Confirmation and global significance of a large-scale early Neoproterozoic banded iron formation on Hainan Island, China

It is also likely that the Shilu iron formation of Hainan Island correlates with the Aok iron formations in Canada, as evidenced by paleogeographic reconstructions and stratigraphic correlations, indicating that these units represent an early Neoproterozoic iron-formation depositional event related to tectono-hydrothermal activity. The presence of these early Neoproterozoic iron formations that are not associated with glacial deposits indicates that global glaciation is not a requirement for the generation of Neoproterozoic iron formations. Therefore, tectono-hydrothermal activity, rather than seawater redox conditions, is the main controlling factor related to the deposition of banded iron formations.