Banded iron formations are plentiful in the rocks representing early Earth, but the mechanisms by which they formed remain controversial. Geochemical modelling indicates that the hydrothermal leaching of low-aluminium ocean crust and subsequent chemical reactions in iron- and silica-rich hydrothermal fluids could have triggered the alternating deposition of iron and silica-dominated sediments.
- Yifeng Wang
- Huifang Xu
- Hiromi Konishi
