Identification of chemical sedimentary protoliths using iron isotopes in the > 3750 Ma Nuvvuagittuq supracrustal belt, Canada

Abstract

An Eoarchean supracrustal belt dated at ca. 3750 Ma was recently identified in the Innuksuac Complex, northern Québec (Canada). Rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq locality include mafic and ultramafic amphibolites, quartz–biotite and pelitic schists, orthogneisses, and banded quartz–magnetite–amphibole/pyroxene rocks of probable chemical sedimentary origin. The purported metasediments are enriched in the heavy isotopes of Fe by approximately 0.3‰/amu relative to IRMM-014. They also have high Fe/Ti ratios, up to 100× that of associated amphibolite units. These signatures demonstrate that quartz–magnetite–amphibole/pyroxene rocks from Nuvvuagittuq are chemical sediments (e.g. banded iron-formations, BIFs) formed by precipitation of dissolved ferrous iron in a marine setting. All units were metamorphosed to upper amphibolite facies, which partly homogenized Fe isotopes. Variable Fe isotope compositions of bulk quartz–magnetite rocks are interpreted to reflect binary mixing between primary oxides and carbonates. Mixing relationships with major element chemistry (Ca/Fe, Mg/Fe, and Mn/Fe) are used to estimate the Fe isotope composition of the primary Fe-oxide phase (0.3 to 0.4‰/amu) and the chemistry of the carbonate (siderite and ankerite). Iron isotopes can thus be used to constrain the primary mineralogy of Fe-rich chemical sedimentary precipitates before metamorphism. The possible presence of siderite in the primary mineral assemblage supports deposition under high PCO 2. We developed an isotope distillation model that includes two possible abiotic oxidation paths, homogeneous and heterogeneous. The isotopic composition of Fe in the precursor phase of magnetite in BIFs can be explained by partial oxidation through oxygenic or anoxygenic photosynthesis of Fe from a hydrothermal source.