Chesther Gatsé Ebotehouna

Bio: Chesther Gatsé Ebotehouna is an academic researcher from University of Science and Technology Beijing. The author has contributed to research in topics: Banded iron formation & Continental crust. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 3 publications receiving 10 citations.

Depositional age and tectonic environment of the Gouap banded iron formations from the Nyong group, SW Cameroon: Insights from isotopic, geochemical and geochronological studies of drillcore samples

Abstract: The discovery of the Gouap banded iron formations (BIFs)-hosted iron mineralization in the northwestern of the Nyong Group (Ntem Complex) in southwestern Cameroon provides unique insights into the geology of this region. In this contribution, we firstly report detailed study of geochemistry, isotopic and geochronology of well preserved samples of the Gouap BIFs collected from diamond drillcores. The Gouap BIFs consist mainly of amphibole BIFs and amphibole–pyrite BIFs characterized by dominant Fe2O3 ​+ ​SiO2 contents and variable contents of CaO, MgO and SO3, consistent with the presence of amphibole, chlorite, epidote and pyrite, formed during amphibolite facies metamorphism and overprinted hydrothermal event. The amphibole–pyrite BIFs are typically enriched in trace and rare earth elements (REE) compared to the amphibole BIFs, suggesting the influence of detrital materials as well as secondary hydrothermal alteration. The Post Archean Australian Shale (PAAS)-normalized REE–Y profiles of the Gouap BIFs display positive La, Eu anomalies, weak negative Ce anomalies, indicating a mixture of low-temperature hydrothermal fluids and relatively oxic conditions probably under relative shallow seawater. We present here the first isotopic data of BIFs within the Ntem Complex. The δ30SiNBS28 values of the quartz from the Gouap BIFs vary from −1.5‰ to −0.3‰ and from −0.8‰ to −0.9‰ for the amphibole BIFs and amphibole–pyrite BIFs, respectively. The quartz has δ18OV-SMOW values of 6.8‰–9.5‰ (amphibole BIFs) and 9.2‰–10.6‰ (amphibole–pyrite BIFs). The magnetite from the Gouap BIFs shows δ18O values ranging from −3.5‰ to −1.8‰ and from −3‰ to −1.7‰ for the amphibole BIFs and amphibole–pyrite BIFs, respectively. Moreover, the pyrite grains in the amphibole–pyrite BIFs display δ34S values of 1.1‰–1.8‰. All isotopic data of the Gouap BIFs confirm that they might have precipitated from low-temperature hydrothermal fluids with detrital input distant from the volcanic activity. According to their geochemical and isotopic characteristics, we propose that the Gouap BIFs belong to the Superior type. In situ U–Pb zircon dating of BIFs was conducted to assess the BIF depositional age based on strong evidence of zircon in thin section. The Gouap BIFs were probably deposited at 2422 ​± ​50 ​Ma in a region where sediments extended from continental shelf to deep-water environments along craton margins like the Caue Formation of the Minas Supergroup, Brazil. The studied BIFs have experienced regional hydrothermal activity and metamorphism at 2089 ​± ​8.3 ​Ma during the Eburnean–Transamazonian orogeny. These findings suggest a physical continuity between the protocratonic masses of both Sao Francisco and Congo continents in the Rhyacian Period.

Depositional Environment and Genesis of the Nabeba Banded Iron Formation (BIF) in the Ivindo Basement Complex, Republic of the Congo: Perspective from Whole-Rock and Magnetite Geochemistry

Abstract: The Nabeba high-grade iron deposit (Republic of the Congo) is hosted by banded iron formation (BIF) in the Ivindo Basement Complex, which lies in the northwestern part of the Congo Craton. The Nabeba BIF is intercalated with chlorite-sericite-quartz schist and comprises two facies (oxide and a carbonate-oxide). In this study, whole-rock and LA-ICP-MS magnetite geochemistry of the BIF was reported. Magnetite samples from both BIF facies had fairly similar trace element compositions except for the rare earth element plus yttrium (REE + Y) distribution patterns. The high V, Ni, Cr, and Mg contents of the magnetite in the Nabeba BIF could be ascribed to the involvement of external medium-high temperature hydrothermal fluids during their deposition in relatively reduced environment. The Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS)-normalized REY patterns of the Nabeba BIF magnetite were characterized by LREE depletion coupled with varying La and positive Eu anomalies. Processing of the information gathered from the geochemical signatures of magnetite and the whole-rock BIF suggested that the Nabeba BIF was formed by the mixing of predominantly anoxic seawater (99.9%) with 0.1% of high-temperature (>250 °C) hydrothermal vent fluids, similar to the formation mechanism of many Archean Algoma-type BIFs reported elsewhere in the world.

Earth's first stable continents did not form by subduction

Abstract: Phase equilibria modelling of rocks from Western Australia confirms that the ancient continental crust could have formed by multistage melting of basaltic ‘parents’ along high geothermal gradients—a process incompatible with modern-style subduction Tim Johnson et al perform phase equilibria modelling of the Coucal basalts from Western Australia and confirm their suitability as parent rocks of the Archaean continental crust The authors suggest that these early crustal rocks were produced by 20–30 per cent melting along high geothermal gradients They conclude that the production and stabilization of the first continents required a protracted, multistage process When coupled with the high geothermal gradients, this suggests that the continents did not form by subduction Instead it favours a 'stagnant lid' regime in the early Archaean eon in which a single, rigid plate lay over the mantle The geodynamic environment in which Earth’s first continents formed and were stabilized remains controversial1 Most exposed continental crust that can be dated back to the Archaean eon (4 billion to 25 billion years ago) comprises tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite rocks (TTGs) that were formed through partial melting of hydrated low-magnesium basaltic rocks2; notably, these TTGs have ‘arc-like’ signatures of trace elements and thus resemble the continental crust produced in modern subduction settings3 In the East Pilbara Terrane, Western Australia, low-magnesium basalts of the Coucal Formation at the base of the Pilbara Supergroup have trace-element compositions that are consistent with these being source rocks for TTGs These basalts may be the remnants of a thick (more than 35 kilometres thick), ancient (more than 35 billion years old) basaltic crust4,5 that is predicted to have existed if Archaean mantle temperatures were much hotter than today’s6,7,8 Here, using phase equilibria modelling of the Coucal basalts, we confirm their suitability as TTG ‘parents’, and suggest that TTGs were produced by around 20 per cent to 30 per cent melting of the Coucal basalts along high geothermal gradients (of more than 700 degrees Celsius per gigapascal) We also analyse the trace-element composition of the Coucal basalts, and propose that these rocks were themselves derived from an earlier generation of high-magnesium basaltic rocks, suggesting that the arc-like signature in Archaean TTGs was inherited from an ancestral source lineage This protracted, multistage process for the production and stabilization of the first continents—coupled with the high geothermal gradients—is incompatible with modern-style plate tectonics, and favours instead the formation of TTGs near the base of thick, plateau-like basaltic crust9 Thus subduction was not required to produce TTGs in the early Archaean eon

Origin, tectonic environment and age of the Bibole banded iron formations, northwestern Congo Craton, Cameroon: geochemical and geochronological constraints

Abstract: The newly discovered Bibole banded iron formations are located within the Nyong Group at the northwest of the Congo Craton in Cameroon. The Bibole banded iron formations comprise oxide (quartz-magnetite) and mixed oxide-silicate (chlorite-magnetite) facies banded iron formations, which are interbedded with felsic gneiss, phyllite and quartz-chlorite schist. Geochemical studies of the quartz-magnetite banded iron formations and chlorite-magnetite banded iron formations reveal that they are composed of >95 wt % Fe2O3 plus SiO2 and have low concentrations of Al2O3, TiO2 and high field strength elements. This indicates that the Bibole banded iron formations were not significantly contaminated by detrital materials. Post-Archaean Australian Shale–normalized rare earth element and yttrium patterns are characterized by positive La and Y anomalies, a relative depletion of light rare earth elements compared to heavy rare earth elements and positive Eu anomalies (average of 1.86 and 1.15 for the quartz-magnetite banded iron formations and chlorite-magnetite banded iron formations, respectively), suggesting the influence of low-temperature hydrothermal fluids and seawater. The quartz-magnetite banded iron formations display true negative Ce anomalies, while the chlorite-magnetite banded iron formations lack Ce anomalies. Combined with their distinct Eu anomalies consistent with Algoma- and Superior-type banded iron formations, we suggest that the Bibole banded iron formations were deposited under oxic to suboxic conditions in an extensional basin. SIMS U–Pb data indicate that the Bibole banded iron formations were deposited at 2466 Ma and experienced metamorphism and metasomatism at 2078 Ma during the Eburnean/Trans-Amazonian orogeny. Overall, these findings suggest that the studied banded iron formations probably marked the onset of the rise of atmospheric oxygen, also known as the Great Oxidation Event in the Congo Craton.