Gravity Evidence for a Larger Limpopo Belt in Southern Africa and Geodynamic Implications

The Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is a Neoarchean orogenic belt located between two older Archean provinces, the Zimbabwe craton to the north and the Kaapvaal craton to the south. Previous studies considered the Limpopo Belt to be a linearly trending east-northeast belt with a width of ∼250 km and ∼600 km long. We provide evidence from gravity data constrained by seismic and geochronologic data suggesting that the Limpopo Belt is much larger than previously assumed and includes the Shashe Belt in Botswana, thus defining a southward convex orogenic arc sandwiched between the two cratons. The 2 Ga Magondi orogenic belt truncates the Limpopo-Shahse Belt to the west. The northern marginal, central and southern marginal tectonic zones define a single gravity anomaly on upward continued maps, indicating that they had the same exhumation history. This interpretation requires a tectonic model involving convergence between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons during a Neoarchean orogeny that preserved the thick cratonic keel that has been imaged in tomographic models

Early Structural Development of the Okavango Rift Zone, NW Botswana

Aeromagnetic and gravity data collected across the Okavango rift zone, northwest Botswana are used to map the distribution of faults, provide insights into the two-dimensional shallow subsurface geometry of the rift, and evaluate models for basin formation as well as the role of pre-existing basement fabric on the development of this nascent continental rift. The structural fabric (fold axes and foliation) of the Proterozoic basement terrane is clearly imaged on both gravity and magnetic maps. The strike of rift-related faults (030-050⁰ in the north and 060-070⁰ in the south) parallels fold axes and the prominent foliation directions of the basement rocks. These pre-existing fabrics and structures represent a significant strength anisotropy that controlled the orientation of younger brittle faults within the stress regime present during initiation of this rift. Northwest dipping faults consistently exhibit greater displacements than southeast dipping faults, suggesting a developing half-graben geometry for this rift zone. However, the absence of fully developed half-grabens along this rift zone suggests that the border fault system is not fully developed consistent with the infancy of rifting. Three en-echelon northeast trending depocenters coincide with structural grabens that define the Okavango rift zone. Along the southeastern boundary of the rift, developing border faults define a 50 km wide zone of subsidence within a larger 150 km wide zone of extension forming a rift-in-rift structure. We infer from this observation that the localization of strain resulting from extension is occurring mostly along the southeastern boundary where the border fault system is being initiated, underscoring the important role of border faults in accommodating strain even during this early stage of rift development. We conclude that incipient rift zones may provide critical insights into the development of rift basins during the earliest stages of continental rifting