ARC ASSEMBLY AND CONTINENTAL COLLISION IN THE NEOPROTEROZOIC EAST AFRICAN OROGEN: Implications for the Consolidation of Gondwanaland

Abstract

Some of the most important, rapid, and enigmatic changes in our Earth’s environment and biota occurred during the Neoproterozoic Era (1000540 million years ago; Ma). Paramount among these changes are the rapid evolution of eukaryotes and appearance of metazoa (Knoll 1992, Conway Morris 1993), major episodes of continental glaciation that may have extended to low latitudes (Hambrey & Harland 1985), marked increases in the oxygen concentration of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (Derry et al 1992), the reappearance of sedimentary banded iron formations (BIF; James 1983), and striking temporal variations in the isotopic composition of C and Sr (Asmerom et al 1991, Derry et al 1992). Understanding the causes of and relationships between these changes is a challenging focus of interdisciplinary research, and there are compelling indications that the most important causes were tectonic (Des Marais et al 1992, Veevers 1990). For example, development of ocean basins may have been accompanied by the development of seafloor hydrothermal systems, which lowered the 87Sr/S6Sr of seawater, led to the development of BIF, and formed anoxic basins where organic carbon could be buried, thus leading to an increase in O~. Continental collision and formation of a supercontinent may have led to continental glaciation and an increase in the 87Sr/86Sr of seawater,