Stratigraphy-related, low-pressure metamorphism in the Hardey Syncline, Hamersley Province, Western Australia

The late Archean Fortescue Group and Paleoproterozoic Hamersley Group are exposed in the Hardey Syncline located at the southwestern edge of the Hamersley Basin, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. The secondary mineral assemblages and compositions of the basaltic rocks of the Fortescue and Hamersley Groups reveal the metamorphic conditions of the study area. The estimated metamorphic grade ranges from prehnite–actinolite facies (Hamersley Group), through greenschist facies (Fortescue Group), to a transition between greenschist facies and actinolite–calcic plagioclase facies (Fortescue Group), indicating a low-pressure type metamorphic facies series. The metamorphic grade increases northward, which is opposite to the general southward increase of the regional metamorphic grade. Furthermore, the change of metamorphic grade strongly correlates with stratigraphy, and the metamorphic temperature increases with stratigraphic depth. These observations suggest that the metamorphism of the study area was caused by a thermal event before the folding due to the Ophthalmian orogeny that affected most of the Hamersley Province. Considering the presence of 2.2 Ga dolerite sills in the Hardey Syncline and the low-pressure metamorphic condition, it is suggested that the metamorphism of the study area was caused by the 2.2 Ga continental rifting, which is consistent with the reported metamorphic age.