Full Title: Geologic Evolution of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Editors: Donald R. Lowe and Gary R. Byerly

The Barberton Greenstone Belt contains the oldest well-preserved volcanic and sedimentary rocks known on Earth and provides a unique window on surface environments, biological evolution, and crustal development 3,550 to 3,200 m.y. ago. This volume presents a systematic account of the geology of the Barberton Belt and its implications for interpreting surface conditions and processes on early Earth. The subjects include stratigraphy, structural divisions, sedimentary geology, and biological materials of the entire belt; mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks and their petrogenesis; the sedimentology and volcanology of ultramafic volcaniclastic units; the depositional and tectonic setting of the oldest known foreland basin sediments of the overlying Fig Tree Group; and the petrology and tectonic implications of the upper syntectonic quartzose clastic sediments of the Moodies Group. An interpretative summary of the overall evolution of the Barberton Belt concludes the book.

[ Table of Contents ]

Published: 3/10/1999

ISBN Number: 0813723299

Pages: 319

Product Category: EBooks