Correlation of the stratigraphic cover of the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons recording the lead up to Paleoproterozoic Icehouse and the GOE

The Turee Creek Basin of the Pilbara Craton is critical for timing onset of the early Paleoproterozoic Icehouse and the GOE. We establish correlation to the Koegas/Postmasburg Supersequence of the Kaapvaal Craton based on a common compressional basin, with the Pilbara succession deposited near the orogen and the Kaapvaal succession near the flexural arch. Whereas Turee Creek cyclicity was controlled by tectonic subsidence, glacioeustatic influence is discernible in the Koegas/Postmasburg Supersequence. Key features of the Turee Creek Basin are: the mid-Kungarra Formation glaciogenic Meteorite Bore Member; unconformity-bound sequences above the Kungarra Formation; and the basaltic Bubbawalyee Formation conformably above Quartzite 3. On the Kaapvaal Craton, the equivalent glaciogenic unit (Makganyene Formation), overlying the sedimentary Koegas Subgroup and underlying the basaltic Ongeluk Formation, is unconformity-bound. We correlate the sub-Ongeluk unconformity with the sub-Quartzite 3 unconformity, and propose tectonostratigraphic equivalence of the Ongeluk and Bubbawalyee formations. There are no equivalents of the post-Ongeluk, Hotazel and Mooidraai formations above the Bubbawalyee Formation on the Pilbara Craton, which is significant because the Hotazel Formation provides the earliest evidence for the GOE. Consequently, rather than spanning the GOE, the Turee Creek Basin provides a chemostratigraphy during its eve. All carbonate sediments deposited before and after the first global glaciation (Meteorite Bore/Makganyene) yield carbon isotope values close to 0‰, establishing that the first carbon isotope excursion occurred long after closure of the Turee Creek-Koegas/Postmasburg basin and onset of the GOE. It therefore appears that the carbon cycle responded to, rather than triggered, the GOE. •The Turee Creek Supersequence records only the earliest stage of the GOE.•The Koegas/Postmasberg Supersequence in South Africa formed in the same basin.•The Turee Creek Orogeny affected both successions.•Carbonates below and above the oldest glacial rocks have C-isotope values ~0‰.•C-isotope excursions long post-dated onset of the GOE.