Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Generation of banded iron formations by internal dynamics and leaching of oceanic crust

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 781–784 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The chemical signatures and mineralogy of banded iron formations have the potential to provide information about the ocean environment on early Earth1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Their formation requires iron- and silicon-rich fluids, but the mechanisms by which the alternating layers of Si- and Fe-rich rock formed remain controversial8,9,10,11. Here we use thermodynamic calculations to show that Fe- and Si-rich fluids can be generated by hydrothermal leaching of low-Al oceanic crustal rocks such as komatiites. We find that positive feedbacks occur among the chemical reactions when hydrothermal fluids mix with ambient sea water. These feedbacks lead to alternating precipitation of Fe and Si minerals, owing to the formation of complexes between Fe(II) and silicic acid. We suggest that the small-scale (<1 cm) banding was produced by internal dynamics of the geochemical system, rather than any external forcing. As the Archaean eon progressed, the oceanic crust produced was rich in Al12. When Al-rich crust undergoes hydrothermal alteration, Fe is locked in Al–Fe silicate minerals. This results in iron-depleted hydrothermal fluids, and thus prevents the deposition of Fe-rich minerals. We therefore conclude that the widespread cessation of banded iron formation deposition 1.7 billion years ago reflects the changing composition of the oceanic crust.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Precipitation of BIFs from a hydrothermal system.
Figure 2: Prediction of stability constant of FeH3SiO4+ using a linear free-energy correlation.
Figure 3: Dissolved Si and Fe concentrations in a hydrothermal plume.
Figure 4: Self-organized oscillatory precipitation of BIF in a mixing zone of a Si–Fe-rich hydrothermal fluid with the ambient sea water.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Trendall, A. F. The significance of iron-formation in the Precambrian stratigraphic record. 3 Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ. 33, 33–66 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Klein, C. Some Precambrian banded iron-formations (BIFs) from around the world: Their age, geologic setting, mineralogy, metamorphism, geochemistry, and origin. Am. Mineral. 90, 1473–1499 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ohmoto, H. et al. Chemical and biological evolution of early Earth: Constraints from banded iron-formations. Geol. Soc. Am. Memoir 198, 291–331 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Canfield, D. E. The Early History of atmospheric oxygen: Homage to Robert M. Garrels. Annu. Rev. Earth. Planet. Sci. 33, 1–36 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Konhauser, K. O. et al. Oceanic nickel depletion and methanogen famine before the great oxidation event. Nature 458, 750–754 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Meyer, C. Ore metals through geologic history. Science 227, 1421–1428 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Johnson, C. M., Beard, B. L., Klein, C., Beukes, N. J. & Roden, E. E. Iron isotopes constrain biologic and abiologic processes in banded iron formation genesis. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72, 151–169 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Drever, J. I. Geochemical model for the origin of Precambrian banded iron formations. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 85, 1099–1106 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Garrels, R. M. A model for the deposition of the microbanded Precambrian iron formations. Am. J. Sci. 287, 81–106 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Posth, N. R., Hegler, F., Konhauser, K. O. & Kappler, A. Alternating Si and Fe deposition caused by temperature fluctuations in Precambrian oceans. Nature Geosci. 1, 703–708 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Krapez, B., Barley, M. E. & Pickard, A. L. Hydrothermal and resedimented origins of the precursor sediments to banded iron-formation: Sedimentological evidence from the Early Palaeoproterozoic Brockman Supersequence of Western Australia. Sedimentology 50, 979–1011 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Arndt, N. T., Lesher, C. M. & Barnes, S. J. Komatiite (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  13. Kasting, J. F. & Howard, M. T. Atmospheric composition and climate on the early Earth. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 361, 1733–1742 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Condie, K. C. Plate Tectonics & Crustal Evolution 3rd edn (Pergamon, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Bebout, B. M. et al. Methane production by microbial mats under low sulphate concentrations. Geobiology 2, 87–96 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Martin, W., Baross, J., Kelley, D. & Russell, M. J. Hydrothermal vents and the origin of life. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 29, 1–10 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Isley, A. E. & Abbott, D. H. Plume-related mafic volcanism and the depeosition of banded iron formation. J. Geophys. Res. 44, 15461–15477 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Isley, A. E. Hydrothermal plumes and delivery of iron to banded iron formation. J. Geol. 103, 169–185 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Poulton, S. W., Fralick, P. W. & Canfield, D. E. The transition to sulphidic ocean ∼1.84 billion years ago. Nature 431, 173–177 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Beard, J. S. Geological Society of America Meeting (Houston, 2008).

  21. Merino, E. & Wang, Y. in Non-Equilibrium Processes and Dissipative Structures in Geoscience, Self-Organization Yearbook Vol. 11 (eds Krug, H.-J. & Kruhl, J. H.) 13–45 (Duncker & Humblot, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Nicolis, G. & Prigogine, I. Self-Organization in Non-Equilibrium Systems (Wiley, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Sung, W. & Morgan, J. J. Kinetics and product of ferrous iron oxygenation in aqueous systems. Environ. Sci. Technol. 14, 561–568 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Millero, F. J., Sotolongo, S. & Izaguirre, M. The oxidation kinetics of Fe(II) in seawater. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 51, 793–801 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Simonson, B. M. Origin and evolution of large Precambrian iron formations. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Paper 370, 231–244 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Wolery, T. J. & Jarek, R. L. EQ3/6, A Software Package for Geochemical Modeling of Aqueous Systems Vol. 8.0 (Sandia National Laboratories, 2003).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Thakur, P., Singh, D. K. & Choppin, G. R. Polymerization study of o-Si(OH)4 and complexation with Am(III), Eu(III) and Cm(III). Inorg. Chim. Acta 360, 3705–3711 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wang, Y. & Xu, H. Prediction of trace metal partitioning between minerals and aqueous solutions: A linear free energy correlation approach. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 65, 1529–1543 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Xu, H., Wang, Y. & Barton, L. L. Application of a linear free energy relationship to crystalline solids of MO2 and M(OH)4 phases. J. Nucl. Mater. 273, 343–346 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. This work is partly supported by DOE Sandia LDRD Program and NASA Astrobiology Institute under grant N07-5489 and NSF (EAR-0810150). The authors thank C. Jove-Colon and C. Bryan of Sandia National Laboratories, C. Klein of University of New Mexico, K. C. Condie of New Mexico Institute of Technology and P. Brown, E. Roden, C. Johnson and J. Valley of the University of Wisconsin for their comments on an early draft of this paper and M. Diman for the artwork of Fig. 1. H.X. also thanks D. F. Blake of NASA Ames Research Center, D. Ojakangas of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, P. Fralick of Lakehead University, P. Pufahl of Acadia University and Alumni Geology Field Experience Fund of the Department of Geology and Geophysics of University of Wisconsin for their help with a field trip and C. Klein of University of New Mexico for donating his BIF collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, PO Box 5800, USA

    Yifeng Wang

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics and NASA Astrobiology Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

    Huifang Xu & Hiromi Konishi

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA

    Enrique Merino

Authors
  1. Yifeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Huifang Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Enrique Merino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hiromi Konishi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Y.W. and H.X. formulated the model and Y.W. drafted the paper; E.M. contributed to conceptual model development and part of the writing; H.X. and H.K. provided the Supplementary Information.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yifeng Wang.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 492 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, Y., Xu, H., Merino, E. et al. Generation of banded iron formations by internal dynamics and leaching of oceanic crust. Nature Geosci 2, 781–784 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo652

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo652

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing