Archean metaterrigenous rocks: Major geochemical constraints

Abstract

The paper summarizes data on the geochemistry of metaterrigenous rocks from 26 reference Archean territories: the Pilbara and Yilgarn blocks; Isua and Akilia complexes; Wittwatersrand, Swaziland, Pongola, and Yellowknife supergroups; Khapchanskaya and Gimol’skaya groups; Kan, Sharyzhalgai, Chupa, Slyudyanka, and Onot complexes; etc. The general sets of data points and the calculated median values of the concentrations of trace elements and their ratios are compared to those of Archean and post-Archean shales. In Ce/Cr-Co/Hf, Eu/Eu*-GdN/YbN, Ce/Cr-Th/Sc, Th/Sc-Sc, Th-La, La/Sm-Sc/Th, Yb-GdN/YbN, Th/Sc-Cr, Ni-Cr, and some other diagrams, the fields in which the most data points of Archean metaterrigenous rocks group are outlined. The results of this research indicate that there are no values of geochemical parameters that are inherent only in Archean or only in post-Archean fine-grained terrigenous rocks. Within 80–85% confidence levels, most individual compositions of Archean metaterrigenous rocks are characterized by the following geochemical parameters: (1) Th/Sc 0.70–0.75. If the median values are used, these ranges can be further constrained to (i) Th/Sc 25, and (iv) Th < 12 ppm. Compared to PAAS, Archean metaterrigenous rocks are characterized by higher median concentrations of Cr and Ni and the Eu/Eu*, Sc/Th, Cr/Th, and Co/Hf ratios, whereas the Nb, La, Ce, Yb, Hf, Th, and U concentrations and the La/Sm and Ce/Cr ratios of PAAS are, conversely, lower. The median values of the LaN/YbN ratios of reference Archean terranes can be either higher or lower than in PAAS, likely depending on the proportions of various rock types in the sources of the terrigenous material. The medians of the GdN/YbN ratios of ∼60% of the reference Archean metaterrigenous terranes in our databank are slightly higher than the GdN/YbN ratios of PAAS. The median values of the LaN/SmN ratios of Archean terrigenous rocks are mostly slightly lower than the typical PAAS ratios.