REE signatures in 3.51 Ga BIF and Bedded Chert from Iron Ore Group, Singhbhum Craton, India: Implications for Paleoarchean Ocean Oxygenation

The metasedimentary rock records in Archaean greenmstone belts provide primary information on evolution of the early Earth. The bedded cherts and BIFs in particular have been studied from Paleo-Mesoarchean greenstone belts for understanding the nature of the oceanic circulation and for the record of early life. However, scarcity of low-strained Paleo-Mesoarchean successions is a major impediment in this regard. The southern Iron Ore Group (SIOG) (3506.8 × 2.3 Ma, U-Pb SHRIMP on zircon by Mukhopadhyay et al., 2008) of the Singhbhum Craton, eastern India includes low-grade bimodal volcanics-ultramafics and BIF -bearing greenstone succession. The bedded chert and BIFs in this succession show significant stratigraphic variation that suggests a stratified ocean and availability of dissolved oxygen in deep-water regime. Bedded chert occurs interleaved with either metabasics or with the silicic volcanics in the lower part of the succession. BIF occurs only towards the top of the succession conformably overlying the silicic volcanics. The bedded cherts with REE and other trace element compositions such as Cu, Co, Ni, Zr, Hf pointing towards contributions from terrigenous or silicic as well as mafic volcanic sources. In contrast BIFs with very low alumina content and superchondritic Y/Ho ratios (36.2 to 40.1) indicate negligible inputs from terrigenous source and is comparable to cherts from Cenozoic ridges. REE-compositions of the bedded chert with respect to PAAS show a flat pattern with feeble positive Eu-anomaly and negligible negative Ce-anomaly. The REE patterns in BIF though similar but show much stronger positive Eu-anomaly and negative Ce-anomaly in comparison. Stratigraphic trend in the geochemical proxies from bedded cherts to BIF, thus record a relative increase in positive Eu-anomaly and decrease in Ce-anomaly. The increase in Eu-anomaly coincident with the BIF deposition up section is likely to suggest increase in in hydrothermal input and ridge spreading. The increased rate of spreading consequently ushers in relative sea rise and much diminished terrigenous inputs during BIF deposition. The Ce-depletion on the other hand may be related to partial removal from seawater during iron formation deposition. The partial fractionation of Ce warrants oxidation in the ocean water column. In Paleoarchean oceans that are believed to be stratified, such condition of oxidation would mean BIF-deposition above the chemocline. Terrigenous starved deep-water BIF deposition in proximity to hydrothermal spreading centres and at shallow water depth would then likely to suggest a condition of pelagic platform on top of spreading ridge with thickening oceanic crust that might have accreted close to the chemocline through accumulation or tectonic underplating. Mukhopadhyay, J., Beukes, N.J., Armstrong, R.A., Zimmermann, U., Ghosh, G., and Medda, R.A. 2008. Dating the Oldest Greenstone in India: A 3.51-Ga Precise U-Pb SHRIMP Zircon Age for Dacitic Lava of the Southern Iron Ore Group, Singhbhum craton. Journal of Geolog, v. 116, p. 449-461.