Banded iron formation

Banded iron formation, Karijini National Park, Western Australia
2.1 billion year old banded iron formation

Banded iron formations (or BIFs) are a distinctive type of rock often found in Precambrian sedimentary rocks.

They consist of repeated thin layers of iron oxides, either magnetite (Fe3O4) or hematite (Fe2O3), alternating with bands of iron-poor shale and chert.

Some of the oldest known rock formations, formed over 3,700 million years ago (mya), include banded iron layers.[1] The banded layers are a common feature in sediments for much of the Earth's early history.[2][3]

  1. Minik T. Rosing et al. 1996. Earliest part of Earth's stratigraphic record: A reappraisal of the >3.7 Ga Isua (Greenland) supracrustal sequence. Geology 24 #1, 43-46
  2. Knoll, Andrew H. 2004. Life on a young planet: the first three billion years of evolution on Earth. Princeton, N.J. ISBN 0-691-12029-3
  3. Faces of Earth - Building the Planet. YouTube account of early Earth history. [1] American Geosciences Institute.

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