Geochemistry of Archean metasedimentary rocks from West Greenland |
| |
| Authors: | Scott M McLennan SR Taylor VR McGregor |
| |
| Institution: | Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT Australia;Atangmik, 3912 Sukkertoppen, Greenland, Denmark |
| |
| Abstract: | Archean metasedimentary rocks occur as components of the Isua supracrustals, Akilia association and Malene supracrustals of southern West Greenland. Primary structures in these rocks have been destroyed by metamorphism and deformation. Their chemistry and mineralogy is consistent with a sedimentary origin, but other possible parents (e.g. acid volcanics, altered pyroclastic rocks) cannot be excluded for some of them. There is little difference in the composition of metasedimentary rocks from the early Archean Isua supracrustals and probable correlative Akilia association. Both have a wide range in rare earth element (REE) patterns with ranging from 0.61?5.8. The REE pattern of one Akilia sample, with low , compares favourably with that of associated tholeiites and it is likely that such samples were derived almost exclusively from basaltic sources. Other samples with very steep REE patterns are similar to felsic volcanic boulders found in a conglomeratic unit in the Isua supracrustals. Samples with intermediate REE patterns are best explained by mixing of basaltic and felsic end members. Metasedimentary rocks from the Malene supracrustals can be divided into low silica (≤55% SiO2) and high silica (>77% SiO2) varieties. These rocks also show much variation in (0.46?14.0) and their origin is explained by derivation from a mixture of mafic volcanics and felsic igneous rocks. The wide range in trace element characteristics of these metasedimentary rocks argues for inefficient mixing of the various source lithologies during sedimentation. Accordingly, these data do not rigorously test models of early Archean crustal composition and evolution. The systematic variability in trace element geochemistry provides evidence for the bimodal nature of the early Archean crust. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
