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Modern-style plate subduction preserved in the Palaeoproterozoic West African craton

Nature Geoscience volume 5, pages 60–65 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The timing of onset of modern-style plate tectonics is debated. The apparent lack of blueschist metamorphism1—a key indicator of modern plate subduction2—in rocks aged more than about 1 billion years calls into question the existence of plate tectonics during the Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic eras3,4. Instead, plate tectonics and subduction could have either not occurred at that time5, or could have proceeded differently6 owing to warmer conditions in the early Earth mantle7. Here we use thermodynamic models8,9,10 to investigate the formation conditions of metamorphic minerals in the 2.2–2.0 Gyr old West African metamorphic province. We find a record of blueschist metamorphism in these rocks. We show that minerals such as chlorite and phengite formed at high pressures of 10–12 kbar, low temperatures of 400–450 °C and under a geothermal gradient of 10–12 °C km−1. These conditions are typical of modern subduction zones. We therefore suggest that modern-style plate tectonics existed during the Palaeoproterozoic era. We conclude that ancient blueschist metamorphism may exist in other parts of the world, but the identification of these rocks has so far been hampered by methodological problems associated with deciphering their pressure and temperature evolution.

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Figure 1: Geological map of the Fada N’Gourma region.
Figure 2: Chemical evolution of chlorite and phengite during deformation in sample Fa-33.
Figure 3: Chemical evolution of chlorites and phengites during metamorphism in sample Fa-33.
Figure 4: Inferred geodynamic model endmembers for the Palaeoproterozoic tectonic evolution (2.2–2.0 Gyr ago) of greenstone belts in the WAC.

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Acknowledgements

The project was financially supported by IRD and INSU-CNRS. We thank the ID21 beamline staff at the ESRF for providing us with beam time that supported our calculations by in situ measurements. We also acknowledge the team of the AMIRA P934 project for logistic support in Burkina Faso. B. Goscombe, D. Chardon and J.-L. Bouchez are thanked for comments and discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRD, UR 234, GET, Université Toulouse III, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France

    J. Ganne, L. Baratoux & M. Jessell

  2. NSLS II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, SRX beamline, Bldg 817 Renaissance Road, Upton, New York 11973, USA

    V. De Andrade

  3. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, ID21 beamline, BP220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex, France

    V. De Andrade

  4. School of Geosciences, Monash University, PO Box 28E, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia

    R. F. Weinberg

  5. IsTerre, Université J. Fourier, Maison des Géosciences, 1381, rue de la Piscine, 38400 St-Martin d’Hères, France

    O. Vidal

  6. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK

    B. Dubacq

  7. Département des Géosciences, Université de Ouagadougou, 01 BP 1973 Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

    N. Kagambega & S. Naba

  8. Department of Mineralogy and Geochemistry, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH 1015, Switzerland

    J. Allibon

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  1. J. Ganne
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Contributions

J.G. conceived the study and wrote the paper. V.D.A. and J.G. contributed equally to the petrologic analysis and metamorphic modelling. R.F.W. and V.D.A. helped generate the research idea with J.G. and contributed to the writing and focusing of the paper. B.D. and O.V. provided the most updated solid-solution models for chlorite and phengite. All authors contributed to the interpretation of these results within the greenstone belts of the WAC.

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Correspondence to J. Ganne.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ganne, J., De Andrade, V., Weinberg, R. et al. Modern-style plate subduction preserved in the Palaeoproterozoic West African craton. Nature Geosci 5, 60–65 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1321

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