Her poster explored the suitability of approximately 3.25-billion-year-old banded iron formations from the Fig Tree Group in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, as archives of Palaeoarchaean seawater chemistry. Her work demonstrated how geochemical analyses can contribute to reconstructing conditions in the early oceans. Major- and trace-element data from magnetite-, chert-, and siderite-rich layers of a drill core revealed varying degrees of influence from detrital input.
Notably, chert and selected magnetite samples preserve characteristic signatures of Archaean seawater. The observed REY patterns (rare earth elements and yttrium) and the absence of a negative cerium anomaly indicate anoxic conditions, while positive europium anomalies provide evidence for the influence of hydrothermal fluids.
The results demonstrate that chert in particular can provide a reliable archive for reconstructing early marine environmental conditions and offer important insights into processes during the early evolution of the Kaapvaal Craton.
We warmly congratulate her on this well-deserved award!
