Rapid erosion of the Southern African Plateau as it climbs over a mantle superswell

International audienceWe present new sedimentary flux data confirming that a large pulse of erosion affected the Southern African Plateau in the Late Cretaceous and is likely to be related to a major uplift episode of the plateau. This short phase of erosion (i.e., less than 30 Myr in duration) has commonly been difficult to reconcile with a mantle origin for the plateau anomalous uplift: given its size, the rise of the African superplume is likely to have lasted much longer. Here we demonstrate by using a simple model for fluvial erosion that tilting of the continent as it rides over a wide dynamic topography high cannot only cause rapid uplift of the plateau but also trigger continent-wide drainage reorganization, leading to substantial denudation in a relatively short amount of time. The amplitude and short duration of the sedimentary pulse are best reproduced by assuming a strong erodibility contrast between the Karoo sedimentary and volcanic rocks and the underlying basement. We also present a new compilation of paleoclimate indicators that shows a transition from arid to very humid conditions approximately at the onset of the documented erosional pulse, suggesting that climate may have also played a role in triggering the denudation. The diachronism of the sedimentary flux between the eastern and western margins of the plateau and the temporal and geographic coincidence between the uplift and kimberlite eruptions are, however, better explained by our tilt hypothesis driven by the migration of the continent over a fixed source of mantle upwelling

New SHRIMP Age and Microstructures from a Deformed A-Type Granite, Kanigiri, Southern India: Constraining the Hiatus between Orogenic Closure and Postorogenic Rifting

A new U-Pb zircon SHRIMP age of 1284 Ma from the Kanigiri granite, India, is reported to help constrain the middle to late Mesoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the Nellore schist belt (NSB). The Kanigiri granite has whole-rock chemical characteristics of A-type granites and is marked by light rare earth element enrichment, a strong negative Eu anomaly, and negative Ba, Sr, P, Ti, and Yb anomalies, indicating feldspar, apatite, and ilmenite/magnetite fractionation. Samples show Y/Nb versus Yb/Ta ratios in the range for granites associated with ocean island basalts. This two-mica granite is peraluminous and alkali-calcic to calc-alkalic, and it has high annite to phlogopite proportions (92%–98%). Strong alignment of flattened mafic microgranular enclaves in the granite, together with relatively high- to moderate-temperature crystal plastic deformation fabric in shear zones within the granite, suggest overprinting of subsolidus deformation over a relict magmatic fabric, a feature not very common in true anorogenic granites but reported in late- to postorogenic granites elsewhere. An intrusive relationship with the 1334 MaKanigiri ophiolitic mélange, within the NSB, indicates that there is a ≤50 m.yr. gap between the Mesoproterozoic subduction-accretion, represented by the ophiolite mélange and late- to postorogenic granite emplacement. Although the Kanigiri granite occurs in close proximity to mafic and felsic alkaline plutons belonging to the 1250–1400 Ma Prakasam alkaline province (PAkP) in the northern NSB and there is overlap in age, the A type granitic magma source is apparently unrelated to PAkP alkaline magmatism. Our work further substantiates the observation that A-type granites originate in varied tectonic settings, not necessarily only in a rift-related (intraplate) setting.This work is funded by the Indian Statistical Institut

Archaean and Proterozoic diamond growth from contrasting styles of large-scale magmatism

Precise dating of diamond growth is required to understand the interior workings of the early Earth and the deep carbon cycle. Here we report Sm-Nd isotope data from 26 individual garnet inclusions from 26 harzburgitic diamonds from Venetia, South Africa. Garnet inclusions and host diamonds comprise two compositional suites formed under markedly different conditions and define two isochrons, one Archaean (2.95 Ga) and one Proterozoic (1.15 Ga). The Archaean diamond suite formed from relatively cool fluid-dominated metasomatism during rifting of the southern shelf of the Zimbabwe Craton. The 1.8 billion years younger Proterozoic diamond suite formed by melt-dominated metasomatism related to the 1.1 Ga Umkondo Large Igneous Province. The results demonstrate that resolving the time of diamond growth events requires dating of individual inclusions, and that there was a major change in the magmatic processes responsible for harzburgitic diamond formation beneath Venetia from the Archaean to the Proterozoic

Electrical lithosphere beneath the Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): B04105, doi:10.1029/2010JB007883.A regional-scale magnetotelluric (MT) experiment across the southern African Kaapvaal craton and surrounding terranes, called the Southern African Magnetotelluric Experiment (SAMTEX), has revealed complex structure in the lithospheric mantle. Large variations in maximum resistivity at depths to 200–250 km relate directly to age and tectonic provenance of surface structures. Within the central portions of the Kaapvaal craton are regions of resistive lithosphere about 230 km thick, in agreement with estimates from xenolith thermobarometry and seismic surface wave tomography, but thinner than inferred from seismic body wave tomography. The MT data are unable to discriminate between a completely dry or slightly “damp” (a few hundred parts per million of water) structure within the transitional region at the base of the lithosphere. However, the structure of the uppermost ∼150 km of lithosphere is consistent with enhanced, but still low, conductivities reported for hydrous olivine and orthopyroxene at levels of water reported for Kaapvaal xenoliths. The electrical lithosphere around the Kimberley and Premier diamond mines is thinner than the maximum craton thickness found between Kimberley and Johannesburg/Pretoria. The mantle beneath the Bushveld Complex is highly conducting at depths around 60 km. Possible explanations for these high conductivities include graphite or sulphide and/or iron metals associated with the Bushveld magmatic event. We suggest that one of these conductive phases (most likely melt-related sulphides) could electrically connect iron-rich garnets in a garnet-rich eclogitic composition associated with a relict subduction slab.In addition to the funding and logistical support provided by SAMTEX consortium members, this work is also supported by research grants from the National Science Foundation (EAR‐0309584 and EAR‐0455242 through the Continental Dynamics Program), the Department of Science and Technology, South Africa, and Science Foundation of Ireland (grant 05/RFP/ GEO001)

Area selection for diamonds using magnetotellurics : examples from southern Africa

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Lithos 112 (2009): 83-92, doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2009.06.011.Southern Africa, particularly the Kaapvaal Craton, is one of the world’s best natural laboratories for studying the lithospheric mantle given the wealth of xenolith and seismic data that exist for it. The Southern African Magnetotelluric Experiment (SAMTEX) was launched to complement these databases and provide further constraints on physical parameters and conditions by obtaining information about electrical conductivity variations laterally and with depth. Initially it was planned to acquire magnetotelluric data on profiles spatially coincident with the Kaapvaal Seismic Experiment, however with the addition of seven more partners to the original four through the course of the experiment, SAMTEX was enlarged from two to four phases of acquisition, and extended to cover much of Botswana and Namibia. The complete SAMTEX dataset now comprises MT data from over 675 distinct locations in an area of over one million square kilometres, making SAMTEX the largest regional-scale MT experiment conducted to date. Preliminary images of electrical resistivity and electrical resistivity anisotropy at 100 km and 200 km, constructed through approximate one-dimensional methods, map resistive regions spatially correlated with the Kaapvaal, Zimbabwe and Angola Cratons, and more conductive regions spatially associated with the neighbouring mobile belts and the Rehoboth Terrain. Known diamondiferous kimberlites occur primarily on the boundaries between the resistive or isotropic regions and conductive or anisotropic regions. Comparisons between the resistivity image maps and seismic velocities from models constructed through surface wave and body wave tomography show spatial correlations between high velocity regions that are resistive, and low velocity regions that are conductive. In particular, the electrical resistivity of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle of the Kaapvaal Craton is determined by its bulk parameters, so is controlled by a bulk matrix property, namely temperature, and to a lesser degree by iron content and composition, and is not controlled by contributions from interconnected conducting minor phases, such as graphite, sulphides, iron oxides, hydrous minerals, etc. This makes quantitative correlations between velocity and resistivity valid, and a robust regression between the two gives an approximate relationship of Vs [m/s] = 0.045*log(resistivity [ohm.m]).We especially thank our academic funding sponsors; the Continental Dynamics programme of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the South African Department of Science and Technology, and Science Foundation Ireland

Diamond bearing kimberlites: source to surface

The structural link between the source and sink for diamond-bearing magmas is difficult to reconcile. However, recent studies have revealed that the likely host structures for these unusual magmas is linked to the development of sub-vertical transfer/transform faults that form during incipient extension of the continental crust and lithosphere. Whether or not a particular kimberlite contains diamonds depends, at least in part, on whether these structures intersect the diamond fertility window that exists in continental lithosphere. 3D analysis of the mantle using seismic tomography is combined with plate tectonic reconstructions and detailed structural analysis to show the link between source and sink for kimberlites in Africa and around the world

Tectonic setting of kimberlites

Kimberlites can be viewed as time capsules in a global plate tectonic framework. Their distribution illustrates clustering in time and space. Kimberlite ages span the assembly and break-up of a number of supercontinents, such as Rodinia and Gondwana. These supercontinents show time lines with (i) broad periods devoid of kimberlite magmatism corresponding to times of continent stability, and (ii) narrow kimberlite emplacement windows corresponding to times of fundamental plate reorganizations. This episodicity implies that kimberlite emplacement events are intrinsically related to particular stages in the life cycle of supercontinents. The onset of kimberlite magmatism is closely associated with thermal perturbations (thermal insulation, mantle upwelling?) beneath a stagnant or sluggish supercontinent. These perturbations may have caused uplift and the onset of continental break-up through fracture zones propagating into the supercontinent. Subsequent spreading and ocean floor development is marked by apparent cusps and jogs in plate motion paths. Resultant strain is accommodated along trans-lithospheric corridors with episodic uplift and erosion and focused kimberlite melt migration. The corridors are manifest as discontinuities in the lithosphere mantle, measured as geophysical gradients and as changes in mantle lithosphere composition. Within the crust, these corridors are expressed as (a) terrane boundaries, (b) incipient continental rifts, (c) fracture zones, or (d) major dyke swarms. Some kimberlite populations are clustered along parallel sets of corridors widely distributed across a large part of a subcontinent and repeated magmatism is seen within many of the clusters. The association of kimberlite occurrences with discontinuities may be ascribed to favorable conditions for melt production and to resultant melt focusing along high strain zones that contain fractures and faults. Such conditions may be attained during different stages in the evolution of continents: (a) supercontinent formation; (b) incipient rifting (driven by far-field stresses?) and onset of continental break-up; and (c) strain accommodation along the continental continuation of oceanic fracture zones during spreading. Type (c) may show concomitant kimberlite magmatism in separate continents after break-up

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon provenance of the Sullavai Group of Pranhita-Godavari Basin and Bairenkonda Quartzite of Cuddapah Basin, with implications for the Southern Indian Proterozoic tectonic architecture

Proterozoic basins in cratonic India, referred to as "Purana Basins", cover about 20% of the Archean basement of the subcontinent. Although the stratigraphy of most of these basins has been well established, it is only recently that radiometric age constraints have been obtained for some of the sedimentary sequences. This study provides new data for two of the Purana Basins in southern India using SHRIMP U-Pb analysis of detrital zircons. For the Pranhita-Godavari Basin, an age limit of 709. Ma is provided for the age of deposition of the Sullavai Group. This prolongs the duration of Proterozoic sedimentation to approximately one billion years (ca. 1700-709. Ma) and establishes the Venkatpur Sandstones of Sullavai Group as the youngest Purana Basin succession identified in India so far. A major zircon provenance age peak at about 1000. Ma, and zircon ages between 800 and 750. Ma, are correlated with major tectonothermal events in the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB) and intrusion of granites and associated pegmatites at that time. The main provenance area of the Venkatpur Sandstones is interpreted to be the EGMB, with subordinate supply of sediments from the Eastern Dharwar craton. It is suggested that portions of the EGMB must have been an integral part of Peninsular India at the time of deposition of these sediments. For the Cuddapah Basin, new U-Pb detrital zircon age constraints are provided for the Nallamalai Group sediments (Bairenkonda Quartzites within the Nallamalai Fold Belt), the youngest population of which yielded an age of ca. 1550. Ma. This age is similar to the emplacement age of the Vinukonda Granite (1589. ±. 4.4. Ma) in the Nellore Schist Belt. This suggests that the Nellore Schist Belt was a source region for the Bairenkonda Quartzites and that deposition continued until at least 1550. Ma. A high-precision Archean age (ca. 3366. Ma) for a detrital zircon grain indicates the presence of Paleoarchean components within the sediment source region. Provided that Paleoarchean rocks are as yet unknown from the largely juvenile Neoarchean Eastern Dharwar craton, there exists a possibility that the Nallamalai Group was sourced from the Ongole Domain of the EGMB