A review of the Mesoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic magmatic and tectonothermal history of south–central Africa: implications for Rodinia and Gondwana

Abstract

This paper provides a review of the tectonic evolution of central-southern Africa from Mesoproterozoic to earliest Palaeozoic times, using available geological information and a robust U-Pb zircon database. During the late Mesoproterozoic, the southern margin of the Congo-Tanzania-Bangweulu Craton was characterized by suprasubduction-zone magmatism and the accretion of arc and microcontinental fragments. Magmatism within the adjacent Irumide Belt formed by recycling of older continental crust. Ophiolite blocks, possibly part of an olistostromal mélange, are present in a Neoproterozoic sequence overlying the Irumide Belt, and the occurrence of high-pressure/low-temperature subduction-zone metamorphism and protracted Neoproterozoic suprasubduction-zone magmatism demonstrates that there was an ocean to the south (present-day coordinates) of the Congo-Tanzania-Bangweulu Craton until the amalgamation of Gondwana at 550-520 Ma, indicating that the Congo-Tanzania-Bangweulu Craton was not part of Rodinia. On the basis of their different ages and styles of magmatism, the Mesoproterozoic Kibaran Belt, ChomaKalomo Block and Irumide Belt are not components of the same orogen, therefore precluding a sub-Saharanwide, linked 'Kibaran' (sensu lato) orogenic event. Evidence is presented to illustrate that the CongoTanzania-Bangweulu and Kalahari Cratons developed independently until their final collision during the PanAfrican Orogeny along the Damara-Lufilian-Zambezi Orogen at c. 550-520 Ma.

Palaeoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic growth and evolution of the eastern Congo Craton: Its role in the Rodinia puzzle

“…The Southern Irumide Belt (SIB) is a relatively new term (Johnson et al, 2005(Johnson et al, , 2007b used to describe lithologies that occur to the south of, and that are distinct from, the monotonous granitoids of the Irumide Belt (s.s.). The contact between the two belts is obscured by Permo-Triassic grabens and, in places the SIB has been strongly overprinted by Neoproterozoic tectonometamorphism, where structural fabrics merge with the Zambezi and Mozambique Belts (Figs.…”

“…Magmatic activity in the arc is constrained between ca. 1095 and 1040 Ma (Johnson and Oliver, 2004;Johnson et al, 2005) although a distinct marginal basin ophiolite (the Chewore Ophiolite) has been recognised in the Chewore Inliers of northern Zimbabwe (Fig. 2) and dated at ca.…”

“…3a-c). In the Lufilian Belt this marble unit also contains large clasts of the underlying sedimentary succession that along with the mafic units can be interpreted as olistostromes (Johnson et al, 2005). In the Lufilian Belt these mafic blocks display continental-withinplate and E-MORB-type chemistries (Tembo et al, 1999) whilst in the Zambezi Belt they have mid-ocean-ridge (N-MORB) chemistries and isotopic signatures (John, 2001;John et al, 2003John et al, , 2004b.…”

Late Neoproterozoic granulite facies metamorphism in the Menderes Massif, Western Anatolia/Turkey: implication for the assembly of Gondwana

“…Granulite localities (red diamonds) in East African Orogen are after (1) Coolen, Priem, Verdurmen, and Verschure (1982), (2) Maboko and Nakamura (1996) and Muhongo, Kröner, and Nemchin (2001), (3) Kroner et al (1997), (4) Macey et al (2013), (5) Möller , Mezger, and Schenk (2000), (6) Jöns and Schenk (2008), (7) Hauzenberger et al (2007), (8) and Collins, Clark, and Plavsa (2014); (9) Pant et al (2013), (10) Adachi et al (2013) and (11) Hokada et al (2013). Granulite localities (blue squares) in Kuunga Orogen are after (1): Kröner, Willner, Hegner, Jaeckel, and Nemchin (2001), (2) Johnson, Rivers, and De Waele (2005), (3) Hauzenberger, Bauernhofer, oinkes, Wallbrecher, andMathu (2004, Hauzenberger et al, 2007), (4) Küster, Utke, Leupolt, Lenoir, and Haider (1990) and Lenoir et al (1994), (5) Berger et al (2006), Collins (2006), Grégoire et al (2009 and Giese, Berger, Schreurs, andGnos (2011), (6) Markl, Bauerle, andGrujic (2000); (7) Jung, Jung, Kröner, and Kröner (2007), (8) Sajeev et al (2007) and (9) Fonarev, Konilov, and Santosh (2000), Santosh et al (2006) and Collins et al (2014); AM: Armorican Massif, A-A: Afif-Abas Terrane, ANS: Arabian-Nubian Shield, Az: Azania, BS: Betsimisaraka Suture, Cr: Carolina, Fl: Florida, FMC: French Massif Centrals, IB: Iberian Massif, MB: Mozambique Belt, PCS: Palghat-Cauvery Suture, R Plata: Rio de la Plata, S F...…”

Postcollisional High-Grade Metamorphism, Orogenic Collapse, and Differential Cooling of the East African Orogen of Northeast Mozambique

“…M 2b ages in the Lú rio Belt are generally compatible with ca. 530-510 Ma ages to the west, in the Zambesi-Lufilian Arc-Southern Irumide Belt systems (Vinyu et al 1999;John et al 2004;Johnson et al 2005) and the east (in a Gondwana reconstruction) in the Prydz Bay-Prince Charles mountains (Antarctica) enclaves (Boger et al 2002;Corvino et al 2008;Liu et al 2009). However, older M 2a -type ages (1600-570 Ma; cf.…”