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Stromatolites at ∼3,500 Myr and a greenstone–granite unconformity in the Zimbabwean Archaean

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Abstract

Two controversial areas of geological endeavour are the establishment of the antiquity of life and the tectonic setting of greenstone sequences. We record here the recent discoveries in the Fort Victoria greenstone belt of stromatolites in limestones assigned to ∼3,500 Myr (minimum age) Sebakwian Group rocks of the Rhodesian Archaean Craton within Zimbabwe, and a nearby outcrop of a thin sedimentary formation, basal to a thick ∼2,700 Myr volcanic pile, resting with definite unconformity on ∼3,500 Myr Mushandike Granite.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Salisbury, Zimbabwe

    J. L. Orpen & J. F. Wilson

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  1. J. L. Orpen
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  2. J. F. Wilson
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Orpen, J., Wilson, J. Stromatolites at ∼3,500 Myr and a greenstone–granite unconformity in the Zimbabwean Archaean. Nature 291, 218–220 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/291218a0

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