Search results for "Kaapvaal craton"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Eclogites and garnet pyroxenites: Similarities and differences
2010
Eclogites and garnet pyroxenites are genetically linked to basaltic precursors. Traditionally garnet pyroxenites are linked to fractionation of basaltic Magmas Over a range of mantle pressures and more recently they have been implicated in the genesis of ocean islands. in contrast eclogites are linked to the subduction of slab basalt and gabbro precursors which may be hydrothermally altered. Recently this subduction paradigm has been questioned. We present mineralogical, trace element and O isotopic data for eclogites and garnet pyroxenites that reveal some similarities but also important chemical and isotopic differences that support a distinct provenance (i.e., age and process). Continent…
High-temperature metamorphism and crustal melting at ca. 3.2 Ga in the eastern Kaapvaal craton, southern Africa
2018
Abstract The question of whether high-grade metamorphism and crustal melting in the early Archaean were associated with modern-style plate tectonics is a major issue in unravelling early Earth crustal evolution, and the eastern Kaapvaal craton has featured prominently in this debate. We discuss a major ca. 3.2 Ga tectono-magmatic-metamorphic event in the Ancient Gneiss Complex (AGC) of Swaziland, a multiply deformed medium- to high-grade terrane in the eastern Kaapvaal craton consisting of 3.66–3.20 Ga granitoid gneisses and infolded greenstone remnants, metasedimentary assemblages and mafic dykes. We report on a 3.2 Ga granulite-facies assemblage in a metagabbro of the AGC of central Swazi…