Evidence for Hadean mafic intrusions in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, Canada
C. Sole, J. O’Neil, H. Rizo, J.-L. Paquette, D. Benn, J. Plakholm
Many questions remain regarding Earth’s earliest crust owing to the rarity of Hadean (>4.03 billion-year-old) rocks and minerals. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt (NGB) in Canada may be the only known remnant of Hadean crust, although its age is debated, ranging from ≥3.75 to 4.3 billion years old. Mafic intrusions within this belt were specifically sampled and analyzed to investigate the timing of their magmatic differentiation. Correlations between samarium/neodymium (Sm/Nd) and
143
Nd/
144
Nd and
142
Nd/
144
Nd ratios correspond to ages of 4157 ± 174 and