A review of the sedimentology of the Early Proterozoic Pretoria Group, Transvaal Sequence, South Africa: implications for tectonic setting

A case study of microbial mat-related features in coastal epeiric sandstones from the Paleoproterozoic Pretoria Group (Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal craton, South Africa); The effect of preservation (reflecting sequence stratigraphic models) on the relationship between mat features and inferred paleoenvironment

“…. Pretoria Group lithostratigraphy, interpreted 8 depositional environments and inferred sequence stratigraphy are well reported in the literature (e.g., Eriksson et al, 1991Eriksson et al, , 2001Eriksson et al, , 2005Eriksson et al, , 2006Catuneanu and Eriksson, 1999;Moore et al, 2001). The 6-7 km thick succession comprises essentially sheet-like thick (1-2 km) epeiric marine argillaceous units, several thinner yet prominent fluvial sandstones (sheet-or wedge-type geometry), and two major volcanic horizons; this overall succession is ascribed to two major rifting events with subsequent thermal subsidence, with two concomitant major epeiric transgressive to highstand unconformity-bound second-order depositional sequences ( within the Kanye basin, detrital zircons within successively higher sandstone units correlated, respectively, with the Timeball Hill, Daspoort and Magaliesberg sandstones (see Fig.…”

The Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa: no evidence for a supercontinental affinity prior to 2.0 Ga?

“…Evidence for tectonic shortening, such as the deformation of the Godwan protobasinal fill, that related to the Black Reef Formation, or removal of chemical sediments along the southern TB, all appear to have been local events, and concomitantly all in the general area of the paleo-Rand anticline, a long-lived feature subject to repeated uplifts (e.g., Eriksson et al 1991Eriksson et al , 2001). None of these inferred tectonic shortening events lend themselves in either scale or intensity to an interpretation as far-field effects of a craton-marginal supercontinent assembly.…”

An overview of the geology of the Transvaal Sequence and Bushveld Complex, South Africa

“…','.'.','.'.'.-.'.'.'.'.'.'. '..2 Modified after Meyer and De Beer (1987), Eriksson et al (1991) and Von Gruenewaldt and Harmer (1993) (Button, 1986;Hartzer, 1987), or late-Pretoria to Rooiberg Group synsedimentary tectonism related to central basin thermal doming as Rooiberg lavas ascended through the crust (Eriksson et al, 1993). The Transvaal Sequence and the Bushveld Complex appear to have had an interrelated tectonic history.…”

“…Subsequent thermal subsidence and reactivation of Ventersdorp Supergroup fault systems were probably responsible for the succeeding widespread chemical sedimentation which covered much of the Kaapvaal craton (Clendenin et al, 1988(Clendenin et al, , 1991Eriksson et al, 1993), and which is now preserved within the three structural basins, Transvaal, Griqualand West and Kanye. Following a major hiatus in Transvaal deposition, the clastic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Pretoria Group and correlates were laid down within a rifted continental setting, possibly a half-graben environment (Eriksson et al, 1988;Eriksson and Clendenin, 1990;Eriksson et al, 1991). Bounding fault systems are thought to have been related to reactivation along the trends of the Barberton and Murchison greenstone belts, the Sugarbush fault system and the Thabazimbi-Murchison lineament ( Fig.…”

“…Bounding fault systems are thought to have been related to reactivation along the trends of the Barberton and Murchison greenstone belts, the Sugarbush fault system and the Thabazimbi-Murchison lineament ( Fig. 1) (Eriksson et al, 1991). The continental volcanics of the uppermost Rooiberg Group felsites were also related to within-craton rifting within the Transvaal basin.…”