Operational Report about drilling in the Moodies Group of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BASE – Barberton Archean Surface Environments)

The BASE (Barberton Archean Surface Environments) drilling project successfully recovered unweathered, continuous core samples from the Paleoarchean Moodies Group in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. These strata, among Earth's oldest well-preserved sedimentary records, offer a high-resolution snapshot of surface conditions and processes dating back approximately 3.2 billion years. The project achieved its drilling objectives by extracting 2903 meters of core from eight inclined boreholes, revealing diverse lithologies including conglomerates, sandstones, shales, and banded-iron formations (BIFs). Unexpectedly deep oxidative weathering and intense fracturing were observed, along with thicker BIFs than anticipated. Additionally, samples from two mine adits and a water tunnel provided further insights into the upper Moodies Group's stratigraphy. The project integrated geophysical logging, core processing, and an extensive education program to engage local stakeholders and relate findings to the recently established Barberton-Makhonjwa Mountains World Heritage Site.

Heubeck, C., Beukes, N., Homann, M., Javaux, E. J., Kakegawa, T., Lalonde, S., Mason, P., Tice, M., Mashele, P., Paprika, D., Rippon, C., Tucker, R., Tucker, R., Ndazamo, V., Christianson, A., & Kunkel, C. (2024). Operational Report about drilling in the Moodies Group of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (BASE – Barberton Archean Surface Environments) . Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. https://doi.org/10.48440/ICDP.5069.001