Chemical and biological evolution of early Earth: Constraints from banded iron formations

Ohmoto, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Yumiko; Yamaguchi, Kosei; Naraoka, Hiroshi; Haruna, Makoto; Kakegawa, Takeshi; Hayashi, Ken‐ichiro; Kato, Yasuhiro

doi:10.1130/2006.1198(17)

Cited by 35 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…Numerous studies report deviations from trivalent Ce behavior in Archean and early Paleoproterozoic iron formations (e.g., Klein and Beukes, 1989;Ohmoto et al, 2006). Although the significance of each reported case of negative or positive Ce anomalies in Archean rocks needs to be discussed individually, it is important to note that Ce anomalies in iron formations can arise from analytical artifacts and diagenetic alteration.…”

Section: Rare Earth Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7) remain poorly resolved despite more than a century of investigation (e.g., Ohmoto et al, 2006;Beukes and Gutzmer, 2008). Given that BIF deposition spans major evolutionary changes in Earth's surface composition, from an early anoxic atmosphere dominated by CO 2 and CH 4 to an atmosphere that became partially oxygenated and CO 2 rich (e.g., Bekker and Kaufman, 2007), it is likely that BIFs formed via different mechanisms during the Precambrian.…”

Section: Oxidation Mechanisms: Biological Versus Nonbiologicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1870 Ma Bend and Eisenbrey, Wisconsin. The presence of abundant Fe(III) in hematite or magnetite within these >1850 Ma deposits might reflect the following processes (Slack and Cannon, 2009): (1) deposition from S-poor seawater (Huston and Logan, 2004), (2) hydrothermal plumes that rose above the chemocline (Ohmoto et al, 2006), (3) phase separation during boiling of the hydrothermal fluids (Foustoukos and Bekker, 2008), (4) deposition during a transitory period in deep-ocean oxidation, and (5) deposition within a local oxygenated basin.…”

Section: Iron Formation: the Role Of Mantle Tectonic Oceanic And Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12). Archean and early Paleoproterozoic reduced-facies exhalites suggest deposition under anoxic and possibly sulfidic bottom waters based on geochemical and thermodynamic arguments (Huston and Logan, 2004;Ohmoto et al, 2006).…”

Section: Iron Formation: the Role Of Mantle Tectonic Oceanic And Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2.45−2.22 Ga) gaps in the record of iron formation closely coincide with inferred pauses in global plate tectonic activity (Silver and Benn, 2008;Condie et al, 2009). On the other hand, tectonic settings, such as isolated to semi-isolated backarc, rift, or foreland basins, have been invoked to explain the iron source, basin-scale water column redox state, and deposition of iron formation (e.g., Ohmoto et al, 2006;Beukes and Gutzmer, 2008). Indeed, with high-precision geochronology, it is possible now not only to correlate iron formations of similar ages in different basins but also to establish that iron-formation deposition in one basin coincided with the lack of iron enrichment in another basin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Iron Formation: The Sedimentary Product of a Complex Interplay among Mantle, Tectonic, Oceanic, and Biospheric Processes

Bekker¹,

Krapež²,

Slack³

et al. 2010

Economic Geology

852

494

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Iron formations are economically important sedimentary rocks that are most common in Precambrian sedimentary successions. Although many aspects of their origin remain unresolved, it is widely accepted that secular changes in the style of their deposition are linked to environmental and geochemical evolution of Earth. Two types of Precambrian iron formations have been recognized with respect to their depositional setting. Algoma-type iron formations are interlayered with or stratigraphically linked to submarine-emplaced volcanic rocks in greenstone belts and, in some cases, with volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. In contrast, larger Superior-type iron formations are developed in passive-margin sedimentary rock successions and generally lack direct relationships with volcanic rocks. The early distinction made between these two iron-formation types, although mimimized by later studies, remains a valid first approximation. Texturally, iron formations were also divided into two groups. Banded iron formation (BIF) is dominant in Archean to earliest Paleoproterozoic successions, whereas granular iron formation (GIF) is much more common in Paleoproterozoic successions. Secular changes in the style of iron-formation deposition, identified more than 20 years ago, have been linked to diverse environmental changes. Geochronologic studies emphasize the episodic nature of the deposition of giant iron formations, as they are coeval with, and genetically linked to, time periods when large igneous provinces (LIPs) were emplaced. Superior-type iron formation first appeared at ca. 2.6 Ga, when construction of large continents changed the heat flux at the core-mantle boundary. From ca. 2.6 to ca. 2.4 Ga, global mafic magmatism culminated in the deposition of giant Superior-type BIF in South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. The younger BIFs in this age range were deposited during the early stage of a shift from reducing to oxidizing conditions in the ocean-atmosphere system. Counterintuitively, enhanced magmatism at 2.50 to 2.45 Ga may have triggered atmospheric oxidation. After the rise of atmospheric oxygen during the GOE at ca. 2.4 Ga, GIF became abundant in the rock record, compared to the predominance of BIF prior to the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). Iron formations generally disappeared at ca. 1.85 Ga, reappearing at the end of the Neoproterozoic, again tied to periods of intense magmatic activity and also, in this case, to global glaciations, the so-called Snowball Earth events. By the Phanerozoic, marine iron deposition was restricted to local areas of closed to semiclosed basins, where volcanic and hydrothermal activity was extensive (e.g., backarc basins), with ironstones additionally being linked to periods of intense magmatic activity and ocean anoxia.Late Paleoproterozoic iron formations and Paleozoic ironstones were deposited at the redoxcline where biological and nonbiological oxidation occurred. In contrast, older iron formations were deposited in anoxic oceans, where ferrous iron oxid...

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Section: Rare Earth Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Oxidation Mechanisms: Biological Versus Nonbiologicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Iron Formation: the Role Of Mantle Tectonic Oceanic And Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Iron Formation: the Role Of Mantle Tectonic Oceanic And Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Iron Formation: The Sedimentary Product of a Complex Interplay among Mantle, Tectonic, Oceanic, and Biospheric Processes

Bekker¹,

Krapež²,

Slack³

et al. 2010

Economic Geology

852

494

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Phosphogenesis in the 2460 and 2728 million‐year‐old banded iron formations as evidence for biological cycling of phosphate in the early biosphere

Sun

Chan

2013

Ecology and Evolution

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The banded iron formation deposited during the first 2 billion years of Earth's history holds the key to understanding the interplay between the geosphere and the early biosphere at large geological timescales. The earliest ore-scale phosphorite depositions formed almost at ∼2.0–2.2 billion years ago bear evidence for the earliest bloom of aerobic life. The cycling of nutrient phosphorus and how it constrained primary productivity in the anaerobic world of Archean–Palaeoproterozoic eons are still open questions. The controversy centers about whether the precipitation of ultrafine ferric oxyhydroxide due to the microbial Fe(II) oxidation in oceans earlier than 1.9 billion years substantially sequestrated phosphate, and whether this process significantly limited the primary productivity of the early biosphere. In this study, we report apatite radial flowers of a few micrometers in the 2728 million-year-old Abitibi banded iron formation and the 2460 million-year-old Kuruman banded iron formation and their similarities to those in the 535 million-year-old Lower Cambrian phosphorite. The lithology of the 535 Million-year-old phosphorite as a biosignature bears abundant biomarkers that reveal the possible similar biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus in the Later Archean and Palaeoproterozoic oceans. These apatite radial flowers represent the primary precipitation of phosphate derived from the phytoplankton blooms in the euphotic zones of Neoarchean and Palaoeproterozoic oceans. The unbiased distributions of the apatite radial flowers within sub-millimeter bands do not support the idea of an Archean Crisis of Phosphate. This is the first report of the microbial mediated mineralization of phosphorus before the Great Oxidation Event when the whole biosphere was still dominated by anaerobic microorganisms.

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High-grade iron ore at Windarling, Yilgarn Craton: a product of syn-orogenic deformation, hypogene hydrothermal alteration and supergene modification in an Archean BIF-basalt lithostratigraphy

2012

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Chemical and biological evolution of early Earth: Constraints from banded iron formations

Cited by 35 publications

References 113 publications

Iron Formation: The Sedimentary Product of a Complex Interplay among Mantle, Tectonic, Oceanic, and Biospheric Processes

Iron Formation: The Sedimentary Product of a Complex Interplay among Mantle, Tectonic, Oceanic, and Biospheric Processes

Phosphogenesis in the 2460 and 2728 million‐year‐old banded iron formations as evidence for biological cycling of phosphate in the early biosphere

High-grade iron ore at Windarling, Yilgarn Craton: a product of syn-orogenic deformation, hypogene hydrothermal alteration and supergene modification in an Archean BIF-basalt lithostratigraphy

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