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Do graded units of accretionary spheroids in the Barberton Greenstone Belt indicate Archaean deep water environment?

Abstract

We report here a re-analysis of the sedimentology of the Msauli Chert (‘oolite’) which shows that environmental conditions during the early depositional phase of the Fig Tree Group in the Barberton Greenstone Belt were of a deep water nature. The unit is compared with Quaternary sediments deposited in the Pacific Ocean at bathyal to abyssal depths.

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Stanistreet, I., de Wit, M. & Fripp, R. Do graded units of accretionary spheroids in the Barberton Greenstone Belt indicate Archaean deep water environment?. Nature 293, 280–284 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293280a0

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