Earth and Planetary Science

Abiotic Oxygen Oases in Neoarchean Oceanic Large Igneous Provinces: A Hypothesis of Basalt Thermo‑Acidolysis Triggered by Mantle Plume Redox Reactor

Alexandre de Oliveira Chaves

Institute of Geosciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270‑901, Brazil

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36956/eps.v5i2.3253

Received: 14 April 2026 | Revised: 9 July 2026 | Accepted: 28 July 2026 | Published Online: 7 August 2026

---

Abstract

This paper suggested a conceptual, thermodynamically motivated hypothesis in which Neoarchean oceanic Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) above oversized mantle plumes functioned as enormous abiotic oxygen reactors. In this framework, high heat flow and magmatic volatile fluxes (HCl, SO₂) drive pervasive thermo-acidolysis of oceanic lithosphere and oversized basaltic plateaus (oceanic LIPs), leading to slight water thermolysis, sulfur disproportionation, and local increases in oxygen fugacity toward the hematite-magnetite buffer (HM) within hydrothermal conduits. As an open system, progressive Fe exhaustion and advanced argillic alteration produce pyrophyllite-hematite-quartz linings that passivate conduit walls, while differential diffusion, degassing and rapid advection favour the kinetic survival of abiotic O₂ in an otherwise anoxic ocean, providing oxidative oases that preceded and possibly conditioned the emergence of biological oxygen production. The hypothesis yields testable predictions for thermodynamic-kinetic models and for the interpretation of hematite- and pyrophyllite-bearing alteration zones in Neoarchean greenstone belts. It is also suggested here that the precipitation of banded iron formations (BIFs), dolomitic carbonates and anhydrite was a spontaneous consequence of the basalt thermo-acidolysis. This process would have served as a precursor for the Paleoproterozoic Great Oxidation Event (GOE), contributing to generating the oxygen necessary to change the climate (Huronian Glaciation), the atmospheric chemistry (end of sulfur mass-independent fractionation, MIF-S), and the signature of life (Lomagundi-Jatuli δ¹³C positive excursion).

Keywords: Neoarchean; LIP; Basaltic Oceanic Plateau; Volatiles; GOE; Abiotic Oxygen

---

References

[1] Ślesak, I., Ślesak, H., Kruk, J., 2012. Oxygen and hydrogen peroxide in the early evolution of life on earth: In silico comparative analysis of biochemical pathways. Astrobiology. 12(8), 775–784. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2011.0704

[2] Anbar, A.D., Duan, Y., Lyons, T.W., et al., 2007. Whiff of oxygen before the great oxidation event? Science. 317(5846), 1903–1906. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1140325

[3] Cañadas, F., Guilbaud, R., Fralick, P., et al., 2025. Archaean oxygen oases driven by pulses of enhanced phosphorus recycling in the ocean. Nature Geosciences. 18(5), 430–435. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01678-4

[4] Reinhard, C.T., Planavsky, N.J., Lyons, T.W., 2013. Long-term sedimentary recycling of rare sulphur isotope anomalies. Nature. 497(7447), 100–103.

[5] He, H., Wu, X., Xian, H., et al., 2021. An abiotic source of Archean hydrogen peroxide and oxygen that pre-dates oxygenic photosynthesis. Nature Communications. 12(1), 6611.

[6] Dodd, M.S., Wang, H., Li, C., et al., 2022. Abiotic anoxic iron oxidation, formation of Archean banded iron formations, and the oxidation of early Earth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 584, 117469.

[7] Wu, Z., Song, J., Zhao, G., et al., 2023. Water-induced mantle overturns leading to the origins of Archean continents and subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Geophysical Research Letters. 50(22), e2023GL105178. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105178

[8] Griffin, W.L., Belousova, E.A., O'Neill, C., et al., 2014. The world turns over: Hadean–Archean crust–mantle evolution. Lithos. 189, 2–15.

[9] Herzberg, C., Condie, K., Korenaga, J., 2010. Thermal history of the Earth and its petrological expression. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 292(1–2), 79–88.

[10] Tomlinson, K.Y., Condie, K.C., 2001. Archean mantle plumes: Evidence from greenstone belt geochemistry. In: Ernst, R.E., Buchan, K.L. (Eds.). Mantle Plumes: Their Identification through Time, Geological Society of America Special Paper 352. Geological Society of America: Boulder, CO, USA. pp. 341–357.

[11] Puchtel, I.S., Hofmann, A.W., Mezger, K., et al., 1998. Oceanic plateau model for continental crustal growth in the Archaean: A case study from the Kostomuksha greenstone belt, NW Baltic Shield. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 155(1/2), 57–74.

[12] Puchtel, I.S., Hofmann, A.W., Amelin, Y.V., et al., 1999. Combined mantle plume-island arc model for the formation of the 2.9 Ga Sumozero-Kenozero greenstone belt, SE Baltic Shield: Isotope and trace element constraints. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 63(21), 3579–3595.

[13] Hedenquist, J.W., Arribas, A., 2022. Exploration implications of multiple formation environments of advanced argillic minerals. Economic Geology. 117(3), 609–643.

[14] Gaillard, F., Scaillet, B., Arndt, N.T., 2011. Atmospheric oxygenation caused by a change in volcanic degassing pressure. Nature. 478, 229–233.

[15] Asafov, E.V., Sobolev, A.V., Batanova, V.G., et al., 2020. Chlorine in the Earth’s Mantle as an Indicator of the Global Recycling of Oceanic Crust. Russian Geology and Geophysics. 61(9), 937–950.

[16] Puchtel, I.S., Blichert-Toft, J., Horan, M.F., et al., 2022. The komatiite testimony to ancient mantle heterogeneity. Chemical Geology. 596, 120776.

[17] Brenner, A.R., Fu, R.R., Brown, A.J., et al., 2024. Episodic seafloor hydrothermal alteration as a source of stable remagnetizations in Archean volcanic rocks. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 25(12), e2024GC011799. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC011799

[18] Dekov, V.M., Koschinsky, A., Yamanaka, T., et al., 2024. Native sulfur at the seafloor: Composition and origin. Chemical Geology. 668, 122295. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122295

[19] Kress, V.C., Carmichael, I.S.E., 1991. The compressibility of silicate liquids containing Fe₂O₃ and the effect of composition on their redox states. Contribution to Mineralogy and Petrology. 108, 82–92.

[20] Catling, D.C., Zahnle, K.J., 2020. The Archean atmosphere. ScienceAdvances. 6(9), eaax1420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax1420

[21] McCollom, T.M., Robbins, M., Moskowitz, B., et al., 2013. Experimental study of acid-sulfate alteration of basalt and implications for sulfate deposits on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 118(4), 577–614. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jgre.20044

[22] Romano, A.W., Araújo, C., 2018. Agalmatolite and talc. In: Pedrosa-Soares, A.C., Voll, E., Cunha, E.C. (Eds.). Mineral Resources of Minas Gerais Online: A Synthesis of Knowledge about the Mineral Wealth, Geological History, and Environment and Mining of Minas Gerais. Companhia de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais (CODEMGE): Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Available from: http://recursomineralmg.codemge.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Agalmatolito.pdf (in Portuguese)

[23] Trendall, A.F., 2002. The significance of Iron-Formation in the Precambrian stratigraphic record. In: Altermann, W., Corcoran, P.L. (Eds.). Precambrian Sedimentary Environments. Blackwell Science: Oxford, UK. pp. 33–66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304312.ch3

[24] Large Igneous Provinces Commission, 2016. LIP Age Database: Global listing in Spreadsheet Format (version: 30 October 2016). Available from: http://www.largeigneousprovinces.org/downloads (cited 4 April 2026).

[25] Bekker, A., Slack, J.F., Planavsky, N., et al., 2010. Iron Formation: The Sedimentary Product of a Complex Interplay among Mantle, Tectonic, Oceanic and Biospheric Processes. Economic Geology. 105, 467–508.

[26] Chen, G., Cheng, Q., Lyons, T.W., et al., 2022. Reconstructing Earth’s atmospheric oxygenation history using machine learning. Nature Communications. 13, 5862. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33388-5

[27] Kurucz, S., Fralick, P., Homann, M., et al., 2021. Earth’s first snowball event: Evidence from the early Paleoproterozoic Huronian Supergroup. Precambrian Research. 365, 106408. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106408

[28] Kump, L.R., 2012. Sulfur isotopes and the stepwise oxygenation of the biosphere. Elements. 8(6), 410–411. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.8.6.410

[29] Ciborowski, T.J.R., Kerr, A.C., Ernst, R.E., et al., 2015. The Early Proterozoic Matachewan Large Igneous Province: Geochemistry, petrogenesis, and implications for Earth evolution. Journal of Petrology. 56(8), 1459–1494.

[30] Lyons, T.W., Reinhard, C.T., Planavsky, N.J., 2014. The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere. Nature. 506(7488), 307–315.

[31] Barley, M.E., Krapez, B., Groves, D.I., et al., 1998. The Late Archaean bonanza: Metallogenic and environmental consequences of the interaction between mantle plumes, lithospheric tectonics and global cyclicity. Precambrian Research. 91(1–2), 65–90.

[32] Dubé, B., Mercier-Langevin, P., Kjarsgaard, I., et al., 2014. The Bousquet 2-Dumagami World-Class Archean Au-Rich volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit, Abitibi, Quebec: Metamorphosed submarine advanced argillic alteration footprint and genesis. Economic Geology. 109(1), 121–166.

[33] Kusky, T.M., Kidd, W.S.F., 1992. Remnants of an Archean oceanic plateau, Belingwe greenstone belt, Zimbabwe. Geology. 20(1), 43–46.

[34] Kerr, A.C., White, R.V., Saunders, A.D., 2000. LIP reading, recognizing oceanic plateaux in the geological record. Journal of Petrology. 41(7), 1041–1056.

[35] Condie, K.C., 2005. High field strength element ratios in Archean basalts: A window to evolving sources of mantle plumes? Lithos. 79(3–4), 491–504.

[36] Ernst, R.E., Buchan, K.L., 2003. Recognizing mantle plumes in the geological record. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 31, 469–523.

[37] Kerrich, R., Polat, A., 2006. Archean greenstone-tonalite duality: Thermochemical mantle convection models or plate tectonics in the early Earth global dynamics? Tectonophysics. 415(1–4), 141–165.

[38] Wallace, P.J., Plank, T., Edmonds, M., et al., 2015. Volatiles in magmas. In: Sigurdsson, H., Houghton, B., McNutt, S., et al. (Eds.). The Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, 2nd ed. Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 163–183.

[39] Catling, D.C., Kasting, J.F., 2017. Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.