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
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Sci. Dril., 35, 127–157, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-35-127-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-35-127-2026, 2026
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The Trans-Amazon Drilling Project seeks to reconstruct the origins of biodiversity in the world's largest and most diverse rain forest, and the roles of landscape changes driven by Andean uplift and global climate change in diversification. We provide a project overview and preliminary results from a drill core from the Acre Basin of western Brazil, which recovered an 860 m sequence that was deposited in a large river system and which will yield critical insights on evolutionary history.
Marie-Luise Adolph, Junbo Wang, Liping Zhu, Leon J. Clarke, Andrew C. G. Henderson, Hendrik Vogel, Gerhard Daut, Peter Frenzel, Jianting Ju, Qiangqiang Kou, Dierk Michaelis, Olga Schmitz, Anja Schwarz, Volkhard Spiess, Arne Ulfers, Cidan Zhaxi, Daniel Ariztegui, Natasha Barbolini, Thorsten Bauersachs, Erwin Braun, Giulia Ceriotti, Brian Grivna, Marlene Hoehle, Rolf Kipfer, Wilhelmine Klamt, Cindy Kunkel, Aliisa Laakkonen, Minghui Li, Qingfeng Ma, Paul Moser Röggla, Kaja Müller, Anders Noren, Ryan O'Grady, Santiago Otero, Maïlys Picard, Anna Pint, Camille Thomas, Jerome Van der Woerd, Mathias Vinnepand, Claudia Wrozyna, Christian Zeeden, Xinghuan Zhu, and Torsten Haberzettl
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We drilled deep into sediments beneath a large lake on the Tibetan Plateau, Nam Co, to learn how climate and environments have changed over multiple ice age cycles. The recovered sediments show repeated shifts between major changes in lake conditions, water chemistry, and ecosystems. These findings help clarify how wind systems responded to natural climate cycles and improve understanding of how high mountain regions may react to future climate change and environmental stress.
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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...
