Bibliographic record
Abstract
Advances in isotopic age determinations increasingly point to the episodic nature of the evolution of lithosphere and crust, and in this paper well-documented field and geochemical evidence is to be reviewed, which indicates that at least some of these episodes were associated with large asteroid impacts. Observed overlaps between early Precambrian impacts [∼3.47, ∼2.63, ∼2.56, ∼2.48, ∼2.023 Ga (Vredefort) and 1.85 Ga (Sudbury)] and isotopic age frequency peaks, defined within age errors, while not constituting proof of cause–effect relationships, invite tests of field evidence relevant to this question. Evidence for major dynamic and thermal effects of large impact clusters on the early Precambrian crust is provided by ejecta fallout units associated with: (i) unconformities; (ii) tsunami boulder debris; (iii) compositional contrasts between supracrustal sequences that underlie and overlie the ejecta units; (iv) onset of episodes of iron-rich sedimentation; and (v) near-contemporaneous intrusion of granitoid magmas. An impact cluster at ∼3.26–3.24 Ga documented in the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa, is associated with unconformities and granite activity correlated with unconformities and olistostromes in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. In both cratons a 300 Ma period of greenstone–granite evolution is terminated abruptly by unconformities overlain by impact ejecta, turbidite and banded iron-formation. The 3.26 and 3.24 Ga terminations involve major faulting, uplift, erosion, and the onset of high-energy sedimentation which includes detrital components from contemporaneous granites. The onset of ferruginous sedimentation, including banded iron-formation, in the wake of the ∼3.47, ∼3.26, ∼3.24, ∼2.63 and ∼2.56 Ga impacts suggests weathering and soluble transport of ferrous oxide under low-oxidation atmosphere and hydrosphere conditions, possibly reflecting extensive mafic volcanic activity triggered by the impacts. Extensive dyke formation during 2.48–2.42 Ga (Matachewan, Scourie, Karelian, Widgiemooltha, Bangalore, Antarctica dykes) may be related to deep crust/mantle fractures triggered by the ∼2.48 Dales Gorge mega-impact. Tentative observations are consistent with, but do not demonstrate, possible overlaps between Phanerozoic impacts and the onset of faulting and plate tectonics episodes.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".