Cratons are pieces of ancient continents that formed several billions of years ago. Their study provides a window as to how processes within and on the surface of Earth operated in the past. Cratons preserve relics of our young Earth as they host a variety of rock assemblages such as greenstones and granites. Greenstones are rock assemblages that are primarily composed of sub-marine volcanic rocks with minor sedimentary rocks. They are the best archives to study early Earth surface processes.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: South Africa, India and Australia shared similar volcanic activity 3.5 billion years ago. Credit: US Geological Survey A new study published in Precambrian Research by a team of researchers, led by Dr. Jaganmoy Jodder of the University of the Witwatersrand's Evolutionary Studies Institute shows that the Singhbhum Craton in India hosts remarkably well preserved volcanic and sedimentary rocks as old as 3.5 billion years, and that it has similar geologic history to parts of South Africa and Australia. The team that included researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University), University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, examined volcanic and sedimentary rocks from the Daitari greenstone belt in the Singhbhum Craton of India that were formed approximately 3.5 billion years ago. Jodder and his co-workers conducted detailed field-based studies and precise Uranium-Lead (U-Pb) radiometric-age dating to evaluate the geology of the ancient greenstone…