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Ulf Söderlund

Ulf Söderlund

Professor

Ulf Söderlund

The Mutare–Fingeren dyke swarm : the enigma of the Kalahari Craton’s exit from supercontinent Rodinia

Author

  • Ashley P. Gumsley
  • Michiel de Kock
  • Richard Ernst
  • Anna Gumsley
  • Richard Hanson
  • Sandra Kamo
  • Michael Knoper
  • Marek Lewandowski
  • Bartłomiej Luks
  • Antony Mamuse
  • Ulf Söderlund
Show all

Summary, in English

The Rodinia supercontinent broke apart during the Neoproterozoic. Rodinia break-up is associated with widespread intraplate magmatism on many cratons, including the c. 720–719 Ma Franklin large igneous province (LIP) of Laurentia. Coeval magmatism has also been identified recently in Siberia and South China. This extensive magmatism terminates ∼1 myr before the onset of the Sturtian Snowball Earth. However, LIP-scale magmatism and global glaciation are probably related. U–Pb isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) baddeleyite dating herein identifies remnants of a new c. 724–712 Ma LIP on the eastern Kalahari Craton in southern Africa and East Antarctica: the combined Mutare–Fingeren Dyke Swarm. This dyke swarm occurs in northeastern Zimbabwe (Mutare Dyke Swarm) and western Dronning Maud Land (Fin-geren Dyke Swarm). It has incompatible element-enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt-like geochemistry, suggest-ing an asthenospheric mantle source for the LIP. The Mutare–Fingeren LIP probably formed during rifting. This rifting would have occurred almost ∼100 myr earlier than previous estimates in eastern Kalahari. The placement of Kalahari against southeastern Laurentia in Rodinia is also questioned. Proposed alternatives, invoking link-ing terranes between Kalahari and southwestern Laurentia or close to northwestern Laurentia, also present chal-lenges with no discernible resolution. Nevertheless, LIP-scale magmatism being responsible for the Sturtian Snowball Earth significantly increases.

Department/s

  • Lithosphere and Biosphere Science

Publishing year

2024

Language

English

Pages

359-380

Publication/Series

Geological Society Special Publication

Volume

537

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Geological Society of London

Topic

  • Geology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0305-8719