Both arc-related and enriched-mantle rocks occur within the Paleoproterozoic Birimian terrane; however, the geological implications of this remain enigmatic. This study thus investigates the geological implications of this occurrence by integrating major and trace element data from the mafic suites of the Winneba Segment and published geochemical data from other Birimian belts in Ghana. The Winneba Segment mafic suites are dominantly subalkaline basalts, with minor basaltic andesite and andesite similar to the other Birimian belts. Geochemical features of the Winneba Segment mafic suites and the other belts characterised by negative Nb-Ta peaks, enriched large-ion lithophile element, light rare earth element, and depleted high-field strength element support formation in an arc setting through subduction–accretionary processes. They are characterised by La/Nb of 0.9–7.2, Ti/Zr of 24–154, moderate to high Nb/Yb, and high Th/Yb values. The low values are characteristic of arc-influenced magmas, whereas the spread to very high ratios might indicate magma–crust interaction during their evolution. A few mafic suites of the Winneba Segment and the Bui Belt exhibit an enriched-mantle character with positive Ta, Nb, and Ti anomalies. The new geochemical data for the mafic suites of the Winneba Segment, and previously published data from mafic suites in other Birimian belts in Ghana, reveal the presence of two distinct types of mafic suites: enriched- and arc-related. The arc-related mafic suites are proposed to be associated with subduction-related accretionary processes during the Rhyacian Eburnean orogeny, while the enriched-mantle signature may result from magma–crust interaction and possibly sediment/upper-crustal contamination.

This paper presents the first zircon trace element geochemistry, combined with U-Pb geochronology data, of the Paleoproterozoic K-rich granitoids (KRGs) in the Bole-Nangodi greenstone belt of the West African Craton (WAC) in northern Ghana. The study aimed to constrain the timing of emplacement, magma source characteristics, and petrogenetic processes of the KRGs. The studied KRGs of the Bole-Nangodi Belt include hornblende granite and granodiorite. The zircons from the KRGs contain high abundances of Hf, ΣREE, Pb, Th, and U, indicating a high degree of magmatic evolution, with contemporaneous magmatism occurring between ca. 2120 and ca. 2092 Ma. Chondrite-normalised REE patterns of zircons from the KRGs of the Bole-Nangodi belt show mainly positive Ce anomalies and slightly positive to weakly negative Eu anomalies, suggesting crystallisation under high oxygen fugacity conditions. The studied zircon were derived from magmas of continental crust origin and were subsequently affected by hydrothermal alteration, indicated by their Th/U, (Sm/La)N, Ce/Ce*, Nb/Ta and Hf/Y ratios, weak oscillatory zoning and somewhat metamict patterns, and relative enrichment of light rare earth elements. The evaluation of U-Pb age data suggests that the emplacement of the KRGs was non-systematic. Consequently, there is no distinct age difference or well-defined sequence of emplacement among the granodiorite and granite in the Bole-Nangodi belt. Therefore, the region is characterised as an undifferentiated terrane that underwent contemporaneous pulses of magmatism during the 2.3–2.1 Ga Eburnean events.

Meteorite impact craters are natural experiments in landscape organisation, yet their influence on present-day environmental variability remains poorly quantified. Here we present a 25-year monthly satellite case study (2001–2026) of rainfall, land-surface temperature, vegetation greenness, and moisture dynamics across the Lake Bosumtwi impact crater, Ghana, and three concentric annular rings extending outward from the mapped crater boundary (0–1 km, 1–10 km, and 10–20 km). The crater interior shows persistently higher mean rainfall and lower land-surface temperature than the surrounding landscape, while peak vegetation and canopy-moisture signals occur mainly in the near-crater ring rather than within the crater itself. These contrasts remain consistent through time and across multiple variables, indicating that the Bosumtwi landscape functions as a stable but internally differentiated crater-centred environmental system. The spatial separation of rainfall, temperature, greenness, and moisture maxima further suggests that hydroclimatic forcing and ecological response are not spatially co-located. Considering that the crater zone includes the lake surface together with adjacent inner-crater terrain, the observed contrasts should be interpreted as an integrated crater-scale signal rather than as a land-only comparison. Nonetheless, our results show that the crater form and hydrological setting likely play an important role in organising the distribution of water, heat, and vegetation across this landscape through time.