Seafloor hydrothermal fluids, Ben Nevis area, Abitibi Greenstone Belt: Implications for Archean (∼2.7 Ga) seawater properties

Our data are in agreement with six other data sets-from the 3.75 Ga Isua Greenstone Belt (W. Greenland), the 3.24 Ga Pilbara region (W. Australia), the ∼3.2 Ga Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa; 2), the ∼2.7 Ga Matagami area (Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Canada), and the Proterozoic (∼2.2 Ga) Ongeluk Formation (South Africa). The consistency of fluid inclusion data suggests that Archean and early Proterozoic seawater may have been more saline, and potentially stratified, compared to modern seawater.