Eriksson 1999-The 2.7-2.0 Ga Volcano-Sedimentary Record of Africa, India and Australia PDF

Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302 www.elsevier.
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The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record of Africa, India and Australia: evidence for global and local changes in sea level and continental freeboard
P.G. Eriksson a, *, R. Mazumder b, S. Sarkar b, P.K. Bose b, W. Altermann c, R. van der Merwe a
a Department of Geology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa b Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Calcutta 700-032, India c Institut fu r Allgemeine und Angewandte Geologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita t, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Mu nchen, Germany
Accepted 21 April 1999
Abstract The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary records of the African, Indian and Australian cratons indicate two broadly dened periods of extensive drowning of the emergent continental areas, concomitant with lowered freeboard. Carbonate-banded iron formation (BIF ) platforms characterised the rst such event, at ca 2.62.4 Ga (Africa and Australia) to 2.7 Ga (India). These earlier globally enhanced sea levels are ascribed to increased mid-ocean ridge activity, possibly related to breakup of a postulated Late Archaean southern supercontinent. Alternatively, a transition from global-scale catastrophic mantle overturn events to the onset of plate tectonics may have occurred in the Late Archaean (Nelson, 1998. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 158, 109119). Both explanations of increased mid-ocean ridge activity are compatible with signicant Early to Middle Archaean crustal growth (Armstrong, 1981. Phil. Trans. R Soc. London A 301, 443472), with the emergent high freeboard cratons being subjected to aggressive weathering and erosion. Enhanced continental crustal growth near the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary (McLennan and Taylor, 1982. J. Geol. 90, 347361), related to the development of signicant island arc complexes, would have resulted in common lowered freeboardenhanced sea level conditions at the passive margins of the southern cratons. The diachronous nature of these earlier transgressions in the various cratons may reect the eect of local tectonic movements and/or the thermal state of the cratons. From ca 2.42.2 Ga, cratons that make up the present-day continents of India, Africa and Australia had relatively high continental freeboard and lowered sea levels. Glacigenic deposits are preserved on the Kaapvaal (Africa), Singhbhum (India) and Pilbara (Australia) cratons. The second broadly dened drowning event, at ca <2.2 and >2.15 Ga, was probably due to post-glacial climatic amelioration. Freeboard was reduced by the combination of eustatic rise and the reestablishment of aggressive weathering as warmer palaeoclimates returned. In India, carbonates were more prominent than the siliciclastic sediments (including prominent black shales) seen in Africa and Australia. 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Archaean; Continental freeboard; Proterozoic; Sea level; Volcano-sedimentary record
* Corresponding author. Tel.:+27-12-4202238; fax:+27-12-3625219. E-mail address: pat@scientia.up.ac.za (P.G. Eriksson) 0301-9268/99/$ see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0 3 0 1- 9 2 68 ( 9 9 ) 0 00 3 5 -2
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P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302
1. Introduction The constant freeboard model of Wise (1972, 1974) is directly related to sea level changes concomitant with supercontinent amalgamation and fragmentation [e.g. review by Eriksson (1999)]. Supercontinent attenuation and breakup generally may coincide with enhanced mid-ocean ridge spreading activity, which leads to rise of sea level and transgression of dispersing supercontinental fragments ( Windley, 1995). As an alternative idea, Nelson (1998) proposes that formation of continental crust in the Late Archaean reects the superimposition of global catastrophic mantle overturn and plate tectonic processes. He further postulates that global magmatic events were gradually replaced by plate tectonics as the dominant crust-forming process during a Late Archaean Early Proterozoic transition period. If Nelsons (1998) model is correct, then enhanced mid-ocean ridge growth independent of supercontinent attenuation and fragmentation could have been important during the approximate 2.72.0 Ga period. A constant freeboard from ca 2.5 Ga, as proposed by Wise (1972, 1974) is compatible with crustal growth models proposing rapid attainment of most of the continental crustal volume in the early Precambrian (e.g. Armstrong, 1981; McLennan and Taylor, 1982; Arndt, 1999; Eriksson, 1999). However, there is disagreement whether enhanced growth rates occurred near the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary (e.g. Eriksson, 1995), or whether much of the present volume of continental crust formed prior to 3.83.6 Ga (Armstrong, 1981; Arndt, 1999). The geological record of the dierent Precambrian cratons suggests that this accelerated growth of continental crust was diachronous, on a global scale (Eriksson, 1995). As a result, continental freeboard conditions varied for these cratons, as also seen today from the variable hypsometric curves of the dierent continents. Signicant variation in freeboard elevation (concomitant with variations of 1040% in post-Archaean continental crustal growth rates) falls well within the bounds of several mechanisms causing sea level changes ( Eriksson, 1999). For these reasons, this paper will examine briey
the 2.7 2.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record of Africa, India and Australia, in order to try and discriminate dierent kinds of sea level change, as well as variations in the continental freeboard. In addition, we will attempt to assess continental crustal growth models, particularly whether enhanced rates prevailed near the Archaean Proterozoic boundary, or Armstrongs (1981) alternative suggestion of Early Archaean achievement of signicant continental crustal volumes. 1.1. Criteria used to identify and correlate freeboard changes across cratons Elevated freeboard of a craton is indicated by evidence of large scale volcanism, particularly ood-basaltic events of inferred mantle plume anity. Equally important is the preservation of relatively widespread sedimentary successions of continental origin, such as alluvial, aeolian and lacustrine deposits. Evidence of high rates of erosion, preferably combined with deep regoliths and signicant unconformities also support high freeboard conditions. While recognising that, ideally, these indicators should be developed on a cratonwide scale for meaningful correlation of signicant freeboard changes within and between cratons, the preservation of the 2.72.0 Ga record makes this impractical. In addition, high freeboard-related erosional and non-depositional episodes will generally be much more dicult to recognise and date, than widespread marine sediments of low freeboard and high sea level anity. Although freeboard and eustatic changes are directly related (e.g. Eriksson, 1999), freeboard may also change independently of sea level, particularly due to thermal changes in a craton. It is thus important to try and distinguish local variations in both freeboard and relative sea level from those of truly global character, and this paper reects a rst attempt, bearing in mind the constraints provided by limited accurate geochronology, particularly pertinent for India and Africa. However, the scale and duration of sea level changes and freeboard variation during the chosen 2.72.0 Ga period was possibly greater than for the Phanerozoic-modern era, due to signicant formation of continental crust (e.g. Eriksson, 1995;
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Windley, 1995). The present investigation is thus necessarily limited to freeboard and sea level changes of large geographic and temporal scales.
2. The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record of Africa 2.1. Introduction The crustal architecture of Precambrian Africa comprises the Kalahari, Tanzania, Congo (also called Zaire), West African and East Saharan (Nile) cratons ( Fig. 1). The Kalahari craton is made up largely of the older (>2.7 Ga) Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons ( Fig. 1), and of younger, Late Archaean and Proterozoic mobile belts. These two cratons exhibit the association of greenstones, trondhjemitetonalitegranodiorite ( TTG) and granitic plutons, typical of all Archaean cratons (e.g. De Wit et al., 1992; Kramers, 1988). Outward growth of the Kaapvaal craton (McCourt, 1995) from a nucleus terminated with the collision of the exotic terrane of the Central Zone, Limpopo mobile belt, at ca 2.68 Ga, and thereafter, at ca 2.58 Ga, the Zimbabwe craton collided with the KaapvaalCentral Zone plate ( Treloar and Blenkinsop, 1995). The latter suture zone was transpressionally reactivated at ca 2.0 Ga, during the widespread Eburnean orogeny of Africa (Petters, 1991; Treloar and Blenkinsop, 1995). In contrast to these views, Holzer et al. (1998) argue for an ca 2.0 Ga age for the main Limpopo orogeny. Stabilisation of the Tanzania cratonic basement was achieved by ca 2.57 Ga, with widespread granite intrusions (Cahen et al., 1984); 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions in this region are mostly highly altered. The Congo craton is generally poorly exposed; stabilisation was achieved by large scale granitic intrusions at ca 2.7 Ga in the NW (northern Gabon massif; term as used here includes the de Chaillu massif in the south thereof ), with Kasai and the Angola shield (Fig. 1) following at ca 2560 Ma, and the northeastern parts at ca 2430 Ma (Cahen et al., 1984; Petters, 1991). The term shield is used here to denote a cratonic nucleus or a geographically dened large
exposure of part of a craton. Archaean rocks in the East Saharan craton are restricted to the Uweinat inlier, and the southeastern portion, bordering on the NE Congo craton ( Fig. 1). The latter Archaean basement terranes extend to the north-northeast, to encompass also the Bomu and West Nile gneissic complexes of the East Saharan craton. Comparable metamorphic and charnockitisation events identied within both cratons indicate that the East Saharan may in fact be a northward continuation of the Congo craton (Petters, 1991). Large scale intrusion of granites and concomitant cratonic stabilisation in this latter region occurred at ca 2.472.41 Ga (Cahen et al., 1984). Palaeomagnetic data (Onstott and Hargraves, 1981) allow the possible reconstruction of the relative positions of the African cratons for the Early Proterozoic (e.g. Ledru et al., 1989). The relative positions of the Tanzania and Congo cratons were similar to today, but with the Tanzania long axis orientated SENW (Fig. 2). The small cratonic and probably Archaean (Petters, 1991) Bengweula Block was separated from the Tanzania craton by the Early Proterozoic Ubendian mobile belt. The Kalahari craton was situated approximately south of the Bengweula and Tanzania cratons ( Fig. 2). These relative positions indicated by the palaeomagnetic data possibly resulted from early attenuation and breakup of the Late Archaean southern supercontinent postulated by Aspler and Chiarenzelli (1998). A better constrained African supercontinent had assembled by the end of the Eburnean orogeny at ca 2.0 1.85 Ga, encompassing the Kaapvaal, Bengweula, Tanzania, Congo and East Saharan cratons of Africa. The Eburnean orogeny was thus a widespread event, aecting essentially the margins of most of the cratons of Africa (Fig. 3). In West Africa, reactivation of Archaean basement rocks (Guinea and Reguibat Rises; Fig. 1) was followed by the ca 2.62.13 Ga Birimian Supergroup (Ledru et al., 1989; Milesi et al., 1989; 1991; Leube et al., 1990; Mortimer, 1992; Eisenlohr and Hirdes, 1992) and by subsequent large scale syntectonic intrusion of granites at 2102120922 Ma (Hirdes and Davis, 1998). The main Eburnean orogeny here
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Fig. 1. Late Archaean and Early Proterozoic cratons, Eburnean (2.0 Ga) mobile belts and 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions of Africa. Note also the Late Archaean (?) Limpopo mobile belt between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe crustal blocks.
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Fig. 2. Reconstruction of the relative positions of the East Saharan, Congo, Tanzania, Bengweula and Kalahari cratons in the Early Proterozoic, based on palaeomagnetic data (Onstott and Hargraves, 1981; Ledru et al., 1989). Also shown are the Eburnean-aged mobile belts and the 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions. Note the present-day north direction as a frame of reference.
occurred between ca 2130 and 2050 Ma (Cahen et al., 1984) (Fig. 3). The Birimian supracrustals partially resemble Archaean greenstone belts (Condie, 1989), thereby implying that cratonisation in West Africa was continuing during Birimian deposition. Therefore, the 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedi-
mentary record of the West African craton ( Fig. 1) is not one suitable for examining evidence for sea level and continental freeboard changes. Similarly, the equivalent record in both the Tanzania and East Saharan cratons is unsuitable, largely due to alteration. Recourse must thus be made to the
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Fig. 3. Geohistory summary chart for the 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions of Africa. Note, at the base of each column, the approximate age of stabilisation of continental crustal basement (high freeboard ).Two inferred transgression-epeiric marine related successions are shown: a lower, ca 2.652.43 Ga succession including BIFcarbonate rocks; an upper ca >2.15 Ga volcanoclastic sedimentary succession with common black shales. The onset of the Eburnean orogeny is shown for each column as well as major magmatic and tectonic events preceding this Africa-wide tectono-thermal event.
2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions on the Congo and Kalahari cratons, in order to try and discriminate local from global sea level changes, and in order to examine variation in continental freeboard conditions. 2.2. Kaapvaal craton Although the Kaapvaal craton is thought to have become fully cratonised by ca 2.7 Ga, deposition of the ca 2.972.78 Ga (Robb and Meyer, 1995) Witwatersrand and coeval Pongola Supergroups already indicated a large measure of crustal stability. The acidic rocks of the Gaborone Granite Suite and Kanye Volcanic Complex, formed at ca 2.832.77 Ga (Sibiya, 1988; Grobler
and Walraven, 1993; Walraven et al., 1994), and the 27142709 Ma (Armstrong et al., 1991) Ventersdorp Supergroup, of predominantly mac volcanics and subordinate sediments, are an indication of extensional tectonics and the onset of rifting (e.g. Van der Westhuizen et al., 1991). The Ventersdorp ood basaltic lavas were followed by the ca >26592050 Ma (e.g. Eriksson et al., 1995) Transvaal Supergroup ( Eriksson and Reczko, 1995; Catuneanu and Eriksson, 1999) ( Table 1), preserved in three structural basins on the Kaapvaal craton: Transvaal; Griqualand West; and Kanye basins ( Fig. 1). Following the ca 2.68 Ga Limpopo mobile belt event ( Treloar and Blenkinsop, 1995), peneplanation of the Ventersdorp rocks preceded the devel-
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Table 1 The Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton: geological overview (data from: Button, 1973; Beukes, 1980, 1983, 1987; Eriksson, 1988, 1997; Henry et al., 1990; Eriksson et al., 1993a, 1993b, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998a; Altermann and Wotherspoon, 1995; Eriksson and Reczko, 1995, 1998; Reczko et al., 1995; Altermann and Siegfried, 1997; Altermann and Nelson, 1998; Eriksson and Altermann, 1998) Supergroup Group Formation Lithology Age Sedimentary history Eastern and western remnant basins: continental sedimentation and coastal wind-tidal ats Sea level Freeboard
Transvaal
Pretoria [ca Post<2350 Ma Magaliesberg and formations >2054 Ma; Eriksson and Reczko (1995); Armstrong and McCourt (1997)] Magaliesberg
Alternating mudrock and arkosic to quartzose sandstone, minor lava, carbonate rocks
Probably intermediate
Enhanced, due to common arkosic detritus and continental sedimentation systems along a coastline
Mature sandstones
Regressive tidally reworked braiddeltas >2150 Ma (unpublished RbSr data, rst author) Thick hemipelagic muds, silts, ne sands deposited below wave base, and storm and fair weather deposits above wave base Rift-related alluvial fans, with marine reworking in east of basin Lacustrine basin; lateral facies equivalent of Dwaalheuwel Fluvial sheet sandstones
Silverton
Mudrocks, ne sandstones, eastern lens of andesitic lavas; total thickness >2000m
Dropping due to general regressive setting General transgressive epeiric setting with enhanced sea level
Increasing due to regression
Reduced due to low sediment calibre
Daspoort
Strubenkop
Mature sandstones, minor mudrocks and conglomerates Mudrocks, minor sandstones
Rising due to Initially high and marine decreasing as reworking transgression proceeds Low High
Dwaalheuwel Immature sandstones, minor conglomerates Hekpoort Basaltic (Ongeluk andesites Formation in Griqualand West) Boshoek Conglomerate, immature sandstone Timeball Hill Up to 1400 m; lower and upper mudrocks, medial sandstones;
Low
High
222313 Ma (Cornell et al., 1996)
Continental ood basalt (subaerial )
Low
High (plumerelated)
Alluvial-uvial systems Epeiric basin pelagic sedimentation, contourites, distal low-
Low
High
Locally high (epeiric sea)
Enhanced due to regional glaciation in Griqualand West basin and
276 Table 1 (continued ) Supergroup Group
Formation
Lithology
Age
Sedimentary history density delta-fed turbidites; for sandstones, tidal at reworking of regressive uviodeltaic systems; glacial deposition
Sea level
Freeboard
Transvaal
Pretoria [ca <2350 Ma and >2054 Ma; Eriksson and Reczko (1995); Armstrong and McCourt (1997)] Rooihoogte
minor periglacial detritus; Makganyene Diamictite Formation in the Griqualand West basin
periglacial deposits locally in Transvaal basin
Chuniespoort (Transvaal ) and Ghaap (Griqualand West) (ca 2642 Ma <2.43 Ga)
Duitschland Formation; Koegas Subgroup in Griqualand West Penge Formation ( Transvaal ) and Kuruman and Griquatown Fms. (Griqualand West) Malmani Subgroup ( Transvaal ) and Campbellrand Subgroup (Griqualand West) Black Reef Formation ( Transvaal ) and Schmidtsdrif Subgroup (Griqualand West)
Breccia, conglomerate, sandstone and mudrock Clastic sediments in Duitschland; mixed siliciclastic and chemical sediments in Koegas BIFs ca 2.5 2.43 Ga (Beukes, 1980, 1983; Trendall et al., 1990)
Karst-ll alluvial Low and lacustrine sedimentation Regressive shallow marine coastline Decreasing
High due to long erosive hiatus at base of Pretoria Group Elevated, due to erosion of underlying dolomites to supply clastic particles Low due to lack of clastic sedimentation
Deeper shelf BIF High chemical sedimentation
Dolomites, minor chert and mudrock
ca 25832550 to 2500 Ma (Altermann and Nelson, 1998; Martin et al., 1998)
Carbonate platform developed under shallow shelf conditions in extensive epeiric sea Black Reef: peneplanation and uvial sheet sandstones; Schmidtsdrif: shallow marine coastline at craton margin Linear faultbounded basins lled with volcanic rocks, continental deposits and ner, deeper basinal sediments
High
Low lack of silicilastic sedimentation
Protobasinal units
Various formations and groups restricted fault-related basins of localised extent
Black Reef: conglomerate sandstone mudrock; Schmidtsdrif: siliciclastic and chemical sediments, minor lavas Lavas and pyroclastic rocks, immature coarse-clastic and more reworked neclastic sediments
Schmidtsdrif lavas: 2642 Ma ( Walraven and Martini, 1995)
Generally low
High due to dominance of siliciclastics in both Schmidtsdrif and Black Reef
ca 2.66 Ga ( Eriksson and Reczko, 1995)
Low
High extensive volcanism (plume)
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opment of a number of restricted volcanosedimentary successions (protobasinal units, a purely descriptive term; Table 1) within the Transvaal basin. Tectonic control on protobasinal sedimentation most likely reects a continuation of the extensional regime associated with the Ventersdorp volcanism. Peneplanation and deposition of the Black Reef Formation ( Table 1) in the Transvaal and Kanye basins may logically have followed upon the second Limpopo collisional event, at ca 2.58 Ga ( Treloar and Blenkinsop, 1995). The uppermost parts of the Black Reef Formation reect shallow marine inundation, as does the Schmidtsdrif Subgroup (Ghaap Group, Griqualand West; Table 1). Carbonate platform sedimentation began in the southwestern Prieska sub-basin (see Fig. 7, Section 4) of the Griqualand West basin, between 2642 and 2588 Ma (Altermann and Nelson, 1998), followed by a major transgression on the Kaapvaal craton at ca 2583 Ma (Martin et al., 1998) to 2550 Ma. The resultant thick carbonate succession was followed by a second major transgression after 2516 Ma (Altermann and Nelson, 1998), during which banded iron formation (BIF ) deposits developed over much of the Kaapvaal craton (Beukes, 1980, 1983; Nelson et al., 1999) ( Table 1; Fig. 7). In general terms, low freeboard and high sea level are indicated for the ca 25502430 Ma carbonate BIF epeiric trangression of the Kaapvaal craton. The largely siliciclastic sediments of the Schmidtsdrif Subgroup and Black Reef Formation (26422588 Ma) point to elevated freeboard compared to the younger carbonateBIF platform. Radiometric age data from the Limpopo belt, discussed previously, indicate the possibility of compressional orogenic events on the northern margin of the Kaapvaal craton during the 2642 2430 Ma period. However, there does not seem to have been any inuence on the northern part of the Transvaal epeiric sea from this orogeny, as there is no evidence for signicant clastic inux into the carbonateBIF platform succession. Following a widespread hiatus, approximately between 2430 and 2350 Ma, during which considerable weathering and erosion of BIF and the underlying carbonate platform rocks occurred, deposition of the Pretoria Group ( Transvaal and
Kanye basins) ( Table 1) and of the correlated Postmasburg Group (Griqualand West basin) followed. This hiatus is compatible with lowered sea level and elevated freeboard conditions. Periglacial detritus shed into the Timeball Hill shallow sea from a glacial centre on the Vryburg Rise palaeohigh, separating the Transvaal and Griqualand West basins, correlates with the terrestrial basal Makganyene glacial diamictites in the latter depository (Table 1) ( Visser, 1971; Eriksson et al., 1993a). The latter glacial deposits, resting erosively on older rocks in the Griqualand West basin, point to eustatic lowering of sea level and enhanced freeboard; the Timeball Hill epeiric sea was thus probably a local exception to this trend. The combination of subaerial lavas and uviolacustrine continental sediments (Boshoek to Dwaalheuwel Formations), succeeding the Timeball Hill Formation, suggests continuation of low sea levelhigh freeboard conditions ( Table 1). Renewed rifting of the Pretoria Group basin (Daspoort Formation) ushered in a second and more widespread transgressive epeiric sea environment (SilvertonMagaliesberg Formations, Table 1), compatible with high sea levelrelatively low freeboard conditions. Such conditions are reected also in the BIF of the Hotazel Formation which succeed the Ongeluk Formation volcanics of the Postmasburg Group in Griqualand West. Intrusion of the Bushveld Complex, at 2061 27 Ma [ Walraven et al. (1990); more recently given as 2054 Ma by Armstrong and McCourt (1997)] terminated Transvaal Supergroup sedimentation ( Fig. 3). To the west of the Kaapvaal craton, the NamaquaNatal mobile belt includes basement rocks and supercrustal lithologies which were related to the ca 2.0 Ga Eburnean event. The supercrustal rocks of the Kheis province (Fig. 1), with a maximum age of 1.93 Ga ( Walraven and Martini, 1995), essentially fall without the time period discussed here. Eburnean basement rocks include the Achab Gneis in the Richtersveld province ( Watkeys, 1986), and those in the Okwa River area of Botswana ( Thomas et al., 1993), northwest of the Kaapvaal craton (Fig. 1). The Haib Subgroup metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks in the Richtersveld province are thought to
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reect a continental margin island arc (Colliston and Schoch, 1998), analogous in genesis to the Birimian Supergroup of the West African craton (Section 2.1). The relatively high grade metamorphism and deformation in these rocks prevents inferences being made on sea level and freeboard changes for these terranes. 2.3. Zimbabwe craton Large parts of the Zimbabwe craton were aected by compressional tectonics between 2.7 and 2.6 Ga, caused probably by terrane accretion from the north and a southward subduction of oceanic crust beneath the TokweZimbabwe continental crust ( Kusky, 1998). Such a tectonic regime is not obvious on the Kaapvaal craton at these times (compare with Section 2.2). Only with the intrusion of the 480 km long Great Dyke at ca 2.58 Ga (Mukasa et al., 1996), did a regionally widespread extensional tectonic regime prevail on the Zimbabwe craton, by which time thick continental crust and mature cratonic conditions had presumably been attained. However, an approximate 2.58 Ga age is also inferred for collision of the Zimbabwe craton with the KaapvaalCentral Zone plate during the Limpopo orogeny ( Treloar and Blenkinsop, 1995) ( Fig. 3). Although it is possible that this collision may have produced tectonic conditions conducive to Great Dyke intrusion, other workers (e.g. Barton et al., 1994; Cheney, 1996; Holzer et al., 1998) argue for younger Limpopo orogenic ages of 2.47 to 2.05 1.95 Ga. The Zimbabwe craton lacks rocks equivalent to the lower and middle Transvaal Supergroup (ca 2600 to >2222 Ma carbonateBIF and mudrock tilloid succession). Such sediments were either not deposited on the Zimbabwe craton, or were eroded before the Magondi Supergroup was laid down, thus reecting a high freeboard condition at some time between 2600 and 2200 Ma. Thermal uplift related to Great Dyke intrusion and concomitant rifting presumably contributed to this high freeboard. The Magondi Supergroup overlies this late Archaean basement, and comprises three groups ( Table 2). The Piriwiri lithologies are analogous to the epeiric marine deposits of the Silverton
Formation in the Transvaal basin, Kaapvaal craton, also thought to be >2150 Ma old. As an alternative view to the depositional models given in Table 1, the combination of pelagic suspensiondeposited mudrocks, subaqueous volcanics, turbidites and subordinate carbonate rocks in the Piriwiri, may also occur within epeiric marine settings (e.g. Eriksson and Reczko, 1998), such as also suggested for the Silverton Formation ( Eriksson, 1997). High sea level may also be inferred for the Piriwiri Group, although its higher metamorphic grade (e.g. Munyanyiwa and Maaskant, 1998) signals a dierent burial and tectonic history for this part of the Zimbabwe craton when compared to the Transvaal basin. In view of palaeomagnetic evidence ( Fig. 2) that the Kalahari craton lay to the south of the Tanzania and Bengweula crustal blocks during the Early Proterozoic, Deweras rifting may well have been related to the Eburnean collision between Zimbabwe and the two northern cratonic terranes. Rifting is also proposed to have been related to the intrusion of the Bushveld Complex into the Kaapvaal craton (e.g. Eriksson et al., 1991; Von Gruenewaldt and Harmer, 1993) at 2054 Ma (Armstrong and McCourt, 1997); this was conceivably also related to the ca 2.0 Ga Eburnean collisional event. The tilting and erosion of the Deweras Group, which preceded deposition of the subsequent Lomagundi Group ( Table 2), was possibly also associated with this widespread orogenic event. The Lomagundi Group probably reects drowning following thermal subsidence of the Deweras rifted basin (Stagman, 1981; Master, 1991). Continuation of the Magondi orogeny until ca 1.8 Ga resulted in S-SE directed thrusting of the Piriwiri over the Lomagundi Group, and of the latter onto the Deweras Group (Stagman, 1981; Master, 1991). Master (1993) suggests that the Magondi, Okwa and Kheis terranes ( Fig. 1; Section 2.2) formed as a result of an Eburneanaged destructive plate margin developed to the northwest of the Kalahari craton. 2.4. Southwestern Congo craton The only 2.72.0 Ga succession here, the Oendolongo Supergroup ( Fig. 1), rests uncon-
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Table 2 Magondi Supergroup, Zimbabwe Craton geological overview (data from: Stagman, 1981; Cahen et al., 1984; Leyshon and Tennick, 1988; Master, 1991, 1995) Supergroup Group Formation/facies Lithology Sedimentary history Marine coastline carbonate platform and stable shelf Sea level Freeboard
Magondi
Lomagundi (<2.0 Ga)
Deweras Southern facies (2060100 Ma)
Mature quartzose sandstones, carbonate rocks, mudrocks and subordinate volcanic rocks (3475 m) Arkose (mudrock) (800 m)
High
Low
Braided streams and volcanism strikeslip fault systems
Low
High plume volcanism and rifting
Northern facies
Piriwiri (>2.15 Ga)
Chitena
Tholeiitic lavas (agglomerate) (1000 m) Immature clastic sediments (thin) Siliciclastic sediments, mac lavas (pyroclastics) (600 m) Calcareous evaporitic mudrocks (sandstones) (500 m) Arkosic red beds and conglomerate (200 m) Graphitic phyllite, chert, black shale
Volcanism
Low
High volcanism (plume) and rift setting
Playa lake and at, locally aeolian
Distal fan
Deep euxinic slope abyssal fan and plain or eugeosynclinal ysch
High
Low
Kanyaga
Phyllite, wacke, micaceous, quartzite, minor carbonate rocks
formably on a granitic and migmatised basement of at least 2600 Ma age (Cahen et al., 1984). The Oendolongo Supergroup comprises a basal predominantly volcano-sedimentary Jamba Group, which includes BIF, localised carbonate rocks and clastic metasediments, and which is considered to
be Late Archaean in age (Carvalho, 1972; Silva, 1977; Bassot et al., 1981). The succeeding Chivanda Group follows unconformably, and locally exhibits a succession of schists (possibly originally tus), medial sandstones and conglomerates, and upper black schists ( Torquato and Toma s
280
Oliviera, 1977). The Chivanda Group underwent a regional metamorphic event at 216199 Ma and a thermal event at 206356 Ma (Bassot et al., 1981; Cahen et al., 1984). The Jamba Group, including BIF and localised carbonate rocks, and which appears to be Late Archaean in age, is possibly analogous with the lower transgressive carbonateBIF succession (CampbellrandMalmani Subgroups) of the Kaapvaal craton ( Fig. 3). The black schists in the upper part of the Chivanda Group, >216199 Ma in age, are comparable in general lithology and lower age limit with the >2150 Ma Silverton Formation (Pretoria Group, Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton) transgression and the probably epeiric marine >2150 Ma Piriwiri Group (Zimbabwe craton) ( Fig. 3). 2.5. Kasai Shield, southeastern Congo craton Volcanosedimentary stratigraphic units within the 2.72.0 Ga interval in this region ( Fig. 1) are limited to the Luiza Supergroup, and, possibly, also to the Lulua Group (Petters, 1991). The <2560 Ma and >243248 Ma Luiza Supergroup unconformably overlies basement tonalites and granodioritic gneisses (Cahen et al., 1984), and consists of quartzites, micaschists and BIF (Petters, 1991). The presence of BIF and the apparent age of the Luiza indicate the possibility of a widespread occurrence of raised sea level and decreased continental freeboard in parts of Africa at the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary, encompassing also the carbonateBIF succession of the lower Transvaal Supergroup on the Kaapvaal craton, and the Jamba Group in the SW Congo craton ( Fig. 3). The Lulua Group is generally fault-bounded and in faulted contact with the Luiza rocks, and comprises ca 6000 m of clastic metasedimentary rocks and greenstones, the latter including spillitic basalts and pillow lavas (Petters, 1991). The Lulua has been interpreted as either unconformable upon the Luiza Supergroup, or as a foreland equivalent onto which the Luiza was thrust (Cahen et al., 1984). Available geochronology mostly gives Middle to Late Proterozoic whole rock RbSr ages for the Lulua, with a possible age of
207836 Ma being obtained on one sample (Cahen et al., 1984) (Fig. 3). 2.6. Northwestern Congo craton (North Gabon Massif) There are two major 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions within this terrane: the Kimezian Supergroup in the south of the NW Congo craton (Fig. 1), and the lithologies associated with the Gabon orogenic belt in the north of the NW Congo cratonic area (Petters, 1991). The ca 2600208860 Ma Kimezian Supergroup originally comprised a shelf association of mudrocks, quartzose sandstones and limestones which were metamorphosed to amphibolite facies; further alteration occurred during the Late Proterozoic Western Congolian orogeny, which produced migmatites and gneisses (Cahen et al., 1984). The poorly dated Kimezian is possibly analogous to the general depositional setting envisaged for the Late Archaeanearly Palaeoproterozoic Lower Transvaal ( Kaapvaal craton)Jamba Group (SW Congo craton)Luiza Supergroup ( Kasai Shield ) epeiric marine assemblages, which also included BIF (Fig. 3). A more intense tectono-thermal collisional event in the north of the NW Congo craton produced the Gabon orogenic belt, which comprises, from west to east, Archaean basement rocks, the metamorphic rocks of the Ogooue Supergroup, in turn thrust eastwards over the foreland of the Francevillian Supergroup (Ledru et al., 1989). The Francevillian Supergroup ( Table 3) unconformably overlies 2.73.3 Ga granitic basement rocks. The inferred drowning event concomitant with pyriticasphaltic sandstone deposition in the upper part of FA, at ca >2143 Ma, may be analogous to that interpreted for the shelf-related black mudrocks of the >2150 Ma Silverton Formation (upper Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton), the graphitic phyllites of the >2150 Ma Piriwiri Group (Zimbabwe craton) and the black schists of the >2161 Ma Chivanda Group (SW Congo craton) (Fig. 3). Crustal convergence and crustal shortening are generally proposed for the Gabon orogenic belt at ca 2.0 Ga (e.g. Shackleton, 1986; Ledru et al.,
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Table 3 The Francevillian Supergroup, NW Congo craton: geological overview (data from: Weber and Bonhomme, 1975; Bonhomme et al., 1982; Cahen et al., 1984; Gauthier-Lafaye, 1986) Supergroup Sub-units Lithology Sandstones (interbedded mudrocks) Ignimbritic tus Black mudrocks Banded chert and massive dolomite (50 m) Ma-carbonate and BIF Sedimentary history Possibly littoral Sea level Decreasing? Freeboard Increasing?
Francevillian FE (>2.14 Ga <2050 Ma) FD FC
Marine shelf Marine shelf
High High
Low Low (chemical shelf sediments) Low (chemical shelf sediments)
FB (600 m) ( lower part synchronous with NGoutou)
Marine shelf
High
NGoutou Complex (2143143 Ma) FA
Calcareous black mudrocks (sandstones) Submarine mac volcanics and sandy pelites Subvolcanic rocks (pyroclastic) Coarse feldspathic sandstones; lower evaporitic red beds unconformably overlain by pyriticasphaltic sandstones with U deposits (1000 m)
Subvolcanic Complex Continental sedimentation in active tectonic setting; upper drowning.
? Initially low, followed by transgression
? Changing, relatively, from higher to lower
1989), and palaeomagnetic data support an Eburnean collision between the Sao Francisco and Congo cratons at this time (Onstott and Hargraves, 1981; DAgrella-Filho et al., 1996). 2.7. NE Congo craton and the Tanzania craton The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record in this region encompasses metamorphosed rocks within the Ubendian, Usugaran and Ruwenzori mobile belts ( Figs. 1 and 2). High grade metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks which characterise the Ubendian belt preclude estimation of sea level and freeboard conditions. The Ruwenzori belt (Fig. 1), encompassing the predominantly volcanic Buganda-Toro Supergroup ( Tanner, 1970, 1973), and the analogous, eastwest trending Luhule-Mobisio Group in the NE Congo craton (Fig. 1) are poorly constrained in age: <2.5 and
> 2.05 Ga (Cahen et al., 1984) ( Fig. 3). Postulates on sea level and freeboard for the Usugaran Supergroup in the mobile belt of the same name ( Figs. 1 and 2) are similarly precluded by a lack of chronological data (Cahen et al., 1984) ( Fig. 3) and by widespread high grade metamorphism. Petters (1991) and Lenoir et al. (1994) discuss the geological history of the Eburnean collisional events in this general region.
3. The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record of India 3.1. Introduction Extensive Deccan lavas and younger sediment cover, as well as the paucity of accurate chronological data are problems inherent in studying the
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Precambrian evolution of India. The South Indian (SIB) and North Indian (NIB) Blocks were amalgamated along a linear orogenic belt (the Central Indian tectonic zone, or CITZ) (Fig. 4) and comprised the united SIBNIB terranes at 2.0 Ga; other crustal fragments probably accreted later. It should be noted here that many Indian authors use the term Peninsular Indian Shield for the combined cratons and mobile belts which make
up early Precambrian India (e.g. Paliwal, 1998). As shield was dened as a component or nucleus of a craton in Section 2.1 of this paper, consistency requires that this Indian usage be excluded here. The SIB and NIB dier from each other in many signicant aspects ( Table 4) and there is general agreement about their dierent cratonic evolution. Controversy, however, exists about the timing of their amalgamation (Radhakrishna, 1983;
Fig. 4. Crustal structure of Pensinsular India: three early Precambrian crustal provinces separated by linear rifts in the SIB, and the AravalliBundelkhand province of the NIB; SIB and NIB separated by the CITZ, also a rift zone. See Table 5 and Fig. 5 for ages.
P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302 Table 4 Signicant dierences between the SIB and NIB [some data from Sivaraman and Odom (1982) and Sinha Roy (1988)] Aspects SIB Dharwar Gravity contour Initial rifting Closing of initial rift basin Banded magnetite quartzite Banded hematite quartzite Inferred Wilson cycle operation Granitoid intrusion events Archaean K-rich granite intrusion Inferred mantle plume upwelling Basement thickness Carbonate deposits Dominant structural trend Open ca 3.0 Ga ca 2.5 Ga Substantial Substantial No 3.0, 2.5 Ga None Middlelate Archaean Moderate (38 km) Moderate NorthSouth Singhbhum Bastar NIB
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AravalliBundelkhand Closed ca 2.5 Ga Insignicant Absent Yes 2.9, 2.6, 2.0 Ga 2.6 Ga Early Proterozoic Very high (82 km) High NortheastSouthwest
ca 3.3 Ga ca 2.1 Ga Moderate Substantial No 3.3, 3.1, 2.1 Ga Middle Archaean Early Proterozoic Moderate (48 km) Low
ca 3.2 Ga ca 2.5 Ga Substantial Substantial Yes 2.5, 2.2 Ga Moderate (42 km) Moderate
Radhakrishna and Naqvi, 1986; Radhakrishna and Ramkrishnan, 1988). Prior to 2.0 Ga, there were four crustal provinces or cratons, three of them in the SIB and the other in the NIB (Fig. 4). All of them are typical Archaean tonalitetrondhjemitegranodiorite ( TTG)greenstone terranes. TTG basement growth continued in the SIB up to ca 3.0 Ga, while in the NIB crustal stabilisation was achieved at ca 2.5 Ga. All four crustal provinces are characterised by greenschist to lower amphibolite facies metamorphism, with local granulites occurring in the NIB (Sharma, 1995; Dasgupta et al., 1997). In the SIB, early Precambrian volcano-sedimentary successions remain conned to the Archaean in the Bastar and Dharwar provinces; only in Singhbhum do they transgress the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary. In the AravalliBundelkhand province (NIB), on the other hand, the supracrustal record appears to have been initiated only at ca 2.0 Ga ( Table 5; Fig. 5). 3.2. Singhbhum crustal province The oldest rocks in India [ca 3.6 Ga (Pb isotope) basement rocks; Saha and Roy (1984); Bhattacharya (1998)] and the most extensive Late ArchaeanEarly Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary record are found in the Singhbhum province. Potassium-rich (3.22%) granodiorites, with a high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.711 (Saha, 1994), point
to cratonisation having been completed by ca 3.1 3.0 Ga in Singhbhum. Immediately overlying the Singhbhum basement is the ca <3.3 and ca >3.1 Ga (Singh, 1998) Older Iron Ore Group ( Fig. 5). The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record in Singhbhum ( Table 5) begins with the Late Archaean Younger Iron Ore Group ( Fig. 5), characterised by haematitic iron formations ( Table 5). Shallow marine to shelf deposition under general highstand conditions is inferred for these rocks and a combination of raised sea level and lowered continental freeboard would logically have been pertinent. The presence of inferred glacigenic rocks (eld work in progress, secondfourth authors), evidence for higher freeboard-type continental sedimentation and plume-related subaerial volcanism in the Dhanjori Formation ( Table 5) suggest possible correlation with the global ca 2.42.2 Ga glaciation event, which Aspler and Chiarenzelli (1998) also relate to plume uplift of continental crust. A punctuated Early Proterozoic transgression ( Fig. 5) is possible for the Chaibasa Formation Dhalbhum FormationKolhan Group succession ( Table 5). Common slumps and slides within the Dhalbhum Formation point to active tectonism, probably related to thermally (mantle plume) enhanced freeboard. The Kolhan and Chaibasa deposits both reect higher sea level conditions, while the Dhalbhum points to a truncation of this
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Table 5 Late ArchaeanEarly Proterozoic stratigraphy of the Indian craton (data from: Heron, 1953; Roy and Paliwal, 1981; Sarkar, 1982; Gupta et al., 1985; Srinivasan and Ojakangas, 1986; Bhattacharyya et al., 1988; Chadwick et al., 1988; Deb et al., 1989; Deb and Sarkar, 1990; Ghosh and Chatterjee, 1990, 1994; Roy, 1990; Ramakrishnan, 1990; Ahmad and Rajamani, 1991; Alvi and Raza, 1992; Bhaskar Rao et al., 1992; Dasgupta et al., 1992; Ghosh et al., 1992; Roy et al., 1993; Sarkar et al., 1993; Sinha-Roy et al., 1993; Ahmad and Tarney, 1994, Saha, 1994; Bandyopadhaya et al., 1995; Mazumder, 1996; Ray et al., 1996; Bose et al., 1997; Sengupta et al., 1997; Singh, 1997) Cratonic province Singhbhum crustal province Stratigraphy Lithology Sedimentary History
Kolhan Group (>2.1 Ga)
Dhalbhum Formation (unconf.)
Chaibasa Formation (unconf.)
Dhanjori Formation (unconf.)
Younger Iron Ore Group (>2.55 Ga and <3.0 Ga)
Lower arkose quartzite mudrock (conglomerate) succession and upper carbonate succession Predominant bimodal volcanics and immature quartzites (ner siliciclastics) Mature quartzites and interbedded mudrocks, minor volcanics Basal glacigenic boulder bed, conglomerates and immature arkoses, common volcanic rocks (komatiite basalt) Hematitic BIF, mudrocks, tuaceous shale, chert, sandstone (dolomite and conglomerate); komatiiticbasaltic volcanics Chitradurga Group Hiriyur Fm Mudrocks, chert (conglomerate) Chert, Mn and Fe deposits, bimodal volcanics (pyroclastics) Carbonate rocks (mudrocks) Wackes, mudrocks (conglomerates) BIF (volcanics, mudrocks) Bimodal volcanic rocks
Fluvial ( lower) to shallow marine (upper), in faultbounded basin Thermal (plume) elevation, volcanism, uvial/aeolian sedimentation Tectonic quiescence and transgressive marine setting Glacial uviolacustrine; plume elevation
Shallow marine to shelf deposition
Dharwar crustal province
Dharwar Supergroup (ca 3.02.5 Ga)
Relatively deep marine Deeper shelfmarine basin
Ingaldhal Fm
Vanivilas Fm Bababudan Group Mundre Fm Jagar Fm Mulaingiri Fm Santavery Fm
Marine shelf Transgressive marine shelf conditions
Thermal elevation, continental volcanism and uvial sedimentation
P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302 Table 5 (contined ) Cratonic province Stratigraphy Lithology
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Sedimentary History
Allampur Fm Kalaspura Fm
Macultramac sills and quartzites Oligomict conglomerates, quartzites, mac volcanics and pyroclastics (subaerial ) Bimodal volcanics (pyroclastics) BIF, chert, mudrocks (coarse siliciclastics) Conglomerate quartziteschists and intercalated metabasites Volcanism and crustal thickening Marine transgressionshelf sedimentation Regressive continental deposition
Bastar crustal province
(ca 2.952.6 Ga)
Nandagao Group
Bailadila Group
Bengpal Group (unconf.)
Aravalli Bundelkhand crustal province
(Aravalli Supergroup, ca 2.01.75 Ga; Bijawar and Gwalior basins, Bundelkhand craton, ca 2.0 1.4 Ga)
transgressive trend in the Early Proterozoic of the Singhbhum crustal province ( Fig. 5; Table 5). Anorogenic granitic magmatism at ca 2.1 Ga terminated Proterozoic deposition in Singhbhum, ushering in an enormous stratigraphic hiatus there until the Tertiary (Saha et al., 1988). 3.3. Dharwar crustal province The Middle Archean TTGgreenstone basement of Dharwar has an extensively developed regolith ( Fig. 5), indicating exposure and most likely elevated freeboard at ca 3.0 Ga, upon which the Late Archaean Dharwar Supergroup was deposited unconformably (Chardon et al., 1998) ( Table 5). Low sea level and high freeboard conditions appear to have continued into the basal part of the lower Bababudan Group of this unit ( Table 5; Fig. 5). Reduction in freeboard and rising sea levels are inferred for the upper three
formations of the Bababudan Group (Fig. 5). The Chitradurga Group of the Dharwar Supergroup begins with shelf deposits ( Table 5), thus indicating a further continuation of high sea level, lowered freeboard conditions (Chadwick et al., 1988), followed by deeper shelf to possibly marine basin conditions (Bhattacharyya et al., 1988; Naqvi et al., 1988). Stromatolitic carbonates of the Vanivilas Formation at the base of the Chitradurga Group (Fig. 5) appear to be deep shelf deposits (Naqvi et al., 1988), thus indicating greater water depths than normally inferred for shelf carbonates. Naqvi et al. (1988) suggest an active continental margin setting for the Chitradurga argillites. The Late Archaean volcano-sedimentary record in the Dharwar crustal province was terminated by granitic intrusions at ca 2.5 Ga (Friend and Nutman, 1991) (Fig. 5), followed by a large stratigraphic gap until the Middle Proterozoic. Peucat et al. (1989) suggest that this 2.5 Ga event in Dharwar
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Fig. 5. Geohistory summary chart for the 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary successions of the Singhbhum, Dharwar, Bastar and AravalliBundelkhand crustal provinces, Peninsular India. See Table 5 for sources of data and text for details. Note, Late Archaean carbonateBIF-(siliciclastic) association probably related to transgressive drowning of cratonic terranes, and alternation of high sea level and high freeboard deposits in the Early Proterozoic period.
included accretion of ca 2.5 Ga crust in a subduction setting. 3.4. Bastar crustal province The TTGgreenstone basement in Bastar is unconformably overlain by a succession of three volcano-sedimentary groups of Late Archaean age ( Table 5), terminated by anorogenic granite intrusion at ca 2.62.5 Ga (Sarkar et al., 1993) ( Fig. 5). The Bengpal Group is ascribed to regressive deposition (Ramakrishnan, 1990), thus suggesting low-
ered sea level and enhanced freeboard. Subsequent transgressive marine sediments of the Bailadila Group may be the approximate correlates of the Late Archaean Younger Iron Ore Group in Singhbhum and of the uppermost Bababudan and succeeding Chitradurga BIF in Dharwar (Fig. 5). Marine sedimentation in Bastar was terminated by the Nandagao Group, an enormous thickness of volcanic rocks possibly related to crustal thickening of the Bastar craton (Mahadeven, 1998). Two further supracrustal volcano-sedimentary units occur in the Bastar crustal province, but their stratigraphic constraints are uncertain ( Fig. 5).
287
3.5. AravalliBundelkhand crustal province This comprises the Aravalli craton, lying to the northwest and separated from the Bundelkhand craton to the southeast by younger rocks ( Fig. 4). It is thought that the Bundelkhand craton may represent the central part of a much more widespread Archaean Bundelkhand province, encompassing the Aravalli region and extending also further northwards to form the basement to the Lesser Himalayan belt (Sharma, 1998). The Archaean basement of the Bundelkhand craton, comprising quartzites, BIF, schists and amphibolite, engulfed in TTG intrusives, is thought to be comparable to the Banded Gneiss Complex of the Aravalli craton (Sharma, 1998). The greater Bundelkhand crustal province thus appears to be a typical Archaean cratonic terrane. Granite intrusions into Aravalli craton basement rocks at ca 2.5 Ga (Fig. 5) were followed by the deposition of the Aravalli Supergroup ( Table 5), a succession commonly held to be Palaeoproterozoic in age (e.g. Bhattacharya, 1998). However, Pb isotope data (Deb et al., 1989; Deb and Sarkar, 1990) indicate clearly that the Aravalli Supergroup is ca 2.01.75 Ga (Sinha Roy, 1988; Banerjee and Bhattacharya, 1994; Verma, 1998), and it thus falls outside the compass of this paper. In the Bundelkhand craton to the southeast, the 2.72.0 Ga record is more substantial but includes no signicant volcano-sedimentary successions. Cratonisation here became complete with large scale granitoid intrusion and associated rhyolitic eruptives, possibly related to micro-plate accretion (Rahman and Zainuddin, 1993); geochronology indicates that this felsic magmatism was Palaeoproterozoic in age, and data suggest 2.52.1 Ga or a narrower time frame of 2.52.4 Ga (Sarkar et al., 1984; Sharma, 1998). Hydrothermal quartz veining on a large scale, dated at ca 2.0 Ga (Sharma, 1998), preceded deposition in the Bijawar and Gwalior basins, and their volcanosedimentary successions developed marginally to the Bundelkhand craton at some time between 2.0 and 1.4 Ga (Sharma, 1998). Sharma (1998) proposes a compressional tectonic regime for the Bundelkhand craton during the 2.72.0 Ga period considered in this paper, thereby suggesting the
possibility of high freeboard-lowered sea level conditions for this region.
4. The 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record of Australia 4.1. Introduction The Australian continent comprises dierent Archaean crustal blocks including the Pilbara craton, the Yilgarn craton and the Gawler craton ( Fig. 6), and Proterozoic trough sediments and volcanics. The Pilbara craton stabilised at >3.0 Ga (Nelson et al., 1999), the Yilgarn crust at ca 2.7 2.6 Ga (Nelson, 1998) and the Gawler crust at ca 2.5 Ga (Daly and Fanning, 1990). The Yilgarn craton, however, yields the oldest known detrital zircons, of 4.28 Ga (Myers, 1995). Late Archaean sedimentary cover rocks (2.72.5 Ga) are widespread only on the Pilbara craton. Early Proterozoic cover rocks are more common and can be traced on all three cratons and in some linear belts or inliers of central and northern Australia, such as the 2.11.9 Ga Pine Creek inlier, or the Tennant Creek inlier (Fig. 6), both with turbiditic and BIF, deep water, isoclinally folded sediments. The Gawler craton experienced three deformation episodes with a peak deformation and metamorphism during the ca 2450 Ma Sleafordian orogeny, followed by granitic intrusions at 2440 2300 Ma (Daly and Fanning, 1990). Sediments of 2.52.0 Ga are not known from the Gawler craton and were either never deposited, or eroded away before the NNE trending, ca 1.951.85 Ga ( Fanning et al., 1988) Hutchison Group was laid down. 4.2. Yilgarn craton The Yilgarn craton comprises high grade gneisses and associated lithologies of the Western Gneiss terrain, and an eastern low grade granitoid greenstone terrain (Myers, 1997). The Western Gneiss terrain contains an old epicontinental to continental metasedimentary sequence with detrital zircon ages between 3.3 and 4.28 Ga (Narryer Gneiss Complex), and has a conspicuous lack of
288
volcanic intercalations (Myers, 1995). It thus provides evidence for the earliest formation of continental crust and, concomitantly, of high freeboard conditions. The eastern terrain generally has younger igneous ages, <3.0 Ga, and the metasediments are associated with basic volcanics and are of typical greenstone anity. The major tectonothermal event througout the Yilgarn craton, including the Narryer Gneiss Complex, is dated at ca 2650 Ma (Myers, 1995, 1997). Late Archaean cover sediments have yet to be identied on the Yilgarn craton. The northern Yilgarn craton exhibits 2.2 1.6 Ga lithologies in two sedimentary cycles within the Nabberu basin. This basin contains thick, Superior-type granular and pelletal BIF in predominantly shallow water facies. Low to moderate continental freeboard can be interpreted for the Nabberu basin sediments, which include the shelf sediments of the Glengarry (2.21.8 Ga) and overlying Earaheedy Groups (ca1.81.7 Ga). The Glengarry Group sediments may be a lateral, deep water facies equivalent of the Wyloo Group (see below, Pilbara craton) of the central Capricorn orogen, where the Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons amalgamated at ca 2.01.8 Ga. The central Yilgarn craton exhibits Early Proterozoic intrusive rocks that are genetically and morphologically similar to
the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe, but signicantly younger at 2.42 Ga than their African counterpart. 4.3. Pilbara craton The Pilbara craton exhibits a widespread and thick late Archaean to Middle Proterozoic sedimentary cover ( Table 6; Fig. 8). Lithological similarities to the Ventersdorp and Transvaal Supergroups of the Kaapvaal craton ( Fig. 7) led in the past to several comparisons of the development of 2.72.0 Ga basins on the two cratons ( Trendall, 1968, Button, 1976), culminating in the suggestion of a joint Vaalbara continent (Cheney, 1996). However, as discussed by Nelson et al. (1999), with the accumulation of more precise isotopic age data, such correlations and palaeogeographic reconstructions become untenable and the dierences of the basinal development and the sedimentary record between the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons become striking and genetically important. Microtectite layers preserved in both the Pilbara and Kaapvaal successions ( Woodhead et al., 1998; Simonson et al., 1999) may provide tie-lines (Fig. 7) in attempted detailed correlations of the early Precambrian supracrustal rocks of these two cratons. However, palaeomagnetism does not support contiguity. Local uplift and erosion were active during the deposition of the Fortescue Group ( Table 6; Fig. 8), and a high to moderate continental freeboard must be assumed. The Fortescue Group formed during a period of extensional, continental tectonics that culminated in deep shelf-type basins on cratonic basement, in which continuous chemical sedimentation with very little clastic disturbance took place (overlying Hamersley Group). The sediments of the Hamersley Group ( Table 6; Fig. 7) show no signicant continental inux apart from suspension-deposited mudrocks, and therefore indicate low continental freeboard. The >2400 m thickness and 180 Ma duration of Hamersley Group sedimentation thus points to a long period of very low continental freeboard conditions for large parts of the Pilbara craton. The lowering of continental freeboard was probably initiated during the Jeerinah Formation ( Fig. 8) volcanism of the Fortescue Group,
Fig. 6. Distribution of the Archaean Pilbara, Yilgarn and Gawler cratons of Australia and of some Early Proterozoic folded sedimentary inliers, as discussed in the text.
289
Table 6 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record of the Pilbara Craton, Australia. (Data from: Trendall, 1976, 1981, 1983, unpublished; Thorne 1983, 1986; Walter, 1983; Arndt et al., 1991; Simonson et al., 1993; Cheney, 1996; Barley et al., 1997; Trendall et al., 1998; Martin et al., 1999; Nelson et al., 1999) Group Formation Lithology Clastic sediments and basalts Geological history Detailed investigations not available; upper shallowing-upward sequence including stromatolitic carbonates Uncertain; subsidence of S. margin of preceding Hamersley basin and/or uplift of Pilbara block; diamictite and carbonates probably shallow-subaqueous Deep shelf chemical sedimentation Subaqueous volcanism Deep shelf chemical sedimentation Shallower shelf sedimentation Deep shelf chemical sedimentation Shallower shelf sedimentation Deep shelf chemical sedimentation Shallower shelf sedimentation Deep shelf chemical sedimentation Gravity ows below fair weather wave base - clastic carbonates from Archaean Carawine carbonate platform Deep shelf chemical sedimentation Extensional tectonics and probably plumerelated continental volcanism; sediments= lacustrine and alluvial Sea level Probably (relatively) low (?) Freeboard Increasing from low to moderate (except for uppermost part)
Wyloo (220915 1900 Ma) (unconformable)
Turee Creek (<24493 Ma and >2209 15 Ma) (conformable)
5000 m; Sandstones, wackes and siltstones (carbonate rocks); diamictite of Meteorite Bore Member in basal formation
Lowered sea level (?)
Cessation of Hamersley chemical sedimentation and onset of Turee Creek clastics points to raised freeboard
Hamersley Boolgeda (>2400 m thick) (conformable) Woongarra (24493 Ma) Weeli Wolli Brockman Iron Formation
BIF
High
Lowvery low
Felsic volcanics BIF Yandicoogina Mbr.shales Jore Mbr.-BIF Whaleback Mbr.shales Dales Gorge Mbr.BIF Mudrocks BIF Dolomites
High High Relatively lowershallower shelf High Shallow shelfrelatively lower High Relatively lower shallower shelf High Platform or shelf setting, that is, relatively shallower
Mount McRae Mount Sylvia Wittenoom
Marra Mamba (25975 Ma) Fortescue (277510 26295 Ma)
BIF Basalt, lesser komatiitic basalts, felsic lavas and clastic sediments; 7000 m in total; several unconformities and local disconformities do not encompass major time gaps (see Fig .8)
High Low Generally high; substantial lowering in upper Fortescue due to gradational upper contact with Hamersley Group
290
Fig. 7. Schematic stratigraphic prole through the Hamersley Group, Pilbara craton, Australia ( left-hand column). Also shown is the upper, Jeerinah Formation of the underlying Fortescue Group and the top contact of the Hamersley with the overlying Turee Creek Group. On the right-hand side, schematic proles through the carbonateBIF platform successions of the Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton are given for the Prieska and Ghaap Plateau sub-basins (Ghaap Group) of the Griqualand West basin and for the Transvaal basin (Malmani Subgroup dolomites and overlying BIF, all of the Chuniespoort Group; underlying Black Reef Formation). On the right-hand side of each Transvaal prole, inferred second order transgressionregression cycles of the Transvaal Supergroup are compared to cycles interpreted according to the same principles (sensu Altermann and Nelson, 1998) for the Hamersley Group (column A). Column B depicts cycles and megasequence subdivision of the Hamersley succession after Blake and Barley (1992). The vertical scale used throughout is the age of the formations in Ma. Note that the boundary between the Chichester Range Megasequence and the Hamersley Range Megasequence falls within the continuous deep shelf sedimentation of the Mount McRae Shale and is thus not denable. The transgressionregression cycles depicted are obviously of dierent orders (150 and <10 Ma duration). Transgressivelow freeboarddeep shelf conditions can be deduced from the curves for the Hamersley and Prieska columns between 2550 and <2450 Ma, and for the Ghaap Plateau and Transvaal columns between ca 2500 and 2450 Ma. The transgressive deposition of the Jeerinah Formation over older Fortescue Group rocks (Hamersley basin) preceded the transgressive deposition of the Vryburg rocks on the Kaapvaal craton by around 50 Ma (Prieska and Ghaap Plateau sub-basins) and deposition of upper Black Reef transgressive rocks ( Transvaal basin) by probably signicantly >50 my. The deposition of BIF and carbonate sediments on the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons is thus only broadly simultaneous (Nelson et al., 1999). The listed radiometric ages are on zircons, except for the PbPb age that is directly on carbonates: A, Arndt et al. (1991); Al, Altermann and Nelson (1998); B, Barley et al. (1997); M, Martin et al. (1998, 1999); N, Nelson et al. (1999); S, Woodhead et al. (1998); T, Trendall et al. (1990); T2, Trendall et al. (1995); T3, Trendall et al. (1998); W, Walraven and Martini (1995).
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ble with the Makganyene Formation glacial deposits of the Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton (Section 2.2) ( Trendall, 1976). Trendall (1981, 1983) emphasises that the conformably based Turee Creek Group must be seen as the terminal deposits of the Hamersley basin, characterised by the cessation of chemical deposition and the sudden supply of terrigenous material, caused probably by subsidence of the southern margin of the basin. This may conceivably also be viewed as reecting uplift of the Pilbara block relative to sea level, to expose the source area of the Turee Creek clastic sediments to erosion. Such an interpretation would support elevated freeboard conditions for at least the central part of the Pilbara craton during Turee Creek time (<24493 Ma). The poorly studied Wyloo Group (Fig. 8; Table 6), which unconformably overlies the Turee Creek Group, suggests progressively increasing freeboard conditions ( Table 6).
5. Discussion Early Precambrian supercontinents are dicult to recognise, and their reconstruction relies on palaeomagnetic data (often problematic), structural, lithological and mineralisation trends (e.g. Aspler and Chiarenzelli, 1998). Homan (1989,1992) postulated a ca 2.82.6 Ga North American supercontinent, Kenorland, which may also have included the Baltic and Siberian shields (Aspler and Chiarenzelli, 1998). The latter authors also proposed the southern supercontinent discussed here, but supporting evidence remains tenuous. Arndt (1999) discusses widespread continents as early as 3.0 Ga, and extensive Archaean conglomerates with tonalitic basement clasts on the Zimbabwe craton also suggest early continental crustal growth (e.g. Petters, 1991). Auriferous conglomerates are a common Archaean facies (e.g. Srinivasan and Ojakangas, 1986), with gold probably derived from reworked greenstones. The size of the Witwatersrand gold-bearing basin and the stability of the Kaapvaal craton during its deposition (ca 2.972.78 Ga; Robb and Meyer, 1995) are compatible with a central supercontinental location.
Fig. 8. Schematic stratigraphic column for the Pilbara craton, Australia, showing the Fortescue, Hamersley, Turee Creek and lower Wyloo Groups, as discussed in the text; not to vertical scale. Note the continuity of the sedimentary section from 2690 Ma at the base of the Jeerinah Formation to the top of the Turee Creek Group, for at least 250 Ma. Unconformities within the Fortescue Group are of minor importance, covering relatively short time spans. The disconformity above the Kylena Basalt is questionable and developed probably only on a very local scale. The radiometric ages are on zircons except for the PbPb ages, directly on carbonates. A, Arndt et al. (1991); B, Barley et al. (1997); M, Martin et al. (1998, 1999); S, Woodhead et al. (1998); T, Trendall et al. (1990); T2, Trendall et al. (1995); T3, Trendall et al. (1998).
because the transition to the Hamersley Group is conformable ( Table 6). The ca 2.42.2 Ga Turee Creek Group (Fig. 8) includes the conspicuous diamictite of the Meteorite Bore Member ( Table 6) of the basal Kungarra Formation. The latter may be correlati-
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The Congo and East Saharan cratons appear to have formed a large unied crustal plate in the Late Archaean (Figs. 1 and 2). Amalgamation of the SIB and NIB (Fig. 4) may predate 2.5 Ga ( Kale, 1998), supporting a Late Archaean supercontinent possibly centred on India (Rogers, 1993). Comparison of Kaapvaals Transvaal Supergroup basins with the Hamersley basin succession in Pilbara have given rise to a suggested Vaalbara supercontinent [Button (1976); Stanistreet (1993); Cheney (1996); see, however, Nelson et al. (1999)]. The Yilgarn and Superior (North America) cratons underwent a strikingly similar magmatic and sedimentary evolution from ca 2.72.4 Ga, suggesting that they belonged to a common Late Archaean craton; however, recent precise age data make such a scenario unlikely (Nelson, 1998). Comparisons such as those above need not necessarily reect adjoining positions for the southern cratons, but similarities could also merely be ascribed to similar conditions of supracratonic sedimentation, related to global processes (e.g. Nelson et al., 1999). For the 2.0 Ga EburneanAmazonian collisional event, the evidence is clearer that at least much of Africa and parts of South America were assembled into a supercontinent (Sections 1 and 2.6). In India, supracratonic sedimentation ceased in Singhbhum by about the same time (2.0 Ga) suggesting the possibility that Peninsular India, or at least parts of it, may also have been subject to such an assembly or collisional event. In Australia, the Yilgarn and Pilbara cratons amalgamated along the Capricorn orogen at ca 2.01.8 Ga (Section 4). In India, the Late Archaean Singhbhum and Dharwar crustal provinces underwent extension and rifting for much of the 2.72.0 Ga period; in Bastar, Late Archaean collision is suggested by large scale crustal thickening and widespread calcalkaline volcanism (Section 3), while in the AravalliBundelkhand crustal province, an analogous compressional regime is inferred for this time period (Sharma, 1998). On the Kaapvaal craton the ca 2.7 Ga Ventersdorp ood basalts support extensional tectonism, as do the 2775 2629 Ma Fortescue Group volcanics in Pilbara (Section 4). The emplacement of the 2.58 Ga Great Dyke in Zimbabwe (Mukasa et al., 1996) also
suggests a similar regime. This evidence for rifting is compatible with attenuation and dispersal of a southern Late Archaean supercontinent. In contrast to this idea, large scale granite intrusion and nal stabilisation of many of the cratons of Africa persisted between 2.7 and 2.0 Ga (Section 2), and a major tectono-thermal event is recorded in the Yilgarn craton at ca 2.65 Ga (Section 4). The possibly 2.682.58 Ga (Treloar and Blenkinsop, 1995) Limpopo collisional event between the Zimbabwe and Kaapvaal cratons may also have occurred during the early phase of this possible fragmentation of the postulated Late Archaean supercontinent. The alternative ca 2.0 Ga Limpopo age postulated by Holzer et al. (1998) implies that this collision was part of the Eburnean reassembly event discussed above. There is thus evidence for ca 2.72.0 Ga rifting and extension in the >2.0 Ga terranes that make up the present-day continents of Africa, India and Australia. This, along with well established collisional events ( Yilgarn at 2.65 Ga; Limpopo possibly at 2.682.58 Ga; Bastar in Late Archaean; AravalliBundelkhand in Late ArchaeanEarly Proterozoic) would be compatible with the ideas expressed by Nelson (1998) rather than with a more simplistic attenuation and dispersal of a southern supercontinent. Nelson (1998) discusses global scale catastrophic magmatic events which appear to have had a signicant inuence on the formation of Early Archaean crust, and suggests further that by Late ArchaeanEarly Proterozoic time, a transition to plate tectonic processes occurred. The increase in mid-ocean ridge volumes due to plate tectonics would have raised global sea levels (e.g. Eriksson, 1999), thereby ooding passive margin settings, while concomitantly increasing subduction rates promoted island arc-continent and small continentcontinent collisions. Freeboard would have been reduced for ooded passive margins and enhanced for collisional terranes. Local tectonic conditions and inherited Archaean structural crustal features may explain the diachronous nature of sea level changes seen on the Indian, African and Australian cratons and discussed below. Logically, the extensional tectonic regimes in the Late Archaean cratons discussed here were
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preceded by mantle plume activity. Concomitant enhanced mid-ocean ridge growth in the oceans and cratonic extension would reasonably have led to trangressive marine depositional environments on the passive margins of the cratonic plates. Mantle plumes are indicated for the ca 2.7 Ga Ventersdorp lavas of Kaapvaal ( Van der Westhuizen et al., 1991), for the ca 27752629 Ma Fortescue lavas of Pilbara (Nelson et al., 1999), for the 2.58 Ga Great Dyke in Zimbabwe and for 2.42 Ga intrusions in the Yilgarn craton, Australia. In India, Early Proterozoic volcanics in Singhbhum and Aravalli have a MORB anity (Bose et al., 1989; Alvi and Raza, 1992). Ophiolites, indicating closure of oceans during the Eburnean 2.0 Ga collisional event, are inferred for the North Gabon massif and Ruwenzori belts of Africa (Petters, 1991; Fig. 1). The 2.72.0 Ga African rock record reveals two possibly correlatible transgressive epeiric volcanosedimentary successions on many of the cratonic plates ( Fig. 3). It is important to note here that such correlations, as discussed throughout this paper, may change with the collection of more precise age data. The rst possible widespread transgression is exemplied by the GhaapChuniespoort Groups ( lower Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton, 26422432 Ma), the Jamba Group (SW Congo craton, estimated to be 2.62.5 Ga), the Luiza Supergroup ( Kasai shield, Congo craton, 25602432 Ma) and, possibly, by the poorly constrained Kimezian Supergroup ( W Congo craton, <2.6 Ga and >2143 Ma) and Konse Group ( Usugaran Supergroup, SE Tanzania craton, <2573 Ma and >2.1 Ga) (Fig. 3). All these successions include either carbonate rocks or BIF, or both (in addition to siliciclastic and volcanic lithologies). Carbonate BIF platforms would be a logical consequence of drowned passive margins of stable cratonic plates and raised sea levels/ lowered continental freeboard conditions; such conditions are compatible with the idea of enhanced mid-ocean ridge activity or the less plausible concept of Late Archaean supercontinent fragmentation. The widespread occurrence of this ca 2.62.4 Ga African epeiric succession would argue against an alternative interpretation of local tectonism as a cause of the
raised sea level and lowered freeboard. Other possible causes of raised sea level-lowered freeboard include changes in geoid relief and glacioisostacy. Although the former is impossible to resolve in rocks of this age, there is no evidence of glaciation, either in Africa or elsewhere in the rock record, at ca 2.62.4 Ga (e.g. Eriksson et al., 1998b). All three crustal provinces in the SIB, India, also exhibit a Late Archaean BIFlesser carbonatene-clastic assemblage, indicative of lowered freeboard and raised sea levels (Section 3) (Fig. 5). In Dharwar, local tectonism may also have played a role as the Bababudan and Chitradurga Groups BIF are separated by intervening comparatively higher freeboard sediments (nearshore carbonates) ( Fig. 5). In Australia, high freeboard in the Late Archaean is inferred from the 2650 Ma orgenic event in Yilgarn, and from the subaerial volcanism and continental sedimentation in the Fortescue Group, Pilbara craton. The Hamersley Group BIFcarbonate platform on the latter craton, dated at 2597524493 Ma (Section 4) is signicantly younger than the Bababudan BIF from the Dharwar craton (thought to be ca 2.7 Ga). As stated above, local tectonism and the thermal state of the various cratons would have been variable and can perhaps explain these apparently diachronous relationships, within a long Late Archaean Early Proterozoic time period characterised by common drowned passive margin conditions on many southern cratons. Postulated transgression regression cycles for the Hamersley Group (Pilbara craton, Australia) and the Transvaal Supergroup ( Kaapvaal craton, South Africa) (Fig. 7) provide further examples of such diachroneity within broadly correlatible global episodes of generally raised sea level conditions. Within the pre-2.0 Ga terranes that make up present-day Africa and Australia, these Late Archaean low freeboardhigh sea level conditions appear to have persisted only into the earliest part of the Proterozoic (Figs. 3, 7 and 8), and for the Indian terranes, only until ca 2.62.5 Ga (Fig. 5). There is evidence for a global glaciation at ca 2.4 2.2 Ga (e.g. Young, 1991, 1995). Within the Kaapvaal craton, the Timeball Hill Formation (Pretoria Group, Transvaal basin), and its corre-
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late in the Griqualand West basin, the Makganyene Diamictite Formation, contain substantive evidence for glaciation (e.g. Visser, 1971) and are demonstrably within the 2.42.2 Ga age limits inferred for the rst global glaciation. Despite the expected lower sea levels and raised freeboard which logically accompanied this event, most of the rocks of the Timeball Hill Formation reect epeiric sea deposition ( Eriksson and Reczko, 1998) and thus marine transgression. This would therefore appear to be another example of the inuence of local tectonics, with subsidence of the Pretoria Group basin oor during deposition of the Timeball Hill sediments. Within the Transvaal basin, the combination of periglacial rocks in the upper Timeball Hill Formation, 222313 Ma Hekpoort subaerial continental ood basalts (extending also to Griqualand West and there partly pillowed ), and immature Pretoria Group alluvial formations both below and above these lavas (Section 2.2), together are compatible with mantle plume uplift, local glaciation and generally high freeboardlowered sea level conditions. Glacio-eustatic sea level fall and allied high freeboard conditions are also indicated for the Early Proterozoic Dhanjori Formation, Singhbhum province in India ( Fig. 5). For the Dhanjori, the glacigeniccontinental sediments-plume volcanism association ( Table 5) resembles that seen in the Pretoria Group. It is conspicuous that the Gawler craton of Australia experienced a signicant compressional, orogenic episode at ca 2.45 Ga, and thus presumably had high freeboard then as well, which condition probably persisted until ca 2.3 Ga as a result of the granitic intrusions following this orogeny. Analogous high freeboard conditions appear to have prevailed on the Zimbabwe craton from ca 2.62.2 Ga (Section 2.3) and freeboard may have been further enhanced due to glacio-eustatic lowering of sea level during the ca 2.42.2 Ga global glacigenic event ( Young, 1995; Aspler and Chiarenzelli, 1998). The AravalliBundelkhand crustal province in India also appears to have experienced high freeboard conditions during much of the Early Proterozoic (Section 3). The siliciclastic sediments of the Turee Creek Group, Pilbara craton, point to enhanced freeboard for
the central Pilbara at ca 2.42.2 Ga. The Meteorite Bore diamictites near the base of the Turee Creek Group (Section 4) support subaqueous glacigenic deposition, possibly equivalent to the Makganyene diamictites of Kaapvaal. In contrast, on the Yilgarn craton, 2.42 Ga intrusions may be related to failed NS extension (D.R. Nelson, 1998, personal communication) and are thus unrelated to freeboard variation. Aggressive early Precambrian weathering of a possible emergent (high freeboard; mantle plume uplift) Late Archaean northern supercontinent (Aspler and Chiarenzelli, 1998) combined with the development of extensive passive margin carbonate platforms in the southern cratons, such as discussed in Section 2.2 for example, would have led to high rates of CO draw down approximately at 2 the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary. This probably helped promote this rst global glaciation event ca 200 Ma later, between 2.4 and 2.2 Ga ( Eriksson et al., 1998b). Due to evidence for thermal uplift (mantle plumes?) of cratons which form part of present-day Africa, Australia and India during this 2.42.2 Ga period, a mantle-igneous event (possibly global in scale?) may also have played a role in this glacigenic event. The cold conditions would generally have led to lowered sea levels, higher continental freeboard and to large scale mass wasting of the continental regions, with reduced potential to preserve supracrustal successions. In the Gawler and Yilgarn cratons of Australia, the large gaps in the supracrustal record, respectively, from 2.52.0 Ga and >2.2 Ga (Section 4), and that of the AravalliBundelkhand crustal province of India (ca 2.52.1 Ga; Section 3) may partly reect such conditions. Examining Fig. 3, and bearing in mind the lack of accurate chronological data for Africa, there is some further support for such a possible gap. Global glaciation would logically have been followed by glacio-eustatic sea level rise, but subject to local glacio-isostatic development of enhanced freeboard conditions ( Eriksson, 1999). In Africa, a poorly dated ca >2.15 Ga transgressive epeiric succession comprising siliciclastic and volcanic rocks with prominent black shales, is relatively widepsread (Fig. 3). Elevated sea levels are also indicated for the post-glacial formations
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in Singhbhum, India; the punctuated transgression in Singhbhum (Dhalbhum Formation; Fig. 5) is most likely a local event, reecting either tectonic or glacio-isostatic eects. Alternatively, thermal subsidence after the Dhalbhum volcanism, combined with rifting, may explain the Kolhan Group transgression (Fig. 5). Post 2.2 Ga drowning events are unlikely for the Wyloo Group (Pilbara craton) in Australia (Section 4), and a localised glacio-isostatic inuence possibly played a role. Once again, this second drowning event in the 2.7 2.0 Ga record is characterised by diachronous patterns from craton to craton, within a broadly developed period of elevated ocean levels. The raised sea levels and epeiric deposition of black shales and other ne-grained shelf-type sediments during this second drowning event were most likely terminated by dierent mechanisms on the dierent cratons of Africa. Thermal uplift related to intrusion of the Bushveld Complex at 2054 Ma (Armstrong and McCourt, 1997) terminated deposition within the Transvaal basin on the Kaapvaal craton. Similarly, emplacement of the Cunene Complex in the SW Congo craton at ca 21512098 Ma (Petters, 1991) ended epeiric marine deposition there. The UbendianUsugaran orogeny at ca 2.1 Ga (Lenoir et al., 1994), during which the Zimbabwe craton probably collided with the Ubendian terrane and Tanzanian craton lying to its north (Fig. 1), terminated Piriwiri passive margin black shale sedimentation; in addition, this collision led to rifting and deposition of the strike slip related Deweras Group, followed by thermal subsidence and Lomagundi Group deposition. The Eburnean orogeny and assembly at ca 2.05 1.85 Ga of the African continent aected the Western Congo craton later, at ca 2.0 Ga (Petters, 1991) and Francevillian Supergroup deposition thus continued until ca >2050 Ma (Fig. 3). In India, the Early Proterozoic succession in the Singhbhum province of the SIB was terminated by a granitic intrusion event ( Fig. 5). These suggested conditions are compatible with supercontinental assembly of a southern land mass at ca 2.0 Ga. In Australia, the shallow marine sediments of the Glengarry Group ( Yilgarn craton) were possibly related to rifting along a passive margin (D.R. Nelson, 1998, personal communication),
whereas sea level during Wyloo Group deposition (Pilbara craton) appears to have been relatively low. A collision between the Pilbara and Yilgarn cratons may thus be indicated. In the Pine Creek Inlier (Fig. 6) of Australia, deep water BIF and turbidite sediments predominate from 2.11.9 Ga (Section 4). The possible assembly event of the southern cratons thus appears to have included most of the African cratons, and some from India, South America (Section 2.6) and possibly also from Australia. Whether a single southern supercontinent formed at ca 2.01.8 Ga, or whether various larger cratonic terranes amalgamated then is uncertain.
6. Conclusions One thesis discussed here is that of a postulated Late Archaean supercontinent, comprising cratonic blocks from present-day Australia, India, Africa, South America and Antarctica. Subsequently, and probably related to mantle plume upwelling, attenuation and fragmentation possibly ensued with extensional tectonic-related Late Archaean ood basalts being preserved on certain cratons (e.g. Kaapvaal, Pilbara, SIB provinces of India). Alternatively, and perhaps more plausibly, a Late Archaean transition from globalscale, mantle-dominated crustal growth processes to an increasingly predominant plate tectonic regime (Nelson, 1998) promoted increased midocean ridge activity within the oceans surrounding the various southern cratons. This enhanced midocean spreading led to raised sea levels and lowered freeboard, and during this Late ArchaeanEarly Proterozoic drowning event, epeiric marine sediments were laid down on the passive margins of many of the preserved cratonic terranes. BIF and carbonate as well as transgressive ne to- coarsegrained clastic sediments characterised this rst inferred global transgressive event. Rapid midocean ridge growth led to extensional tectonic regimes in many of the southern cratons, but also led to collisions, between some of the cratonic blocks or with developing island arc complexes. The 2.42.2 Ga global glaciation was centred on a northern supercontinent, Kenorland, as yet
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still largely assembled and subject to uplift by strong mantle plume activity (Aspler and Chiarezelli, 1998). Glacigenic deposits from the southern cratons are best preserved in Kaapvaal, Singhbhum and Pilbara, and in each case appear to be related to mantle plumes and extensive volcanism. It is thus possible that a global plume event was partly responsible for this rst refrigeration of the earth, in conjunction with enhanced CO drawdown from the greenhouse atmosphere 2 due to carbonate platform development (in the rst drowning event) and aggressive weathering of emergent continental land masses due to atmospheric composition (e.g. Eriksson et al., 1998b). Consequent to this proposed global glaciation, sea levels fell eustatically and due to the high freeboard associated with plume upliftment. A second epeiric marine transgressive event aected the southern cratons after glaciation ameliorated and sea levels consequently rose, along with reduction in freeboard due to both eustatic change and warmer climate weathering. This second, ca 2.22.0 Ga drowning event in Africa, India and Australia was characterised by clastic shallow marine sediments in Africa, including prominent black shales, with carbonates being more common in India. With assembly of the southern cratons into one or more supercontinents during the ca 2.151.85 Ga Eburnean Amazonian orogeny, the 2.72.0 Ga volcano-sedimentary record was terminated, both tectonically and by large scale magmatism. Changes in sea level and continental freeboard for the cratonic terranes of present-day India, Africa and Australia thus appear to reect the primary inuences of enhanced mid-ocean ridge activity, widespread (global?) mantle plume events and global-scale glacio-eustacy, with lesser cases of localised relative sea level changes due to either tectonics, glacio-isostacy and small plumes. A Late Archaean southern supercontinent, or a Late Archaean transition from catastrophic mantle overturn to the onset of a plate tectonic regime aecting existing cratonic blocks, would support the concept of early Archaean continental crustal growth, proposed by Armstrong (1981), and the model of enhanced crustal growth near the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary (e.g. Veizer and
Jansen, 1979; McLennan and Taylor, 1982; Nelson and DePaolo, 1985). Nelson et al. (1999) describe an episodic growth of granitegreenstone crust in seven major events of <1070 Ma duration, between 3470 and 2760 Ma, compatible with major continental crust formation during the Middle Archaean (Arndt, this volume). The period of approximately 3.0 to 2.76 Ga was probably characterised by erosion of many cratons (e.g. Pilbara, Kaapvaal ) and thus continental freeboard was probably high. The onset of plate tectonics in the Late Archaean would have promoted collisions of emerging island arc complexes with existing older cratons, thereby enhancing continental crustal growth rates at the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary. Such rapid Late Archaean continental crustal growth would also have had the eect of raising global average sea levels and aggressive weathering may have lowered continental freeboard ( Eriksson, 1999) at the ArchaeanProterozoic boundary.
Acknowledgements PGE acknowledges generous research funding from the University of Pretoria and the Foundation for Research Development, South Africa. Many discussions with numerous colleagues over the years were very benecial for PGE. PKB is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology, India (Grant No. ESS/CA/A9-13/92) and RM to the University Grants Commission, Government of India, for providing nancial assistance. The Indian team expresses its gratitude to their department for providing infrastructural facilities. It is also indebted to Mr K.K. Roy, ex-Director of the Geological Survey of India, for inspiration and stimulating discussions at the initial stage of the work. All the authors owe a debt of gratitude to their friends and colleagues in the Global Precambrian Sedimentation Syndicate.
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Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302 www.elsevier.

Accepted 21 April 1999

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

Mudrocks, ne sandstones, eastern lens of andesitic lavas; total thickness >2000m

Increasing due to regression

Reduced due to low sediment calibre

Mature sandstones, minor mudrocks and conglomerates Mudrocks, minor sandstones

222313 Ma (Cornell et al., 1996)

Continental ood basalt (subaerial )

Alluvial-uvial systems Epeiric basin pelagic sedimentation, contourites, distal low-

Locally high (epeiric sea)

Enhanced due to regional glaciation in Griqualand West basin and

276 Table 1 (continued ) Supergroup Group

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

periglacial deposits locally in Transvaal basin

Deeper shelf BIF High chemical sedimentation

Dolomites, minor chert and mudrock

ca 25832550 to 2500 Ma (Altermann and Nelson, 1998; Martin et al., 1998)

Low lack of silicilastic sedimentation

Various formations and groups restricted fault-related basins of localised extent

Schmidtsdrif lavas: 2642 Ma ( Walraven and Martini, 1995)

High due to dominance of siliciclastics in both Schmidtsdrif and Black Reef

ca 2.66 Ga ( Eriksson and Reczko, 1995)

High extensive volcanism (plume)

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

Lomagundi (<2.0 Ga)

Deweras Southern facies (2060100 Ma)

Braided streams and volcanism strikeslip fault systems

High plume volcanism and rifting

Piriwiri (>2.15 Ga)

High volcanism (plume) and rift setting

Playa lake and at, locally aeolian

Deep euxinic slope abyssal fan and plain or eugeosynclinal ysch

Phyllite, wacke, micaceous, quartzite, minor carbonate rocks

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

Francevillian FE (>2.14 Ga <2050 Ma) FD FC

Marine shelf Marine shelf

Low Low (chemical shelf sediments) Low (chemical shelf sediments)

FB (600 m) ( lower part synchronous with NGoutou)

NGoutou Complex (2143143 Ma) FA

Subvolcanic Complex Continental sedimentation in active tectonic setting; upper drowning.

? Initially low, followed by transgression

? Changing, relatively, from higher to lower

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

P.G. Eriksson et al. / Precambrian Research 97 (1999) 269302

Kolhan Group (>2.1 Ga)

Dhalbhum Formation (unconf.)

Chaibasa Formation (unconf.)

Dhanjori Formation (unconf.)

Younger Iron Ore Group (>2.55 Ga and <3.0 Ga)

Shallow marine to shelf deposition

Dharwar crustal province

Dharwar Supergroup (ca 3.02.5 Ga)

Relatively deep marine Deeper shelfmarine basin