Geological map of the barberton greenstone belt bgb of south africa and. Barberton, gold, hydrothermal halogen, mineralisation. The barberton greenstone belt serpentines approximately 620 serpentinetoleranttaxa species level and below of 298 genera and seventy four plant families grow on serpentine in the barberton greenstone belt. Media in category greenstone belts the following 16 files are in this category, out of 16 total. These volcanic rocks, which scientists call the barberton greenstone belt, have given direct evidence of the conditions of life on the surface of the very early earth.
Archean spherule layers in the barberton greenstone belt. Barberton greenstone microspherules makhonjwa mountains south. Re, os, ir, pt, ru, and pd enrichments in some of the barberton spherule layers koeberl and reimold 1995. This is the only book attributed to the mysterious, supposedly immortal comte st. It characterizes one of the most wellpreserved and oldest pieces of continental crust today by containing rocks in the barberton granite greenstone terrain 3. Pre 16 geology of the barberton greenstone belt processes of.
May 04, 2014 the barberton makhonjwa geotrail in mpumalanga, south africa is a 37km scenic, self drive route between barberton and swaziland that takes you more than 3 billion years into the past. In the northern part of the barberton greenstone belt, shearing tends to be most intense along. The moodies group, the uppermost unit in the barberton greenstone belt bgb in south africa, is a 3. The small and beautiful makhonjwa mountain rangeclose to barberton, where gold and asbestos. Tectonic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt wikipedia. The fairview and sheba mines are two of the major gold mines in the paleoarchean barberton greenstone belt of southern africa. Click download or read online button to get geologic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt south africa book now. After decades of debate about the enormous up to slightly superchondritic highly siderophile element hse. Jul 08, 2019 the principal episodes of the geotectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt span some ma from the initial submarine eruption of the onverwacht laves. Silver isotopes as a source and transport tracer for gold. The barberton greenstone belt consists of a nesw striking succession of supracrustal rocks, termed the swaziland supergroup, which ranges in age from ca. Geology and tectonostratigraphy of the onverwacht suite, barberton greenstone belt, south africa article pdf available in precambrian research 18614.
The evidence in this case comes from signs of high pressure, low temperature metamorphism 3. This is a pdf file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. Simplified geologic map of the barberton greenstone belt. University of orange free state, bloemfontein 1972, p. Tourmaline mineralization in the barberton greenstone belt, south africa. For their research, the team analysed a piece of rock melt, called komatiite named after the type occurrence in the komati river near barberton in mpumalanga that are the leftovers from the hottest magma ever produced in the first quarter of earths existence the archaean. Pdf tectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt. Several recent studies have shown that small mountainous rivers smrs deliver a disproportionate quantity of solutes i. It is known for its gold mineralisation and for its komatiites, an unusual type of ultramafic volcanic rock named after the komati river that flows through the be. It is known for its gold mineralisation and for its komatiites, an unusual type of ultramafic volcanic rock named after the komati river that flows through the belt. The mountains around barberton are amongst the oldest in the world, dating back 3. Archaean greenstone belt tectonism and basin development. Jun 22, 2019 this page was last edited on 7 marchat nowadays most artists work in cooperatives.
Greenstone belts host economic deposits of many minerals, including silver, copper and zinc, but they are best known for holding gold archaeanage greenstone belts in particular tend to host. Tectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt, south. Platinumgroup elements in komatiites from the komati. The bgb is a small, cuspshaped succession of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, surrounded on all sides by granitoid plutons which. Reply to paleo to mesoarchean polymetamorphism in the barberton granite greenstone belt, south africa. Constraints from upb monazite and luhf garnet geochronology on the tectonic processes that shaped the belt. The barberton greenstone belt in south africa is one of the bestpreserved successions of midarchean ga supracrustal rocks in the world, together. Three ages of granite greenstone terrain can be recognized within the zimbabwe archean craton. Structural controls on gold mineralisation in the central lapland greenstone belt 1998 e geological survey of finland ini ia ed a multidisciplinary research project aiming to generate new information on regional structure and deformation events, metamorphic events, and depositscale structure and fluidflow. Pdf geology and tectonostratigraphy of the onverwacht. Pdf a comparison between the murchison and barberton.
Barnes2 1centre for research on magmatic ore deposits, dept. Archean life in the barberton greenstone belt wikimili, the. At these mines, gold is associated with quartzcarbonate rutile veins and occurs both as invisible gold finely dispersed in sulfides primarily pyrite and arsenopyrite, and as visible electrum grains hosted in pyrite. Barberton geology the barberton greenstone belt oldest. Geologic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt south africa book also available for read online, mobi, docx and mobile and kindle reading. Apr 15, 2015 the barberton greenstone belt in south africa is one of the bestpreserved successions of midarchean 3. Download geologic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt south africa in pdf and epub formats for free. Tectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt, south africa. Geologic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt, south africa volume 329 of geological society of america special paper volume 329 of geological society of america special papers. Pdf cherts of the barberton greenstone belt, south.
As such, it is a remarkable natural laboratory where conditions and processes at the surface of the archean earth can be studied in detail. The morphology and mineral chemistry of gold and associated sulphides at sheba, fairview, and new consort gold mines in the barberton greenstone belt bgb identify two main types of mineralization the first type occurs. A comparison between the murchison and barberton greenstone belts, south africa. Trace element zoning of sulfides and quartz at sheba and. Platinumgroup elements in komatiites from the komati formation, barberton greenstone belt f. Pt constraints on the metamorphic evolution of the. Here, we present new field observations and oxygen isotope data from greenstones and cherts from the barberton greenstone belt bgb in south africa that shed light on the physical setting and character of archean seafloor hydrothermal systems and their contribution to the geological and geochemical signatures implicated in these controversies. Simplified geologic map of the barberton greenstone.
Tourmaline quartz vein stromatolite tourmaline crystal barberton greenstone belt. The barberton greenstone belt in south africa is one of the bestpreserved successions of. Pre 16 geology of the barberton greenstone belt processes. Makhonjwa mountains are more commonly known among geologists as the barberton greenstone belt bgb. A schematic geological map of the barberton greenstone belt modified after koeberl and reimold 1995. Archean spherule layers in the barberton greenstone belt 35 figure 1. The barberton greenstone belt is one of the oldest and best exposed archaean greenstone belts on earth. Please note that given the exceptional circumstances related to the coronavirus covid19 pandemic, regular mail sent to the world heritage centre in paris cannot be processed on a normal basis for the moment. About 30 large and many smaller serpentine outcrops form part of the barberton greenstone belt and consist of various combinations of serpentinized minerals.
A brief account of the history and mining associated with the early discovery of gold in the area is outlined and a fairly comprehen. Geologic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt, south. The oldest greenstone belt remnants constitute the volcanosedimentary sebakwian group dated at c. Pdf studies investigating the structure and diversity of earths record of life. The greenstone belt consists of a sequence of mafic to ultramafic lavas and metasedimentary rocks emplaced and deposited between 3. The history of mining in the barberton greenstone belt, south africa, with an emphasis on gold 1868 2012 by carl r. Greenstone belts kaapvaa craton granitegneiss kaapvaal craton cover rocks louis trichardt dr45 arakspruit quarry dr19 bandelierkop quarry cover rocks dr157 dr191 zimbabwe. The principal episodes of the geotectonic history of the barberton greenstone belt span some ma from the initial submarine eruption of the onverwacht laves. The lowgrade volcanosedimentary rocks of the barberton supergroup are best exposed in the onverwacht antiformal fold oaf in the southwestern part of the greenstone belt, and are widely thought to have escaped highgrade regional metamorphism recorded by major 323 ga shear zones surrounding the belt e. Barberton greenstone belt wikimili, the free encyclopedia. The barberton greenstone belt in south africa is one of the bestpreserved successions of midarchean 3.
An evaluation of the metamorphic history of selected areas of the barberton greenstone belt and greenstone remnants in the adjacent granitic terrane including the schapenburg schist belt and greenstone remnants surrounding the boesmanskop syenite pluton in the komati river valley. These highly accessible ancient exposures present a continuous 350 million year sequence of. Record of midarchaean subduction from metamorphism in the. Due to its excellent exposure, low grade metamorphic overprint and considerable extent the barberton greenstone belt, straddling the south africa swaziland border, offers profound insights on archean processes. Pdf a synthesis of new and existing data reveals that at least seven major shear zones and an.
The asteraceae has the most representatives and its largest genera are senecio, helichrysum and berklleya. Barberton greenstone belt contains 1600 cubic km source rock. Implications for the evolution of the kaapvaal craton. This type of granite is visually responsible for the formation of the arcuate greenstone tongues, like tne jamestown schist belt, which form such a striking feature of greenstone belts.
Barberton greenstone belt 86 kaapvaal craton 24 south africa. The volcanosedimentary sequence that forms the barberton greenstone belt has been grouped stratigraphically as the barberton supergroup, renamed from the swaziland supergroup of older literature. Barberton greenstone belt, these highly accessible ancient exposures present a continuous 350 million year sequence of rocks, beginning 3 600 million years ago. Tourmaline mineralization in the barberton greenstone belt, south. Barberton greenstone belt, south africa this multiday fieldtrip took students to various sites within south africas newest unesco world heritage site, the barberton. Their physical and chemical characteristics provide an unparalleled source of scientifi c information about the early earth. Cherts of the barberton greenstone belt, south africa. Christoph heubeck, gary byerly and don lowe due to its excellent exposure, low grade metamorphic overprint and considerable extent the barberton greenstone belt, straddling the south africa swaziland border, offers profound insights on archean. The geochemistry of sedimentary rocks from the fig tree group. The present configuration of the greenstone belts is explained.
Small tectonic wedges of 35703511 ma schistose tonalite are the oldest rocks yet recognized, but little is known about their tectonothermal history. Anhaeusser economic geology research institute school of geoscienecs university of the witwatersrand, johannesburg carl. Geologic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt south. Enjoy magnificent mountain views, a glorious climate, amazing biodiversity and the unique barberton greenstone belt geology that tells the earliest history of earth itself a fossilized record of the wild frontier of time. The barberton greenstone belt, also known as the makhonjwa mountains, is situated on the eastern edge of kaapvaal craton in south africa. The barberton greenstone belt bgb is located in the kapvaal craton of southeastern africa. B simplified stratigraphy for the barberton greenstone belt modified after lowe et al. The multiple sulfur isotopic composition of pyrite of moodies intervals was newly obtained to examine the influence of these depositional settings on the sulfur isotope record. Tectonic evolution of the barberton greenstone belt. Werding g, schreyer w 1984 alkalifree tourmaline in the system mgo. Pdf carbonaceous cherts in the barberton greenstone belt. The area embraces one of the most complexly deformed and highly meta morphosed regions in the early precambrian barberton greenstone belt. Rocks of the 35703080 ma barberton greenstone belt record a geological history of at least 490 million years m. The barberton greenstone belt wiley online library.
Geochemistry of mafic and ultramafic rocks in the type section of the romberg formation, barberton greenstone belt, south africa authors t. His work in mapping and detailing the characteristics of the barberton greenstone belt has been used as a guide for other greenstone belts around the world. This is a simplified geologic map of the barberton greenstone belt, south africa, showing three of the major groups and their interactions as well as the kaap valley craton. Structural controls on gold mineralisation in the central. Barberton article about barberton by the free dictionary. Geological map of the western part of the barberton greenstone belt and immediately surrounding granitic terrane, showing the distribution of spherule layers s1 and s3 of the northern areas modified from kamo and davis, 1994. Pdf geology and tectonostratigraphy of the onverwacht suite. A reconnaissance study at the sheba and new consort gold mines in the barberton greenstone belt, kaapvaal craton, south africa. Late in the history of the barberton greenstone belt circa 3100 m. This belt was first uniquely identified by prof annhauser at the university of the witwatersrand, johannesburg, south africa.
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