Earths oldest rocks

Developments in Precambrian Geology, 15

EARTH’S OLDEST ROCKS


DEVELOPMENTS IN PRECAMBRIAN GEOLOGY
Advisory Editor Kent Condie
Further titles in this series
1. B.F. WINDLEY and S.M. NAQVI (Editors)
Archaean Geochemistry
2. D.R. HUNTER (Editor)
Precambrian of the Southern Hemisphere
3. K.C. CONDIE
Archean Greenstone Belts
4. A. KRÖNER (Editor)
Precambrian Plate Tectonics
5. Y.P. MEL’NIK
Precambrian Banded Iron-formations. Physicochemical Conditions of Formation
6. A.F. TRENDALL and R.C. MORRIS (Editors)
Iron-Formation: Facts and Problems
7. B. NAGY, R. WEBER, J.C. GUERRERO and M. SCHIDLOWSKI (Editors)
Developments and Interactions of the Precambrian Atmosphere, Lithosphere
and Biosphere
8. S.M. NAQVI (Editor)
Precambrian Continental Crust and Its Economic Resources
9. D.V. RUNDQVIST and F.P. MITROFANOV (Editors)
Precambrian Geology of the USSR
10. K.C. CONDIE (Editor)
Proterozoic Crustal Evolution
11. K.C. CONDIE (Editor)

Archean Crustal Evolution
12. P.G. ERIKSSON, W. ALTERMANN, D.R. NELSON, W.U. MUELLER and
O. CATUNEANU (Editors)
The Precambrian Earth: Tempos and Events
13. T.M. KUSKY (Editor)
Precambrian Ophiolites and Related Rocks
14. M. LEHTINEN, P.A. NURMI and O.J. RÄMÖ (Editors)
Precambrian Geology of Finland: Key to the Evolution of the Fennoscandian Shield
Outcrop photograph of Earth’s oldest rocks – folded migmatitic orthogneiss of the 4.0–3.6 Ga Acasta Gneiss
Complex in the Slave Province, northwestern Canada. The Eo- to Paleoarchean tonalitic protoliths were affected
by multiple events of migmatization and deformation from the Paleoarchean through to the Neoarchean. Scale
bar in centimetres. Photo by T. Iizuka. (Frontcover)
View to the southwest from the northeast part of the 3.8–3.7 Ga Isua greenstone belt, of the Itsaq Gneiss Complex, towards the mountains around Godthabsfjord, West Greenland, in the far distance, over 100 km away. In
the foreground, strongly deformed cherty metasedimentary rocks display strong subvertical planar fabrics and
steeply-plunging lineations that formed during Neoarchean orogeny. In the middle distance on the left are blackweathering amphibolites derived from basaltic pillow lavas. 3.7 Ga tonalitic gneiss form the light coloured terrain
in the centre and right middle distance. For a description of this area, see the paper by Nutman et al. in this
volume. Photograph by John S. Myers. (Backcover)


Developments in Precambrian Geology, 15

EARTH’S OLDEST ROCKS
Edited by

MARTIN J. VAN KRANENDONK
Geological Survey of Western Australia
Perth, Australia

R. HUGH SMITHIES
Geological Survey of Western Australia

Perth, Australia

VICKIE C. BENNETT
Research School of Earth Sciences
The Australian National University
Canberra, Australia

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DEDICATION

M.J. Van Kranendonk would like to dedicate this book
to his father, Jan, for dinnertime stories of the stars
and planets that inspired him with a lifelong interest
in natural science, and to his son, Damian, for
continued inspiration on how to live life, and why.


This page intentionally left blank


vii

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

D. BAKER
Equity Engineering Ltd., 700-700 West Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C 1G8
R.L. BAUER
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
()
R.W. BELCHER
Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X 01,
Matieland 7602, South Africa
V.C. BENNETT
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia (vickie.
)
A.W.R. BEVAN
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Perth, Western Australia 6000,
Australia ()
M.E. BICKFORD
Department of Earth Sciences, Heroy Geology Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1070,
USA ()
C.O. BÖHM
Manitoba Geological Survey, Manitoba Industry, Economic Development and Mines, 360-1395 Ellice Ave.,
Winnipeg MB, Canada, R3G 3P2 ()
G.R. BYERLY
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4101, USA
()
A.J. CAVOSIE
Department of Geology, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 9017, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681, USA
()
K.R. CHAMBERLAIN
Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, 1000 E. University, Dept. 3006, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071,
USA ()
D.C. CHAMPION

Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia ()
C. CLOQUET
INW-UGent, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Proeftuinstraat 86, 9000 Gent, Belgium


viii

Contributing Authors

K. CONDIE
Department of Earth & Environmental Science, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, NM
87801, USA ()
B. CUMMINS
Moly Mines Pty Ltd, PO Box 8215, Subiaco East, Western Australia 6008, Australia
J.C. DANN
90 Old Stow Road, Concord, MA 01742, USA ()
J. DAVID
GÉOTOP-UQÀM-McGill, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, succ. centre-ville, Montreal, QC,
Canada, H3C 3P8
G.F. DAVIES
Research School of Earth Science, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
()
C.Y. DONG
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Beijing 100037, China
A. DZIGGEL
Institute of Mineralogy and Economic Geology, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstrasse 2, 52062 Aachen,
Germany ()
C.M. FEDO
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
()

D. FRANCIS
Earth & Planetary Sciences, McGill University and GÉOTOP-UQÀM-McGill, 3450 University St., Montreal,
QC, Canada, H3A 2A7
C.R.L. FRIEND
45, Stanway Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3 8HU, UK
A. GLIKSON
Department of Earth and Marine Science and Planetary Science Institute, Australian National University,
Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia ()
W.L. GRIFFIN
Key Centre for the Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents (GEMOC), Department of Earth
and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia ()
T.L. GROVE
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
MA 02139, USA ()
V.L. HANSEN
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, 231 Heller Hall, 1114 Kirby Drive,
Duluth, MN 55812, USA ()
S.L. HARLEY
Grant Institute of Earth Science, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, West Mains
Road, UK ()


Contributing Authors

ix

R.P. HARTLAUB
Department of Mining Technology, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5G 3H2 ()
L.M. HEAMAN
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, 4-18 Earth Science Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton,

AB, Canada, T6G 2E3 ()
A.H. HICKMAN
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St., East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
H. HIDAKA
Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Sciences, University of Hiroshima, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, HigashiHiroshima 739-8526, Japan
A. HOFMANN
School of Geological Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X 54001, 4000 Durban, South Africa
()
K. HORIE
Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Sciences, University of Hiroshima, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, HigashiHiroshima 739-8526, Japan; Department of Science and Engineering, The National Science Museum, 3-23-1,
Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
D.L. HUSTON
Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia ()
T. IIZUKA
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo
152-8551, Japan ()
B.S. KAMBER
Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, ON, Canada, P3E
2C6 ()
N.M. KELLY
Grant Institute of Earth Science, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, West Mains
Road, UK
A.F.M. KISTERS
Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X 01,
Matieland 7602, South Africa ()
T. KOMIYA
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo
152-8551, Japan
A. KRÖNER
Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany ()

J. LAROCQUE
School of Earth and Oceanic Sciences, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3055, STN CSC, Victoria, BC, Canada,
V8W 3P6
D.Y. LIU
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Beijing 100037, China


x

Contributing Authors

D.R. LOWE
Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2115, USA
()
C.P. MARSHALL
Vibrational Spectroscopy Facility, School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
()
S. MARUYAMA
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo
152-8551, Japan
C. MAURICE
Bureau de l’exploration géologique du Québec, Ministère des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune, 400 boul.
Lamaque, Val d’Or, QC, Canada, J9P 3L4
T.P. MERNAGH
Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
F.M. MEYERS
Institute of Mineralogy and Economic Geology, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstrasse 2, 52062 Aachen,
Germany
S.J. MOJZSIS
Department of Geological Sciences, Center for Astrobiology, University of Colorado, 2200 Colorado Avenue,

Boulder, CO 80309-0399, USA ()
P. MORANT
Anglogold Ashanti, Level 13, St. Martin’s Tower, 44 St. George’s Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000,
Australia
J.-F. MOYEN
Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X 01,
Matieland 7602, South Africa ()
P.A. MUELLER
Department of Geological Sciences, Box 112120, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
()
A.P. NUTMAN
Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, 26, Baiwanzhuang Road, Beijing 100037,
China ()
J. O’NEIL
Earth & Planetary Sciences, McGill University and GÉOTOP-UQÀM-McGill, 3450 University St. Montreal,
QC, Canada, H3A 2A7 ()
S.Y. O’REILLY
Key Centre for the Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents (GEMOC), Department of Earth
and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
A. OTTO
Institute of Mineralogy and Economic Geology, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstrasse 2, 52062 Aachen,
Germany ()
J.A. PERCIVAL
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0E8 ()


Contributing Authors

xi

F. PIRAJNO
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St., East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
()
M. POUJOL
Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118, Université de Rennes 1, Avenue du Général Leclerc, 35 042 Rennes Cedex,
France ()
O.M. ROSEN
Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Pyzhevsky per. 7, Moscow, 019017, Russia
()
M.D. SCHMITZ
Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA ()
G.A. SHIELDS
Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut, Westfälische-Wilhelms Universität, Correnstr. 24, 48149 Münster,
Germany ()
R.H. SMITHIES
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St., East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
()
C. SPAGGIARI
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St., East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
()
G. STEVENS
Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X 01,
Matieland 7602, South Africa
R.K. STEVENSON
GÉOTOP-UQÀM-McGill and Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec
à Montréal, C.P. 8888, succ. centre-ville, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3C 3P8
S.R. TAYLOR
Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
()
O.M. TURKINA

Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, United Institute of Geology, Geophysics and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch
of RAS, UIGGM, Koptyug Avenue 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia ()
Y. UENO
Research Center for the Evolving Earth and Planet, Department of Environmental Science and Technology,
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503, Japan ()
M.J. VAN KRANENDONK
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St., East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
()
J.W. VALLEY
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, 1215 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53706, USA
()


xii

Contributing Authors

Y.S. WAN
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Beijing 100037, China
M.J. WHITEHOUSE
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden ()
S.A. WILDE
Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University of Technology, PO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia
6845, Australia ()
A.H. WILSON
School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, 2050 Wits, South Africa
()
B. WINDLEY
Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK ()
J.L. WOODEN

U.S. Geological Survey, Stanford – U.S. Geological Survey Ion Microprobe Facility, Stanford University,
Stanford, CA 94305-2220, USA ()
J.S. WU
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
S. WYCHE
Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St., East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
()
X.Y. YIN
Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Beijing 100037, China
H.Y. ZHOU
Beijing SHRIMP Centre, Beijing 100037, China


xiii

CONTENTS

Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v

Contributing Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii

Preface: Aims, Scope, and Outline of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Martin J. Van Kranendonk, R. Hugh Smithies and Vickie Bennett
PART 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1

Chapter 1.1. Overview and History of Investigation of Early Earth Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brian Windley

3

Chapter 1.2. The Distribution of Paleoarchean Crust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kent Condie

9

PART 2. PLANETARY ACCRETION AND THE HADEAN TO EOARCHEAN EARTH – BUILDING
THE FOUNDATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

Chapter 2.1. The Formation of the Earth and Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stuart Ross Taylor

21

Chapter 2.2. Early Solar System Materials, Processes, and Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alex W.R. Bevan

31

Chapter 2.3. Dynamics of the Hadean and Archaean Mantle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Geoffrey F. Davies

61

Chapter 2.4. The Enigma of the Terrestrial Protocrust: Evidence for Its Former Existence and the
Importance of Its Complete Disappearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balz S. Kamber

75

Chapter 2.5. The Oldest Terrestrial Mineral Record: A Review of 4400 to 4000 Ma Detrital Zircons from
Jack Hills, Western Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Aaron J. Cavosie, John W. Valley and Simon A. Wilde

91

Chapter 2.6. Evidence of Pre-3100 Ma Crust in the Youanmi and South West Terranes, and Eastern
Goldfields Superterrane, of the Yilgarn Craton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Stephen Wyche
PART 3. EOARCHEAN GNEISS COMPLEXES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Chapter 3.1. The Early Archean Acasta Gneiss Complex: Geological, Geochronological and Isotopic
Studies and Implications for Early Crustal Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Tsuyoshi Iizuka, Tsuyoshi Komiya and Shigenori Maruyama
Chapter 3.2. Ancient Antarctica: The Archaean of the East Antarctic Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Simon L. Harley and Nigel M. Kelly


xiv

Contents

Chapter 3.3. The Itsaq Gneiss Complex of Southern West Greenland and the Construction of Eoarchaean
Crust at Convergent Plate Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Allen P. Nutman, Clark R.L. Friend, Kenji Horie and Hiroshi Hidaka
Chapter 3.4. The Geology of the 3.8 Ga Nuvvuagittuq (Porpoise Cove) Greenstone Belt, Northeastern
Superior Province, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Jonathan O’Neil, Charles Maurice, Ross K. Stevenson, Jeff Larocque, Christophe Cloquet,
Jean David and Don Francis
Chapter 3.5. Eoarchean Rocks and Zircons in the North China Craton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Dunyi Y. Liu, Y.S. Wan, J.S. Wu, S.A. Wilde, H.Y. Zhou, C.Y. Dong and X.Y. Yin
Chapter 3.6. The Narryer Terrane, Western Australia: A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Simon A. Wilde and Catherine Spaggiari
PART 4. THE PALEOARCHEAN PILBARA CRATON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Chapter 4.1. Paleoarchean Development of a Continental Nucleus: the East Pilbara Terrane of the Pilbara
Craton, Western Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Martin J. Van Kranendonk, R. Hugh Smithies, Arthur H. Hickman and David C. Champion
Chapter 4.2. The Oldest Well-Preserved Felsic Volcanic Rocks on Earth: Geochemical Clues to the Early
Evolution of the Pilbara Supergroup and Implications for the Growth of a Paleoarchean
Protocontinent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
R. Hugh Smithies, David C. Champion and Martin J. Van Kranendonk
Chapter 4.3. Geochemistry of Paleoarchean Granites of the East Pilbara Terrane, Pilbara Craton, Western
Australia: Implications for Early Archean Crustal Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
David C. Champion and R. Hugh Smithies
Chapter 4.4. Paleoarchean Mineral Deposits of the Pilbara Craton: Genesis, Tectonic Environment and
Comparisons with Younger Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
David L. Huston, Peter Morant, Franco Pirajno, Brendan Cummins, Darcy Baker and
Terrence P. Mernagh
PART 5. THE PALEOARCHEAN KAAPVAAL CRATON, SOUTHERN AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Chapter 5.1. An Overview of the Pre-Mesoarchean Rocks of the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa . . . . . . 453
Marc Poujol
Chapter 5.2. The Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland and Environs: Record of Early Archean Crustal
Evolution in Southern Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
Alfred Kröner

Chapter 5.3. An Overview of the Geology of the Barberton Greenstone Belt and Vicinity: Implications for
Early Crustal Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Donald R. Lowe and Gary R. Byerly
Chapter 5.4. Volcanology of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa: Inflation and Evolution of Flow
Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Jesse C. Dann and Timothy L. Grove
Chapter 5.5. Silicified Basalts, Bedded Cherts and Other Sea Floor Alteration Phenomena of the 3.4 Ga
Nondweni Greenstone Belt, South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
Axel Hofmann and Allan H. Wilson


Contents

xv

Chapter 5.6. TTG Plutons of the Barberton Granitoid-Greenstone Terrain, South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Jean-François Moyen, Gary Stevens, Alexander F.M. Kisters and Richard W. Belcher
Chapter 5.7. Metamorphism in the Barberton Granite Greenstone Terrain: A Record of Paleoarchean
Accretion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Gary Stevens and Jean-Francois Moyen
Chapter 5.8. Tectono-Metamorphic Controls on Archean Gold Mineralization in the Barberton
Greenstone Belt, South Africa: An Example from the New Consort Gold Mine . . . . . . . . 699
Annika Dziggel, Alexander Otto, Alexander F.M. Kisters and F. Michael Meyer
PART 6. PALEOARCHEAN GNEISS TERRANES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
Chapter 6.1. Paleoarchean Gneisses in the Minnesota River Valley and Northern Michigan, USA . . . . . . 731
Marion E. Bickford, Joseph L. Wooden, Robert L. Bauer and Mark D. Schmitz
Chapter 6.2. The Assean Lake Complex: Ancient Crust at the Northwestern Margin of the Superior
Craton, Manitoba, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
Christian O. Böhm, Russell P. Hartlaub and Larry M. Heaman
Chapter 6.3. Oldest Rocks of the Wyoming Craton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775

Kevin R. Chamberlain and Paul A. Mueller
Chapter 6.4. The Oldest Rock Assemblages of the Siberian Craton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793
Oleg M. Rosen and O.M. Turkina
PART 7. LIFE ON EARLY EARTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839
Chapter 7.1. Searching for Earth’s Earliest Life in Southern West Greenland – History, Current Status, and
Future Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841
Martin J. Whitehouse and Christopher M. Fedo
Chapter 7.2. A Review of the Evidence for Putative Paleoarchean Life in the Pilbara Craton, Western
Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855
Martin J. Van Kranendonk
Chapter 7.3. Stable Carbon and Sulfur Isotope Geochemistry of the ca. 3490 Ma Dresser Formation
Hydrothermal Deposit, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879
Yuichiro Ueno
Chapter 7.4. Organic Geochemistry of Archaean Carbonaceous Cherts from the Pilbara Craton, Western
Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897
Craig P. Marshall
Chapter 7.5. Sulphur on the Early Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
Stephen J. Mojzsis
Chapter 7.6. The Marine Carbonate and Chert Isotope Records and Their Implications for Tectonics, Life
and Climate on the Early Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 971
Graham A. Shields
PART 8. TECTONICS ON EARLY EARTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985
Chapter 8.1. Venus: A Thin-Lithosphere Analog for Early Earth? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987
Vicki L. Hansen


xvi

Contents

Chapter 8.2. The Earliest Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013
W.L. Griffin and S.Y. O’Reilly
Chapter 8.3. Ancient to Modern Earth: The Role of Mantle Plumes in the Making of Continental Crust . . 1037
Franco Pirajno
Chapter 8.4. Eo- to Mesoarchean Terranes of the Superior Province and Their Tectonic Context . . . . . . 1065
John A. Percival
Chapter 8.5. Early Archean Asteroid Impacts on Earth: Stratigraphic and Isotopic Age Correlations and
Possible Geodynamic Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087
Andrew Glikson
Chapter 8.6. Tectonics of Early Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1105
Martin J. Van Kranendonk
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1291


xvii

PREFACE: AIMS, SCOPE, AND OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
MARTIN J. VAN KRANENDONK, R. HUGH SMITHIES AND
VICKIE C. BENNETT

The geological history of early Earth holds a certain ineluctable fascination, not just for
professional Earth Scientists and geology students, but for scientists in other disciplines,
as well as many in the general public. This fascination with early Earth is compelling, not
least because we know so little about it, but also because – as with the search for life on
ancient Earth and elsewhere in the solar system – it casts light on the fundamental issues
of our existence: who are we; how are we here?
To facilitate a better understanding of these questions, we need to know how our home
planet formed, what it was like in its early history, how it was able to foster the development
of life, and how it evolved into the planet we live on today.

We had two main aims in mind when inviting authors to contribute papers to this book.
The first aim, reflected in the main title of the book, was to compile a geological record
of Earth’s Oldest Rocks, with thorough descriptions of as much of the oldest continental
crust as possible, and with a focus on the rocks. The second aim was to gain a better
understanding of the tectonic processes that gave rise to the formation and preservation
of these oldest pieces of continental crust, and when and how early tectonic processes
changed to a plate tectonic Earth operating more or less as we know it today. It is the latter
part of this last sentence that explains why 3.2 Ga was chosen as the upper time limit for
this book, for this is the time when evidence from geological studies strongly supports
the operation (at least locally) of modern-style plate tectonics on Earth (Smithies et al.,
2005a). After 3.2 Ga, the geological evidence in support of some form of plate tectonics
operating on Earth is compelling, although there were significant differences in how this
process operated compared with plate tectonics on Proterozoic to recent Earth, but that is
another story (see Van Kranendonk, 2004a, and references therein).
When considering the evolution of early Earth, it is important to keep in mind the concept of Secular Change, and to “. . . stretch ones’ tectonic imagination with respect to
non-plate tectonic processes of heat transfer . . . , providing for means to test geologic histories against multiple hypotheses, aimed at understanding possible early Earth”, as Vicki
Hansen so nicely states in her paper on Venus towards the end of this volume. Indeed, we
suggest that Secular Change be regarded as a guiding principle for studies of early Earth
evolution, in the same way that Lyell’s (1758) Principle of Uniformitarianism (the present
is the key to the past) has guided our understanding of the more recent geological past,
when Earth’s primary heat loss mechanism was through plate tectonics.


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Preface

Secular Change is important for early Earth studies for two main reasons. First, planetary studies have shown that Earth had a violent accretionary history starting at 4.567 Ga,
and was a molten ball at 4.50 Ga due to the heat of accretion and heat from the decay of
short-lived radiogenic nucleides. This contrasts dramatically with modern Earth, which is

differentiated into a core, mantle, crust, hydrosphere and atmosphere, has a rapidly spinning core, a convecting and melting mantle, two types of crust, a rigid lithosphere that is
divided into several plates that are moving across the planet’s surface through a process we
call plate tectonics, is host to a thriving biosphere, and has an oxygen-rich atmosphere. We
use this contrast to directly infer secular change. What remains unanswered is the rate of
secular change, including the rate of growth of continental crust and the time of onset of
plate tectonics. Opinions in regard to these issues vary markedly. Whereas some maintain
that much of this change occurred very early and that Earth has been operating in a similar
fashion since 4.2 Gyr ago (e.g., Cavosie et al., this volume), others maintain that change
has occurred more gradually, and that modern plate tectonics did not commence until the
Neoproterozoic (Hamilton, 1998, 2003; Stern, 2005; Brown, 2006).
The second main reason why Secular Change is important when considering early Earth
is based on geological evidence from Earth’s oldest rocks, which shows that there are many
differences between early Earth rocks and those of Proterozoic to recent Earth (e.g., Hamilton, 1993, 1998, 2005; Stern, 2005; Brown, 2006). Some of these differences include:
• Archean Earth erupted unique komatiitic magmas (Viljoen and Viljoen, 1969) from a
hotter mantle (Herzberg, 1992; Nisbett et al., 1993; Arndt et al., 1998);
• Archean crust is characterised by granite-greenstone terranes, a type of crust found much
less commonly in younger terrains;
• Granite-greenstone terranes are characterised by a dome-and-keel architecture that is
unique to Archean and Paleoproterozoic crust (e.g., MacGregor, 1951; Hickman, 1984);
• The average composition of Archean continental crust was different (Taylor and McLennan, 1985);
• The average composition of early Archean granitic rocks is dominated by sodic (TTG)
compositions, in contrast to the more potassic composition of most younger granitic
rocks;
• The composition of Archean TTG is not the same as Phanerozoic adakites formed in
subduction zones (Smithies, 2000);
• Archean sedimentary rocks are predominantly chert and banded iron-formation, and
generally lack continental-type sedimentary rocks before ∼3.2 Ga, although there are
local exceptions;
• Sr-isotope data show that the chemistry of Archean seawater was essentially mantle
buffered, contrasting with a riverine buffered signature after ∼2.7 Ga;

• Many of the characteristic products of subduction are lacking in Archean rocks, including blueschists, ophiolites, and ultra-high pressure metamorphic terranes (Stern,
2005; Brown, 2006), and accretionary complexes with exotic blocks in zones of tectonic melange (McCall, 2003);
• Ophiolites >1 Ga are fundamentally different than younger ophiolites, according to
Moores (2002).


Preface

xix

These differences tell us that early Earth was a vastly different planet than that of today, primarily due to a higher mantle temperature. Follow-on effects from this include a
higher geothermal gradient, which in turn resulted in greater degrees of partial melting
of upwelling mantle, a thicker, but softer crust, and a softer, weaker lithosphere. A more
detailed review of these differences is presented in the final paper of this book.
A note regarding terminology. For the purposes of this book, we have adopted the IUGS
International Commission on Stratigraphy convention for sub-divisions of the Archean Eon
into the Neoarchean Era (2.5–2.8 Ga), Mesoarchean Era (2.8–3.2 Ga), and Paleoarchean
Era (3.2–3.6 Ga) (Gradstein et al., 2004). We have also used the Eoarchean Era for rocks
older than 3.6 Ga as suggested by these authors, but have placed a lower limit on this
sub-division at 4.0 Ga and refer to the period of time older than this as the Hadean Eon
(4.0–4.567 Ga).
This book is organised into eight parts, including an Introduction, five parts describing
the geology of Earth’s oldest rocks, a part on early life, and a final part on the tectonics
of early Earth. In Part 1, Brian Windley provides an overview of the history of discovery
of ancient rocks on Earth, which started with publications in 1951 and was followed by
seminal discoveries using advanced analytical techniques up to the present day. This is
followed by Kent Condie’s overview of the distribution of ancient rocks on Earth.
Parts 2–6 describe the geology of Earth’s oldest rocks, and are divided on the basis of
successive stages of early Earth evolution. Part 2 outlines the beginnings of Earth history,
with a review of planetary accretion processes in the formation of the Earth and Moon by

Stuart Ross Taylor, and an investigation of early solar system materials as represented
by the meteorite record on Earth, by Alex Bevan. This is followed by a theoretical consideration of the dynamics of the mantle of early Earth by Geoff Davies and a review of
the evidence in favour of an early terrestrial protocrust by Balz Kamber. Thereafter are
two papers by Cavosie and others and Stephen Wyche that review the distribution and
characteristics of Eoarchean zircon grains from Western Australia and their significance in
terms of early Earth evolution.
Part 3 presents a series of papers that describe the geology of Eoarchean gneiss complexes from different cratons around the world. These include a description of the oldest
rocks in the world from the Acasta Gneiss Complex in the Slave Craton in northwestern
Canada by Iizuka and others. Other ancient, high-grade and strongly deformed rocks are
described from Antarctica by Harley and Kelly, from the North China Craton by Liu
and others, and from the Narryer Terrane of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia by
Wilde and Spaggiari. O’Neil and others describe the ancient supracrustal rocks of the
Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in the Superior Province, Canada. These are roughly the
same age, or slightly older, than the Isua Greenstone Belt in southern West Greenland, described by Nutman and others, who also describe the rest of the Itsaq Gneiss Complex in
which these ancient supracrustal rocks lie.
Separate chapters are devoted to the Paleoarchean development of the Pilbara (Part 4)
and Kaapvaal (Part 5) Cratons, as these areas represent the best preserved, oldest rocks on
Earth and are well studied. In Part 4, a review of the lithostratigraphy and structural geology
of ancient rocks of the Pilbara Craton by Van Kranendonk and others is followed by


xx

Preface

more detailed geochemical descriptions of the geochemistry of felsic volcanic rocks by
Smithies and others, and of granitoid rocks by Champion and Smithies. Huston and
others review the genesis and tectonic environments of Paleoarchean mineral deposits in
the Pilbara Craton. Combined, these papers provide several different lines of evidence for
the development of early, thick continental crust and a complimentary buoyant, depleted,

residual lithospheric keel through multiple mantle plume events prior to 3.2 Ga.
The papers in Part 5 review the geology of the Kaapvaal Craton, including overviews
of the geochronological data throughout the craton by Poujol, and the geology of the wellstudied Barberton Greenstone Belt by Lowe and Byerly. More detailed studies include
those by Kröner, who describes the Ancient Gneiss Complex of southern Africa, Dann
and Grove on the volcanology of flow fields in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, Hofmann
and Wilson on the geology of chert units in the Nondweni Greenstone Belt, Moyen and
others on the geochemistry of early granitic plutons in, and adjacent to, the Barberton
Greenstone Belt, and Stevens and Moyen on the metamorphism of this same area. Dziggel
and others review the tectono-metamorphic controls on gold mineralisation.
Part 6 describes Paleoarchean gneiss terranes from a number of cratons around the world
and shows that formation of this type of crust was continuous through the Hadean and early
Archean. Bickford and others describe Paleoarchean gneisses from the Minnesota River
Valley and from northern Michigan in the southwestern part of the Superior Craton, in the
United States of America, whereas Böhm and others describe Paleoarchean rocks from
the Assean Lake Complex in the northwestern part of the Superior Craton, in Canada.
Chamberlain and Mueller describe ancient rocks and zircons from the Wyoming Craton
in the United States of America and Rosen and Turkina present an overview of ancient
rocks in the Siberian Craton.
Part 7 presents several papers describing the possible evidence for life on early Earth
and the geological settings in which it is found. Whitehouse and Fedo review the evidence for early life from the Itsaq Gneiss Complex in southern West Greenland, and Van
Kranendonk does the same for the Pilbara Craton, Australia. Marshall provides a review
of organic geochemical data from carbonaceous Pilbara cherts and Ueno provides a detailed account of the stable carbon and sulphur isotopic evidence for life from the 3490 Ma
Dresser Formation in the Pilbara. At the end of this chapter, Mojzsis provides a comprehensive review of the sulphur system on early Earth and Shields reviews the marine
carbonate and chert isotope records, and both authors discuss the implications of the stable
isotopic data in terms of evidence for early life on our planet.
The concluding Part 8 comprises several papers on the tectonics of early Earth. Hansen
presents a detailed description of the geology of Venus and suggests features of that planet
that may be used as analogues for early Earth. Griffin and O’Reilly describe the composition and processes that lead to the formation of subcontinental mantle lithosphere on
early Earth, and conclude that mantle plumes played a significant role in their development. The role of mantle plumes in the construction of continental crust on Earth through
time is reviewed by Pirajno. Glikson reviews the evidence for, and possible geodynamic

implications of, asteroid impacts on early Earth tectonics. Percival provides an account
of the tectonic context of ancient rocks within the Superior Craton, and how they were


Acknowledgements

xxi

incorporated into the craton during Neoarchean terrane accretion. The final paper by Van
Kranendonk provides a summary of the information presented in this book together with
a tectonic model for early Earth and some suggestions in regard to divisions of the early
Precambrian timescale.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MVK would like to thank the Series Editor, Kent Condie, for the invitation to
write/compile this book. Kath Noonan and Nell Stoyanoff of the Geological Survey of
Western Australia (GSWA) are thanked for help with formatting the manuscript. Michael
Prause and Suzanne Dowsett (GSWA) helped with drafting. This book is published with
permission of the Executive Director of the Geological Survey of Western Australia.


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PART 1
INTRODUCTION


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