Pan-African granulite formation in the Kabye Massif of northern Togo (West Africa): Pb−Pb zircon ages

2000

Metamorphic zircons from seven granulite facies orthogneisses of tonalitic composition (ender- bites), collected from four different nappes of the Kabye Massif in the Dahomeyide belt of northern Togo, were dated by the Pb-Pb evaporation method. They yielded consistent Neoproterozoic ages with a mean of 612.5  0.8 Ma, interpreted to reflect the peak of regional granulite facies metamorphism following Pan-African continental collision between the West African and Benin-Nigerian plates. These results sup- port previous ages obtained by various chronometers on high-grade rocks from the same suture zone and from surrounding units in Togo, Benin and Ghana. They are also similar to zircon ages fr…