Drilling for the Archean Roots of Life and Tectonic Earth in the Barberton Mountains
In the Barberton Scientific Drilling Program (BSDP) we successfully completed three drill holes in 2008 across strategically selected rock formations in the early Archean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. This collaborative project’s goal is to advance understanding of geodynamic and biogeoch...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2009-09-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Drilling |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.iodp.org/images/stories/downloads/sd8_09.pdf#page=24 |
| Summary: | In the Barberton Scientific Drilling Program (BSDP) we successfully completed three drill holes in 2008 across strategically selected rock formations in the early Archean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. This collaborative project’s goal is to advance understanding of geodynamic and biogeochemical processes of the young Earth. The program aims to better define and characterize Earth’s earliest preserved ocean crust shear zones and microbial borings in Archean basaltic glass, and to identify biogeochemical fingerprints of ancient ecological niches recorded in rocks. The state-of-the-art analytical and imaging work will address the question of earliest plate tectonics in the Archean, the δ18O composition, the redox state and temperature of Archean seawater, and the origin of life question. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1816-8957 1816-3459 |