Banded Iron Formation

04 Desember 2014
16:30

Banded iron formations (also known as banded ironstone formations or BIFs) are distinctive units
of sedimentary rock that are almost always of Precambrian age.
A typical BIF consists of repeated, thin layers (a few millimeters to a few centimeters in thickness) of silver to
black iron oxides, eithermagnetite (Fe3 O4 ) or hematite (Fe2 O3 ), alternating with bands of ironpoor shales and cherts, often red in color, of similar thickness, and containing microbands (sub-millimeter) of
iron oxides. [1]
Some of the oldest known rock formations, formed over 3,700 million years ago, include banded iron
layers. [2] Banded layers rich in iron were mostly deposited between 2,400 and
1,900 mya. Phanerozoic ironstones generally have a different genesis[citation needed].
Banded iron beds are an important commercial source of iron ore, such as the Pilbara region of Western
Australia and the Animikie Group inMinnesota.
Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banded_iron_formation>

Banded-Iron Formations: Clues to Early Earths Environment

The Banded-iron formations give us clues to the atmosphere of early Earth. As we look deep into the
Earth's past, evidence from old rocks suggests that environmental conditions were once very different. In
particular, rocks making up the Banded-iron formations indicate that the early atmosphere contained
little or no oxygen.
The picture in figure 2 below shows an excellent example of Banded-iron formation (BIF). Most BIFs are
strikingly colourful with the dark layers being made up mainly of the iron oxide minerals, hematite
(Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) and red layers of jasper, a variety of chalcedony, or very fine-grained
quartz (SiO2) (Mathez, 2006). BIFs are rocks of the Proterozoic Era ranging from 1.8 to 2.5 billion years in
age and consist of alternating iron-rich and iron-poor layers, typically only millimeters to centimeters
thick [2]. Banded iron formations are found throughout the geological record, but the period from 2.5 to
2.0 billion years represents a unique time in Earth history, a time during which 92% of the Earths BIFs
were laid down (Immenhauser, 2005). For this enormous accumulation of iron oxide to have occurred over
such a vast time span meant that something about the chemistry of early earth was very different to what
it is today. The chemistry of rocks from the Proterozoic shows that oxygen was a rare gas in the
atmosphere. The key to understanding the chemical reactions occurring in the early oceans is in the
relationship between the elements oxygen and iron. Iron forms two ionic states, namely, ferrous (Fe+2)
and ferric (Fe+3) the +2 or +3 indicates the extent to which iron is oxidised. Iron will only dissolve in
significant quantities in water that contains no oxygen (anoxic water). In anoxic water iron dissolves in
the ferrous state as ions of hydrous Fe2+, or FeOH+ (Mathez, 2006). Therefore, in order for iron-rich
chemical precipitates to form, the early oceans must have been sufficiently anoxic to dissolve iron. Since
the ocean and atmosphere exchange oxygen rapidly, the atmosphere could not have contained much
oxygen, either. But oxygen was in the making; photosynthesis from blue-green bacteria dominating the
early oceans would have created a net gain of oxygen first in the ocean and later in the atmosphere
(Attenborough, 2010). Ferrous iron in oceanic water scavenged oxygen that was a waste product for the
photosynthesising bacteria and rained down onto the ocean floors as rust coloured chemical sediment.
This was chemistry on a grand scale the soluble ferrous iron was being oxidised to insoluble ferric iron as
the minerals, magnetite and hematite. At the same time, primitive photosynthetic blue-green algae were
beginning to proliferate near surface waters. As the algae would produce molecular oxygen (O2) as a
waste product of photosynthesis, this free oxygen would combine with the iron in solution to form iron
oxides. As the biomass expanded beyond the capacity for the available iron to combine with waste O2,
the oxygen content of the sea water rose to toxic levels for the algae population and resulted in their
large-scale die-off, which in turn gave rise to an iron poor layer of silica on the sea floor [2.]. As time
passed and algae populations re-established themselves, a new iron-rich layer began to accumulate on
ocean floors. This cycle was repeated and continued for hundreds of millions of years. Each band in the
iron formation is similar to an annual layer of sediment or varve - to the extent that the banding is
assumed to result from cyclic variations in available oxygen (Kirschvink, 1992). For over 2 billion years
this went on, until the iron in earths oceans was depleted. Since there was no iron left in solution the
excess molecular oxygen bubbled up into the atmosphere and began accumulating from about 1700
million years ago, after two-thirds of Earth history [6.]. The vast layers of iron minerals stayed behind in
the Banded-iron formations. The rise in the levels of oxygen after the massive depletion of iron meant
that photosynthesising bacteria would face near extinction as oxygen is a reactive and highly toxic gas
(Southwood, 2003). Cells would have to adapt to this change in environment and the excess oxygen would
ultimately lead to the formation of an ozone layer and the proliferation of new life forms in an
oxygenated world during the so-called Cambrian Explosion. But that is the subject of another article!
Banded-iron formations occur in many parts of the world and constitute the major reserves of iron ore. At
Thabazimbi and Sishen these reserves are exploited by major mining operations.

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Thabazimbi and Sishen these reserves are exploited by major mining operations.

Figure 1: Core sample (8 cm) of Banded iron-formation from Hamersley, Australia. A fault runs through
the center of the specimen showing the displacement of the individual layers of banding. Specimen and
photograph: A. Fraser

Figure 2: Banded iron-formation (6 cm). Banded iron-formation is composed of alternating layers of ironrich material and silica (chert), Nchwaning II mine, Kalahari Manganese Field. Each layer is relatively
thin, varying in thickness from about a millimetre up to a few centimetres. This is evidence of aerobic life
altering the early earths atmosphere by the precipitation of iron oxides. Specimen and photograph: A.
Fraser

Figure 3: Banded iron-formation (10 cm). Banded iron-formation is composed of alternating layers of ironrich material, Northern Cape,, South Africa. Specimen and photograph: A. Fraser

Figure 4: Banded iron-formation (14 cm). Banded iron-formation is composed of alternating layers of
iron-rich material, Thabazimbi, South Africa. Specimen and photograph: A. Fraser

Figure 5: Mining activity at the Thabazimbi iron ore mine. Photograph by A.Fraser

References:
1. Attenborough. D., (2010). First Life Harper Collins publishers, ISBN 978 0007365241. (page 46)
2. Banded Iron Formation http://jersey.uoregon.edu/
~mstrick/RogueComCollege/RCC_Lectures/Banded_Iron.html (accessed Dec 27, 2010)
3. Kirschvink, J. (1992). "Late Proterozoic low-latitude global glaciation: the Snowball Earth", in J. W.
Schopf; C. Klein: The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study. Cambridge University Press.
4. Mathez, E. (2006). How Has the Earth Evolved? Evolution of the Atmosphere
5. McCarthy, T. 2009. How on Earth? Answers to the puzzles of our planet. Struik Nature, Random House
Struik (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town
6. http://www.amnh.org/learn/resources/earth_resource1.php (accessed Dec 27, 2010)
7. Southwood. R., (2003) The Story of Life Oxford University Press (Pages 22- 24).
Pasted from <http://iridiumminer.blogspot.com/2011/01/banded-iron-formations-clues-to-early.html>

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