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Source of Precambrian chemical and clastic sediments

Nature volume 314, pages 325–330 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

The Nd isotope composition of chemical and clastic sediments surviving from the Archaean provides no evidence for the existence of pre-4,000-Myr continental crust. Either the amounts of such crust were trivial or it was destroyed substantially by 3,800 Myr ago. Nd in major Precambrian banded iron formations was supplied largely by continental weathering, and in this respect the water masses in which they formed were analogous to the modern oceans.

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

    R. G. Miller & R. K. O'Nions

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  1. R. G. Miller
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Miller, R., O'Nions, R. Source of Precambrian chemical and clastic sediments. Nature 314, 325–330 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314325a0

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