Zircon formation versus zircon alteration — New insights from combined U–Pb and Lu–Hf in-situ LA-ICP-MS analyses, and consequences for the interpretation of Archean zircon from the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt

About 30% of the Earth is covered by continents, but only about 10 small kernels of these continentsae—known as Archaean cratonsae—are continental fragments formed before 2.5 Gyr ago. The Kaapvaal craton of South Africa, which formed and stabilized between 3.7 and 2.7 Gyr ago, is one of the oldest reasonably sized examples of these continental fragments. It consists of a mosaic of subdomains that have been welded together by processes similar to those of modern-day plate tectonics. The earliest subdomains may have owed their origin to the onset of efficient recycling from the Earth's hydrosphere into the mantle.

Formation of an Archaean continent

The diversity and evolution of late-Archean granitoids: Evidence for the onset of “modern-style” plate tectonics between 3.0 and 2.5 Ga

Archean magmatism and deformation were not products of plate tectonics

U^Pb and Lu^Hf isotope analyses, obtained by laser ablation-sector field-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry on zircon grains from 37 granitoid samples indicate that the Kalahari Craton consists of at least five distinct terranescBarberton South (BS), Barberton North (BN), Murchison^Northern Kaapvaal (MNK), Limpopo Central Zone (LCZ), and Francistowncwhich underwent different crustal evolutions, and were successively accreted at c. 3� 23 Ga, 2� 9 Ga and 2� 65^2� 7 Ga. The investigated granitoids were emplaced over a period of c. 1.5 billion years, and are exposed along a c. 1000 km long traverse from the Barberton Mountain Land/ Swaziland to the Francistown arc complex, Botswana. The presented datasets reveal that most granitoids of the BS (3� 45^3� 10 Ga), MNK (2� 93^2� 67 Ga), Francistown (2� 70^2� 65 Ga) and LCZ terranes (3� 2^2� 03 Ga) show near-chondritic to subchondritic eHft (BS ¼ ^1� 7t oþ 0� 5; MNK ¼ ^3� 4t oþ 0� 7; Francistown ¼ ^0� 5t oþ 1� 1; LCZ ¼ ^12� 4t o ^1 � 8), indicating that crustal recyclingcperhaps by mixing of an older crust with a depleted mantle reservoircplayed an important role during their formation and growth. Higher, superchondritic eHft values, as indicative for an important depleted mantle influence, were obtained only from some granitoids of the BN terrane (eHf3� 23Ga ¼þ 2� 5 � 0� 8), the Gaborone Granite Suite (eHf2� 80Ga ¼þ 2� 0 � 1� 6), and from a few detrital zircons from the Mahalapye complex of the Limpopo Belt. In addition, the datasets show that the internal Hf isotope variation of magmatic zircon domains from most granitoids is commonly less than � 1� 5 e-units, and only in rare cases up to � 3� 1 e-units. The rare significant eHft variations may be ascribed to incomplete mixing of different sources during magma crystallization. It is also shown that the combined approach of cathodoluminescence imaging with U^Pb and Lu^Hf isotope analysis provides a powerful tool to distinguish zircon domains formed and/or altered at different times.

/pdf/archean-accretion-and-crustal-evolution-of-the-kalahari-4sb5kcsksb.pdf

Archean Accretion and Crustal Evolution of the Kalahari Craton—the Zircon Age and Hf Isotope Record of Granitic Rocks from Barberton/Swaziland to the Francistown Arc

Tectonic model for the evolution of the Limpopo Belt

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Tectonic model for the evolution of the Limpopo Belt