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Granitoids and Greenstone Belts of the Pietersburg Block—Witnesses of an Archaean Accretionary Orogen Along the Northern Edge of the Kaapvaal Craton

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The Archaean Geology of the Kaapvaal Craton, Southern Africa

Part of the book series: Regional Geology Reviews ((RGR))

Abstract

The Pietersburg Block (PB), the northernmost terrane of the Kaapvaal Craton, can be subdivided into four Archaean grey gneiss units: Makhutswi-Murchison South (MMS), Groot Letaba-Duivelskloof (GDL), Goudplaats-Hout River (GHR) and Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ). These domains are limited by greenstone belts (Pietersburg, Murchison, Rhenosterkoppies and Giyani) and major shear zones. These lithologies were intruded by a mafic-layered intrusion (the Rooiwater Complex) and voluminous syn- to post-tectonic granitoids forming either small bodies in grey gneisses or voluminous plutons/batholiths. The grey gneisses are made up of Mesoarchaean (3.12–2.85 Ga) and seldom Palaeoarchaean (3.46–3.17 Ga) TTGs formed by melting of metabasaltic rocks at >45 km depth. The greenstone belts consist of Palaeoarchaean (3.46–3.20 Ga) mafic metabasalts, metakomatiites (and intrusive counterparts) and rare Mesoarchaean (2.95–2.84 Ga) felsic volcanics, intercalated with BIF, chert and siliciclastic rocks deposited at 3.05–2.92 Ga in the Murchison belt; 2.88–2.80 Ga in the Pietersburg and Giyani belts; and 2.76–2.71 Ga in the Rhenosterkoppies belt and SMZ. All lithologies were affected by greenschist—to upper amphibolite-facies metamorphism, mainly during Mesoarchaean N–S-directed compression. The 2.97–2.96 Ga Rooiwater Complex and coeval felsic volcanics of the Murchison belt formed through fractionation of mantle-derived magma. Granitoids of the PB include Bt-(Ms-) granites formed at 2.84–2.75 Ga by melting of TTGs (± sediments), and Hbl-Bt-(Cpx-)sanukitoids and Bt-Ep-granitoids at 2.70–2.67 Ga by melting of enriched lithospheric mantle and interactions with the crust during magma ascent. After formation of a Palaeoarchaean (3.46–3.18 Ga) micro-terrane(s) in an island arc and/or oceanic plateau setting, the geodynamic evolution of the PB features a Meso- to Neoarchaean (3.15–2.65 Ga) accretionary orogen formed during protracted southward subduction. The Mesoarchaean evolution began at 3.15–2.97 Ga with the formation of an arc/back-arc system along the northern margin of the proto-Kaapvaal Craton. Subsequently, it was controlled by the docking of the Palaeoarchaean micro-terrane at 2.97–2.84 Ga, causing intense crustal reworking in an Andean-type continental margin setting (2.84–2.73 Ga) and by Neoarchaean (2.73–2.65 Ga) continent-continent collision with a crustal block located farther North, possibly the precursor (>2.7 Ga) rocks of the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the editors for inviting us to contribute to the present book and for their patience regarding ever-delayed submission. Reviews by Jan Kramers, Dirk van Reenen and Andre Smit were appreciated and contributed to improve the original manuscript. We also gratefully thank the colleagues who contributed to the ideas presented here, either through stimulating discussion or/and their valuable contributions to understand the complex geology of the PB: S. Block, A. Chauvet, S. Couzinié, R. Doucelance, L.-S. Doucet, C. Dusséaux, A. Gerdes, J. Jaguin, N. Madlakana, H. Martin, J.-F. Moyen, G. Nicoli, J.-L. Paquette, M. Poujol, M. Rapopo, G. Stevens, J. Taylor and many others.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ETH Zürich, Institute for Geochemistry and Petrology, Clausiusstrasse 25, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Oscar Laurent

  2. Mineralogie und Petrologie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Campus Süd, Institut für Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Adenauerring 20b, Geb. 50.4, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Armin Zeh

  3. Council for Geoscience, Limpopo Unit, Polokwane, South Africa

    Günther Brandl

  4. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, T6G 2E3, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Adrien Vezinet

  5. School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

    Allan Wilson

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  1. Oscar Laurent
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  2. Armin Zeh
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  3. Günther Brandl
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  4. Adrien Vezinet
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  5. Allan Wilson
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Correspondence to Oscar Laurent .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, University of Mainz, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

    Alfred Kröner

  2. Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg , Auckland Park, South Africa

    Axel Hofmann

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Laurent, O., Zeh, A., Brandl, G., Vezinet, A., Wilson, A. (2019). Granitoids and Greenstone Belts of the Pietersburg Block—Witnesses of an Archaean Accretionary Orogen Along the Northern Edge of the Kaapvaal Craton. In: Kröner, A., Hofmann, A. (eds) The Archaean Geology of the Kaapvaal Craton, Southern Africa. Regional Geology Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78652-0_4

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