Physical and geochemical reconstruction of a 2.35–2.1 Ga volcanic arc (Toumodi Greenstone Belt, Ivory Coast, West Africa)

Abstract

This study reconstructs the evolution of one of the oldest Paleoproterozoic arcs, which formed shortly after a period of momentous change when the Earth transitioned out of the Archean. We present new stratigraphic, geochemical and geochronological data of the Toumodi Greenstone Belt (Ivory Coast, West Africa) integrated with local and regional data to better constrain its construction and evolution. The belt consists of four main stratigraphic events: [1] A ca. 2345 Ma tholeiitic sequence formed on the sea floor far from any landmass. This juvenile crust is the oldest Birimian supracrustal sequence known and represents either a dismembered oceanic plateau or ridge basalt; [2] Nascent arc formation (ca. 2220–2160 Ma) developed initially in a subaqueous environment and transitions into emergent volcanic centres. Near Toumodi, most deposits consist of volcaniclastic debris emplaced in subaerial to shallow-water environments, but also include minor pyroclastic vent-proximal deposits. Magmas for this event are mainly basaltic andesite to andesite and are enriched in LILE and have negative Nb, Ta and Ti signatures, all of which are consistent with water-fluxed melting typical of arc magmatism. Inherited zircons and mafic xenocrysts/xenoliths together reflect the older history and nature of underlying mid- to lower-crustal rocks, [3] An intra-arc rifting-event marked by a unconformity between events 2 and 4 the correlation with pillowed tholeiitic basalts; and [4] Construction of a mature arc (ca. 2150–2100 Ma) that consists of emergent dacitic volcanic centres and more distal volcaniclastic sediments, and overlain by post-magmatic sedimentation and red-bed formation (ca. 2100–2050 Ma). Magmas for this time period are dominantly dacitic and also display geochemical characteristics of arc magmatism, but also contain high-K, indicative of melting in a thickened volcanic arc.