Geochronology of the Hout River Shear Zone and the metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt, Southern Africa

Abstract In this paper monazite U–Pb and zircon evaporation dates, stepleaching Pb/Pb results on garnet, staurolite and kyanite, and hornblende Ar/Ar data are presented which constrain the timing of granulite facies metamorphism in the Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt and its thrusting onto the Kaapvaal Craton. The Southern Marginal Zone of the Limpopo Belt is considered to be a lower crustal equivalent of the northern Kaapvaal Craton. Granulite exhumation is associated with southward thrusting along the Hout River Shear Zone which is a set of thrust and strike slip shear zones. Zircon ages for the Matok Intrusive Complex which was emplaced within the zone during this thrusting (c…