Isotopic constraints on the age and formation of a Palaeoproterozoic volcanic arc complex in the Kedougou Inlier, eastern Senegal, West Africa

Abstract The Palaeoproterozoic Kedougou basement in the Mako area in eastern Senegal consists of four major rock complexes: 1) high-grade amphibolitic and gneissic rocks occuring as large xenoliths (the Sandikounda amphibolite-gneiss complex); 2) voluminous bimodal volcanic rocks (the Mako volcanic-plutonic complex); 3) the Sandikounda layered plutonic complex; and 4) trondhjemitic to calc-alkaline intrusive granitoids (the Laminia-Kaourou plutonic complex). Zircons from xenoliths of the Sandikounda amphibolite-gneiss complex yielded ages of ∼2200 Ma, which are slightly older than those of the Mako Supergroup volcanic rocks. These xenoliths also have ɛNd(t) values ranging from +2.4 to +4.1.…