Single zircon ages for granitoid gneisses in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa and geodynamic significance

Abstract Ion microprobe, evaporation and vapour digestion single zircon emplacement ages for granitoid rocks throughout the Central Zone (CZ) of the Limpopo mobile belt, South Africa define three broad age groups, namely at 3188–3314, 2637–2734 and ca 2500 Ma, respectively. All these granitoids, including the youngest group, display polydeformational features suggesting that much of the tectonic history of the CZ occurred in the late Archaean and early Proterozoic. The oldest group of predominantly tonalitic–trondhjemitic–granodioritic gneisses was found in relatively small domains from the extreme W to the E of the CZ and probably represents remnants of a once more widespread early Archaea…