Precambrian Research

Editors: P.A. Cawood Dept. of Earth Sciences, Irvine Building, University of St. Andrews, North Street, St. Andrews, KY16 9AL, UK, Fax: +44 1334 463949, R.R. Parrish British Geosciences Lab., NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Kingsley Dunham Centre Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK, Fax: +44 115 9363302, G.C. Zhao Dept. of Earth Sciences, Room 409, James Lee Science Building, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China, Fax: 852-25176912, Founding Editors: B. Nagy† , D.A. Pretorius† , J.G. Ramsay , K. Rankama† , Editorial Board Members: M.E. Barley University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia, B. Bingen Norges geologiske undersokelse - NGU, Trondheim, Norway, R. Blewett Geoscience Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia, I. Braun Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany, A.S. Collins University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia, K.C. Condie New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, F. Corfu Mineralogical-Geological, Oslo, Norway, S. Dasgupta Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, M.J. de Wit University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa, C. Fedo University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA, I.C.W. Fitzsimons Curtin University, Perth, Australia, C.R.L. Friend Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, R. Fuck Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil, S.L. Harley University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, D.K. Holm Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA, J. Jacobs University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, B.-M. Jahn National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC, P.R. Johnson Saudi Geological Survey, Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, J.A. Karhu University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, A.H. Knoll Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, J.D. Kramers Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland, B. Krapez University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia, A. Kröner Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany, D.R. Lowe Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, J. Martignole Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada, J.G. Meert University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, Sospeter M. Muhongo University of Dar Es Salaam, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, J.S. Myers Lesmurdie, Australia, D.R. Nelson Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia, E.G. Nisbet University of London, Egham, UK, A. Nutman University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, J.A. Percival Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada, L.J. Pesonen University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, M.M. Pimentel Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil, S.A. Pisarevsky University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, M. Raith Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany, H. Rollinson University of Derby, Derby, England, UK, J.W. Schopf University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA, M. Sun University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, P.C. Thurston Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada, S.F. Toteu Centre for Geological and Mining Research, Garoua, Cameroon, M.J. van Kranendonk Geological Survey of Western Australia, East Perth, WA, Australia, R. van Schmus University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA, M.R. Walter University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia, Y. Wang Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangzhou, China, M.L. Williams University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA, S.H. Xiao Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA