sedimentary sequences of the Slave craton

Cited by 10 publications

References 62 publications

Geological archive of the onset of plate tectonics

Geological archive of the onset of plate tectonics

Archean fluvial deposits: A review

Secular changes in sedimentation systems and sequence stratigraphy

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