Late Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic supracrustal basin-fills of the Kaapvaal craton: Relevance of the supercontinent cycle, the "Great Oxidation Event" and "Snowball Earth"?

The application of the onset of supercontinentality, the “Great Oxidation Event” (GOE) and the first global scale glaciation in the Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic as panacea-like events providing a framework or even chronological piercing points in Earth’s history at this time, is questioned. There is no solid evidence that the Kaapvaal craton was part of a larger amalgamation at this time, and its glacigenic record is dominated by deposits supporting the operation of an active hydrological cycle in parallel with glaciation, thereby arguing against the “Snowball Earth Hypothesis”. While the Palaeoproterozoic geological record of Kaapvaal does broadly support the GOE, this postulate itself is being questioned on the basis of isotopic data used as oxygen-proxies, and sedimentological data from extant river systems on the craton argue for a prolongation of the greenhouse palaeo-atmosphere (possibly in parallel with a relative elevation of oxygen levels) which presumably preceded the GOE. The possibility that these widespread events may have been diachronous at the global scale is debated.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Questions universal application of supercontinentality as a global phenomenon from the Neoarchaean. ► Examines Kaapvaal craton basin-fill record to evaluate validity of “Snowball Earth” and “Great Oxidation Event” theories. ► Argues in favour of more complex and commonly diachronous events on a global basis.