『Abstract
The composition of iron formations in the ≧3.75 Ga yr old Nuvvuagittuq
Supracrustal Belt in northern Quebec(最初のeの頭に´)
provides a proxy for seawater composition of the Eoarchean, and
perhaps Hadean oceans, as well as constraints on the types of
nutrients available to Earth's earliest life forms. Integrated
petrologic and geochemical relationships, mapped between mineral
phases in thin section and whole-rock chemistry, provide a framework
for interpreting bulk and micro-scale variations in these chemical
sedimentary precipitates. Results show that there are two distinct
chemical sedimentary units in the Nuvvuagittuq belt: i) a banded
iron formation (BIF) consisting of alternating micro-bands of
magnetite, Ca-Mg-Fe-silicates and quartz, and ii) a more silicate-rich
(Fe-poor) unit, the banded silicate-formation (BSF), of alternating
micro-bands of quartz and Ca-Mg-Fe silicates. Precursor BIF and
BSF deposits were likely layered amorphous silica and ferric-oxyhydroxides,
fine-grained carbonate oozes and/or Ca-Mg-Fe rich silicate gels
deposited in a marine setting. Low Al2O3, TiO2 and HFSE concentrations
show that they are relatively detritus-free, with distinctively
seawater-like REE + Y profiles and consistently positive Eu anomalies.
These features suggest that the rocks preserved their seawater-like
compositions despite metamorphic overprinting. The most significant
trace elements in the sediments are Ni and Zn. Experimentally-derived
partitioning coefficients show that Ni was enriched in Eoarchean
seawater as compared to today (up to 300 nM), while Zn was fairly
similar (up to 20 nM). Compositional resemblances between the
Nuvvuagittuq sediments and those documented in the ca. 3.8 Ga
Isua supracrustals (West Greenland) provide a plausible case that
global ocean processes - in terms of trace metal abundances -
had reached steady-state by the Eoarchean.
Keywords: banded iron formation; Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt;
trace element geochemistry; Eoarchean; Hadean; seawater』
1. Introduction
2. Geological setting
3. Methods
4. Results
4.1. Petrography and mineral chemistry
4.1.1. Magnetite
4.1.2. Quartz
4.1.3. Grunerite
4.1.4. Augite
4.1.5. Actinolite
4.2. BSF bulk geochemistry
4.3. BIF bulk geochemistry
5. Discussion
5.1. Paragenesis
5.2. Geochemistry
5.3. Comparing the Nuvvuagittuq chemical sediments with the Isua
iron formations
5.4. Implications for the composition of the Eoarchean/Hadean
oceans
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Appendix A. Supplementary data
References