Isua Greenstone Belt
E804854
The Isua Greenstone Belt is one of the oldest known rock formations on Earth, preserving early Archean crust and some of the earliest evidence of geological and possibly biological activity.
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Archean terrane
ⓘ
geological formation ⓘ greenstone belt ⓘ |
| contains |
banded iron formation layers
ⓘ
carbonaceous sediments ⓘ deformed and metamorphosed volcanic-sedimentary sequences ⓘ graphitic carbon inclusions ⓘ isotopically light carbon ⓘ metacherts ⓘ pillow basalts ⓘ rare earth element-enriched rocks ⓘ |
| containsRocksDatedTo | about 3.8 billion years old ⓘ |
| country | Greenland NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| discoveredBy | geologists in the 1960s ⓘ |
| evidenceFor |
early biosignatures
ⓘ
early hydrosphere ⓘ early oceanic crust ⓘ early plate tectonic-style deformation ⓘ early subduction-like processes ⓘ |
| geologicalAge | Archean Eon NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasDebatedInterpretations |
biogenic origin of carbon isotopic signatures
ⓘ
evidence for early plate tectonics ⓘ |
| locatedIn | southwestern Greenland ⓘ |
| locatedNear |
Isukasia
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Nuuk NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| locatedOn | North Atlantic craton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| maximumAge | about 3.8 billion years ⓘ |
| metamorphicGrade | amphibolite facies ⓘ |
| minimumAge | about 3.7 billion years ⓘ |
| overlies | older tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite gneisses ⓘ |
| partOf | North Atlantic craton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| preservationState | strongly metamorphosed but retaining primary structures ⓘ |
| rockType |
banded iron formations
ⓘ
gneiss ⓘ mafic volcanic rocks ⓘ metasedimentary rocks ⓘ sedimentary rocks ⓘ ultramafic volcanic rocks ⓘ |
| significance |
contains some of the oldest known supracrustal rocks
ⓘ
important for studies of early Earth conditions ⓘ important for studies of early life on Earth ⓘ important for studies of early plate tectonics ⓘ one of the oldest known rock formations on Earth ⓘ preserves early Archean continental crust ⓘ records some of the earliest known geological activity on Earth ⓘ |
| structuralStyle | highly deformed and folded ⓘ |
| studiedFor |
early Earth geodynamics
ⓘ
early atmosphere and ocean composition ⓘ origin of life ⓘ |
| tectonicSetting | Archean greenstone belt complex ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.