Articles | Volume 33, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-129-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-129-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Science report
| 
18 Jun 2024
Science report |
| 18 Jun 2024
| 18 Jun 2024
BASE (Barberton Archean Surface Environments) – drilling Paleoarchean coastal strata of the Barberton Greenstone Belt
Christoph Heubeck
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749 Jena, Germany
Nic Beukes
Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Cnr. Kingsway and University Road, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa
deceased, 9 January 2023
Michiel de Kock
Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Cnr. Kingsway and University Road, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa
Martin Homann
Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, 5 Gower Place, London WC1E 6BS, UK
current address: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125 California, USA
Emmanuelle J. Javaux
Bât. B22 Early Life Traces & Evolution-Astrobiology, Quartier Vallée 1, Chemin de la Vallée 4, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Takeshi Kakegawa
402 Geosciences Building, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aramaki 6-3, Sendai, Japan
Stefan Lalonde
UMR 6538 Laboratoire Géosciences Océan, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Brest, France
Paul Mason
Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8A, 3584 CB, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Phumelele Mashele
Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
now at: School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Dora Paprika
Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
now at: The MSA Group, Henley House, Greenacres Office Park, Victory Road, Victoria Park, Randburg, Johannesburg 2195, South Africa
Chris Rippon
independent researcher: 10 Amethys Street, Mbombela 1200, South Africa
Mike Tice
Department of Geology & Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
Rodney Tucker
Wildlife Estate, 367 Kierrieklapper Street, Hoedspruit 1380, Limpopo, South Africa
Ryan Tucker
Wildlife Estate, 367 Kierrieklapper Street, Hoedspruit 1380, Limpopo, South Africa
Victor Ndazamo
Barberton Mines (Pty.) Ltd., Kaapmuiden Road, Barberton 1300, South Africa
Astrid Christianson
Barberton Community Tourism, Market Square, Barberton 1300, South Africa
Cindy Kunkel
ICDP, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Related authors
A. Gamper, U. Struck, F. Ohnemueller, C. Heubeck, and S. Hohl
Foss. Rec., 18, 105–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-18-105-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-18-105-2015, 2015
A. Gamper, U. Struck, F. Ohnemueller, C. Heubeck, and S. Hohl
Foss. Rec., 18, 105–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-18-105-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-18-105-2015, 2015
Related subject area
Location/Setting: Continental | Subject: Geology | Geoprocesses: Global climate change
Paleozoic Equatorial Records of Melting Ice Ages (PERMIA): calibrating the pace of paleotropical environmental and ecological change during Earth's previous icehouse
ICDP workshop on the Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin project: exploring the link between environmental factors and hominin evolution over the past 4 Myr
Paleogene Earth perturbations in the US Atlantic Coastal Plain (PEP-US): coring transects of hyperthermals to understand past carbon injections and ecosystem responses
Drilling into a deep buried valley (ICDP DOVE): a 252 m long sediment succession from a glacial overdeepening in northwestern Switzerland
Workshop report: PlioWest – drilling Pliocene lakes in western North America
Deep-time Arctic climate archives: high-resolution coring of Svalbard's sedimentary record – SVALCLIME, a workshop report
Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys (ICDP-DOVE): quantifying the age, extent, and environmental impact of Alpine glaciations
From glacial erosion to basin overfill: a 240 m-thick overdeepening–fill sequence in Bern, Switzerland
Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to +2 °C (SWAIS 2C)
Scientific drilling workshop on the Weihe Basin Drilling Project (WBDP): Cenozoic tectonic–monsoon interactions
Report on ICDP Deep Dust workshops: probing continental climate of the late Paleozoic icehouse–greenhouse transition and beyond
The Bouse Formation, a controversial Neogene archive of the evolving Colorado River: a scientific drilling workshop report (28 February–3 March 2019 – BlueWater Resort & Casino, Parker, AZ, USA)
Colorado Plateau Coring Project, Phase I (CPCP-I): a continuously cored, globally exportable chronology of Triassic continental environmental change from western North America
Report on ICDP workshop CONOSC (COring the NOrth Sea Cenozoic)
A key continental archive for the last 2 Ma of climatic history of the central Mediterranean region: A pilot drilling in the Fucino Basin, central Italy
Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP): origins and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics
Accelerating Neoproterozoic research through scientific drilling
A way forward to discover Antarctica's past
Jonathan M. G. Stine, Joshua M. Feinberg, Adam K. Huttenlocker, Randall B. Irmis, Declan Ramirez, Rashida Doctor, John McDaris, Charles M. Henderson, Michael T. Read, Kristina Brady Shannon, Anders Noren, Ryan O'Grady, Ayva Sloo, Patrick Steury, Diego P. Fernandez, Amy C. Henrici, and Neil J. Tabor
Sci. Dril., 33, 109–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-109-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-109-2024, 2024
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We present initial results from the upper 450 m of ER-1, a legacy core collected from modern-day Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, USA. This section contains a relatively complete record of Upper Carboniferous to Early Permian sediments, providing a unique window on Earth's last icehouse–hothouse transition. Ongoing research will tie our results to important fossil sites, allowing us to better understand how this climate shift contributed to the evolution of terrestrial life.
Catherine C. Beck, Melissa Berke, Craig S. Feibel, Verena Foerster, Lydia Olaka, Helen M. Roberts, Christopher A. Scholz, Kat Cantner, Anders Noren, Geoffery Mibei Kiptoo, James Muirhead, and the Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin (DDTB) project team
Sci. Dril., 33, 93–108, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-93-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-93-2024, 2024
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The Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin project seeks to determine the relative impacts of tectonics and climate on eastern African ecosystems. To organize goals for coring, we hosted a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, which focused on how a 4 Myr sedimentary core from Turkana will uniquely address research objectives related to basin evolution, past climates and environments, and modern resources. We concluded that a Pliocene to modern record is best accomplished through a two-phase drilling project.
Marci M. Robinson, Kenneth G. Miller, Tali L. Babila, Timothy J. Bralower, James V. Browning, Marlow J. Cramwinckel, Monika Doubrawa, Gavin L. Foster, Megan K. Fung, Sean Kinney, Maria Makarova, Peter P. McLaughlin, Paul N. Pearson, Ursula Röhl, Morgan F. Schaller, Jean M. Self-Trail, Appy Sluijs, Thomas Westerhold, James D. Wright, and James C. Zachos
Sci. Dril., 33, 47–65, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-47-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-47-2024, 2024
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The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is the closest geological analog to modern anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but its causes and the responses remain enigmatic. Coastal plain sediments can resolve this uncertainty, but their discontinuous nature requires numerous sites to constrain events. Workshop participants identified 10 drill sites that target the PETM and other interesting intervals. Our post-drilling research will provide valuable insights into Earth system responses.
Sebastian Schaller, Marius W. Buechi, Bennet Schuster, and Flavio S. Anselmetti
Sci. Dril., 32, 27–42, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-27-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-27-2023, 2023
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In the frame of the DOVE (Drilling Overdeepened Alpine Valleys) project and with the support of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), we drilled and recovered a 252 m long sediment core from the Basadingen Through. The Basadingen Trough, once eroded by the Rhine glacier during several ice ages, reaches over 300 m under the modern landscape. The sedimentary filling represents a precious scientific archive for understanding and reconstructing past glaciations.
Alison J. Smith, Emi Ito, Natalie Burls, Leon Clarke, Timme Donders, Robert Hatfield, Stephen Kuehn, Andreas Koutsodendris, Tim Lowenstein, David McGee, Peter Molnar, Alexander Prokopenko, Katie Snell, Blas Valero Garcés, Josef Werne, Christian Zeeden, and the PlioWest Working Consortium
Sci. Dril., 32, 61–72, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-61-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-61-2023, 2023
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Western North American contains accessible and under-recognized paleolake records that hold the keys to understanding the drivers of wetter conditions in Pliocene Epoch subtropical drylands worldwide. In a 2021 ICDP workshop, we chose five paleolake basins to study that span 7° of latitude in a unique array able to capture a detailed record of hydroclimate during the Early Pliocene warm period and subsequent Pleistocene cooling. We propose new drill cores for three of these basins.
Kim Senger, Denise Kulhanek, Morgan T. Jones, Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikora, Sverre Planke, Valentin Zuchuat, William J. Foster, Sten-Andreas Grundvåg, Henning Lorenz, Micha Ruhl, Kasia K. Sliwinska, Madeleine L. Vickers, and Weimu Xu
Sci. Dril., 32, 113–135, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-113-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-32-113-2023, 2023
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Geologists can decipher the past climates and thus better understand how future climate change may affect the Earth's complex systems. In this paper, we report on a workshop held in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, to better understand how rocks in Svalbard (an Arctic archipelago) can be used to quantify major climatic shifts recorded in the past.
Flavio S. Anselmetti, Milos Bavec, Christian Crouzet, Markus Fiebig, Gerald Gabriel, Frank Preusser, Cesare Ravazzi, and DOVE scientific team
Sci. Dril., 31, 51–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-31-51-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-31-51-2022, 2022
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Previous glaciations eroded below the ice deep valleys in the Alpine foreland, which, with their sedimentary fillings, witness the timing and extent of these glacial advance–retreat cycles. Drilling such sedimentary sequences will thus provide well-needed evidence in order to reconstruct the (a)synchronicity of past ice advances in a trans-Alpine perspective. Eventually these data will document how the Alpine foreland was shaped and how the paleoclimate patterns varied along and across the Alps.
Michael A. Schwenk, Patrick Schläfli, Dimitri Bandou, Natacha Gribenski, Guilhem A. Douillet, and Fritz Schlunegger
Sci. Dril., 30, 17–42, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-30-17-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-30-17-2022, 2022
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A scientific drilling was conducted into a bedrock trough (overdeepening) in Bern-Bümpliz (Switzerland) in an effort to advance the knowledge of the Quaternary prior to 150 000 years ago. We encountered a 208.5 m-thick succession of loose sediments (gravel, sand and mud) in the retrieved core and identified two major sedimentary sequences (A: lower, B: upper). The sedimentary suite records two glacial advances and the subsequent filling of a lake sometime between 300 000 and 200 000 years ago.
Molly O. Patterson, Richard H. Levy, Denise K. Kulhanek, Tina van de Flierdt, Huw Horgan, Gavin B. Dunbar, Timothy R. Naish, Jeanine Ash, Alex Pyne, Darcy Mandeno, Paul Winberry, David M. Harwood, Fabio Florindo, Francisco J. Jimenez-Espejo, Andreas Läufer, Kyu-Cheul Yoo, Osamu Seki, Paolo Stocchi, Johann P. Klages, Jae Il Lee, Florence Colleoni, Yusuke Suganuma, Edward Gasson, Christian Ohneiser, José-Abel Flores, David Try, Rachel Kirkman, Daleen Koch, and the SWAIS 2C Science Team
Sci. Dril., 30, 101–112, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-30-101-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-30-101-2022, 2022
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How much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will melt and how quickly it will happen when average global temperatures exceed 2 °C is currently unknown. Given the far-reaching and international consequences of Antarctica’s future contribution to global sea level rise, the SWAIS 2C Project was developed in order to better forecast the size and timing of future changes.
Zhisheng An, Peizhen Zhang, Hendrik Vogel, Yougui Song, John Dodson, Thomas Wiersberg, Xijie Feng, Huayu Lu, Li Ai, and Youbin Sun
Sci. Dril., 28, 63–73, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-28-63-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-28-63-2020, 2020
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Earth has experienced remarkable climate–environmental changes in the last 65 million years. The Weihe Basin with its 6000–8000 m infill of a continuous sedimentary sequence gives a unique continental archive for the study of the Cenozoic environment and exploration of deep biospheres. This workshop report concludes key objectives of the two-phase Weihe Basin Drilling Project and the global significance of reconstructing Cenozoic climate evolution and tectonic–monsoon interaction in East Asia.
Gerilyn S. Soreghan, Laurent Beccaletto, Kathleen C. Benison, Sylvie Bourquin, Georg Feulner, Natsuko Hamamura, Michael Hamilton, Nicholas G. Heavens, Linda Hinnov, Adam Huttenlocker, Cindy Looy, Lily S. Pfeifer, Stephane Pochat, Mehrdad Sardar Abadi, James Zambito, and the Deep Dust workshop participants
Sci. Dril., 28, 93–112, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-28-93-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-28-93-2020, 2020
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The events of the Permian — the orogenies, biospheric turnovers, icehouse and greenhouse antitheses, and Mars-analog lithofacies — boggle the imagination and present us with great opportunities to explore Earth system behavior. Here we outline results of workshops to propose continuous coring of continental Permian sections in western (Anadarko Basin) and eastern (Paris Basin) equatorial Pangaea to retrieve continental records spanning 50 Myr of Earth's history.
Andrew Cohen, Colleen Cassidy, Ryan Crow, Jordon Bright, Laura Crossey, Rebecca Dorsey, Brian Gootee, Kyle House, Keith Howard, Karl Karlstrom, and Philip Pearthree
Sci. Dril., 26, 59–67, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-26-59-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-26-59-2019, 2019
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This paper summarizes a workshop held in Parker, AZ, USA, to discuss planned scientific drilling in the Miocene(?) or early Pliocene Bouse Formation, a controversial deposit (of lacustrine, marine, or some hybrid origin) found in the lower Colorado River valley. The drilling project is intended to address this controversy as well as shed light on Pliocene climates of southwestern North America during an important period of past climate change.
Paul E. Olsen, John W. Geissman, Dennis V. Kent, George E. Gehrels, Roland Mundil, Randall B. Irmis, Christopher Lepre, Cornelia Rasmussen, Dominique Giesler, William G. Parker, Natalia Zakharova, Wolfram M. Kürschner, Charlotte Miller, Viktoria Baranyi, Morgan F. Schaller, Jessica H. Whiteside, Douglas Schnurrenberger, Anders Noren, Kristina Brady Shannon, Ryan O'Grady, Matthew W. Colbert, Jessie Maisano, David Edey, Sean T. Kinney, Roberto Molina-Garza, Gerhard H. Bachman, Jingeng Sha, and the CPCD team
Sci. Dril., 24, 15–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-24-15-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-24-15-2018, 2018
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The Colorado Plateau Coring Project-1 recovered ~ 850 m of core in three holes at two sites in the Triassic fluvial strata of Petrified Forest National Park, AZ, USA. The cores have abundant zircon, U-Pb dateable layers (210–241 Ma) that along with magnetic polarity stratigraphy, validate the eastern US-based Newark-Hartford astrochronology and timescale, while also providing temporal and environmental context for the vast geological archives of the Triassic of western North America.
Wim Westerhoff, Timme Donders, and Stefan Luthi
Sci. Dril., 21, 47–51, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-47-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-21-47-2016, 2016
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The CONOSC (COring the NOrth Sea Cenozoic) project brings scientists together that aim at scientific drilling of the north-western European marginal seas where in the last 65 million years the influence of sea and land was recorded continuously in the sediments. The subsiding area is ideally suited for detailed study of the relations between changing climate, biodiversity, and changing land masses. The report discusses the ICDP workshop outcome and overall project aims.
B. Giaccio, E. Regattieri, G. Zanchetta, B. Wagner, P. Galli, G. Mannella, E. Niespolo, E. Peronace, P. R. Renne, S. Nomade, G. P. Cavinato, P. Messina, A. Sposato, C. Boschi, F. Florindo, F. Marra, and L. Sadori
Sci. Dril., 20, 13–19, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-20-13-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-20-13-2015, 2015
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As a pilot study for a possible depth-drilling project, an 82m long sedimentary succession was retrieved from the Fucino Basin, central Apennines, which hosts ca. 900m of lacustrine sediments. The acquired paleoclimatic record, from the retrieved core, spans the last 180ka and reveals noticeable variations related to the last two glacial-interglacial cycles. In light of these results, the Fucino sediments are likely to provide one of the longest continuous record for the last 2Ma.
P. A. Baker, S. C. Fritz, C. G. Silva, C. A. Rigsby, M. L. Absy, R. P. Almeida, M. Caputo, C. M. Chiessi, F. W. Cruz, C. W. Dick, S. J. Feakins, J. Figueiredo, K. H. Freeman, C. Hoorn, C. Jaramillo, A. K. Kern, E. M. Latrubesse, M. P. Ledru, A. Marzoli, A. Myrbo, A. Noren, W. E. Piller, M. I. F. Ramos, C. C. Ribas, R. Trnadade, A. J. West, I. Wahnfried, and D. A. Willard
Sci. Dril., 20, 41–49, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-20-41-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-20-41-2015, 2015
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We report on a planned Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP) that will continuously sample Late Cretaceous to modern sediment in a transect along the equatorial Amazon of Brazil, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic Ocean. The TADP will document the evolution of the Neotropical forest and will link biotic diversification to changes in the physical environment, including climate, tectonism, and landscape. We will also sample the ca. 200Ma basaltic sills that underlie much of the Amazon.
D. J. Condon, P. Boggiani, D. Fike, G. P. Halverson, S. Kasemann, A. H. Knoll, F. A. Macdonald, A. R. Prave, and M. Zhu
Sci. Dril., 19, 17–25, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-19-17-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-19-17-2015, 2015
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This workshop report outlines the background, topics discussed and major conclusions/future directions arising form an ICDP- and ECORD-sponsored workshop convened to discuss the utility of scientific drilling for accelerating Neoproterozoic research.
J. S. Wellner
Sci. Dril., 18, 11–11, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-18-11-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-18-11-2014, 2014
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Short summary
What was Earth like when young? Under what conditions did bacteria spread? We studied some of the best-preserved, oldest rocks in South Africa. Layers there are about vertical; we drilled sideways. Sedimentary strata from eight boreholes showed that they had been deposited in rivers, sandy shorelines, tidal flats, estuaries, and the ocean. Some have well-preserved remnants of microbes. We will learn how life was established on a planet which would appear very inhospitable to us nowadays.
What was Earth like when young? Under what conditions did bacteria spread? We studied some of...
