Scent of a supercontinent: Gondwana's ores as chemical tracers - tin, tungsten and the Neoproterozoic Laurentia-Gondwana connection

The birth of Gondwana is inextricably linked to the break-up of the earlier Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia. In detail, the Neoproterozoic recon structions of Rodinia are unsolved and without them a detailed kinematic hi story of the birth of Gondwana cannot be constructed. This paper shows that Gondwana's ore deposits provide chemical "scents" that can be effectively used to trace the tectonic history of Gondwana; and the heterogenous distri bution of Gondwana's ore deposits are used to evaluate Late Neoproterozoic reconstructions, which place Laurentia against West Gondwana along a common belt of Grenville age rocks. West Gondwana (including its Grenville-like r ocks) is anomalously enriched in Sn and W relative to the rest of Gondwana. The Grenville Province of Laurentia and its immediate hinterland are devoi d of Sn-VV deposits and even occurrences of any significance. Therefore, Ro dinia reconstructions which juxtapose East Laurentia against the west coast of South America result in juxtaposition of distinctly different metallife rous crustal blocks. These reconstructions may not be correct, and other mo dels should be (re-)explored. ((C)) 1999 Elsevier Science Limited. All righ ts reserved.