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The Archaean Geology of the Kaapvaal Craton, Southern Africa pp 133–169Cite as

The Moodies Group—a High-Resolution Archive of Archaean Surface Processes and Basin-Forming Mechanisms

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Abstract

The Moodies Group is the uppermost and youngest unit of the Barberton Supergroup, the volcanic-sedimentary sequence forming the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB), the largest and best-preserved greenstone belt in the basement of the Kaapvaal Craton. The Moodies Group consists predominantly of fine- to coarse-grained, compositionally immature to mature, quartzose sandstones up to 3.6 km thick, with significant units of conglomerates and siltstones and minor volcanic rocks and ferruginous sediments. Strata were deposited, in part syndeformationally, in alluvial, fluvial, deltaic, tidal and shallow-marine environments. They represent a unique early Archaean record of marine-terrestrial transition. Abundant tidal microbial mats provide insights into the early shallow-water biosphere. The incompletely investigated stratigraphic architecture likely records uniquely Archaean “sag basin” dynamics between rising plutons. The quartz-dominated Moodies sandstones mark long-term, large-scale access of surface systems to crust-stabilizing, high-level granitoid igneous rocks.

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Acknowledgements

I thank my current and former students and postdocs Nora Bieker, Saskia Bläsing, Nadja Drabon, Jonathan Engelhardt, Paul Fugmann, Antonia Gamper, Marc Grund, Martin Homann, Jens Kirstein, Inga Köhler, Wigbert Lippold, Tim Luber, Sami Nabhan, Frank Ohnemüller, Caroline Rabethge, Sebastian Reimann, Matthias Schmitz, Laura Stutenbecker, Anne Wiechert and Andreas Zametzer for constant challenges and discussions in the field, lab and office. I thank the landowners and surface rights holders Sappi, Nico and Delia Oosthuizen from Mountainlands Nature Reserve, Barberton Mines, Taurus Estates, Nkomazi Wilderness, Swazi Timber, Malolotsha Nature Reserve and MTPA for access to their properties. Don Lowe and Gary Byerly took always time to critically test my findings and encourage new avenues of research. Duwies Duvenage from Barberton NTT Toyota provided mobility. Adriaan and Lili Nel, Sandy and Tony Ferrar, and Astrid Christianson are thanked for friendship and hospitality. Research was made possible by numerous grants by the DFG (He2418) and the EU COST Action “Life-ORIGINS” (TD1308). Detailed and constructive reviews by Carl Anhaeusser, Roger Buick and Don Lowe significantly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749, Jena, Germany

    Christoph Heubeck

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  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, University of Mainz, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

    Alfred Kröner

  2. Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg , Auckland Park, South Africa

    Axel Hofmann

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Heubeck, C. (2019). The Moodies Group—a High-Resolution Archive of Archaean Surface Processes and Basin-Forming Mechanisms. In: Kröner, A., Hofmann, A. (eds) The Archaean Geology of the Kaapvaal Craton, Southern Africa. Regional Geology Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78652-0_6

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