Journal article
Phanerozoic Morphotectonic Evolution of the Zimbabwe Craton: Unexpected Outcomes From a Multiple Low-Temperature Thermochronology Study
V Mackintosh, B Kohn, A Gleadow, Y Tian
Tectonics | AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION | Published : 2017
DOI: 10.1002/2017TC004703
Abstract
The fragmentary Phanerozoic geological record of the anomalously elevated Zimbabwe Craton makes reconstructing its history difficult using conventional field methods. Here we constrain the cryptic Phanerozoic evolution of the Zimbabwe Craton using a spatially extensive apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe), apatite fission track (AFT), and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) data set. Joint thermal history modeling reveals that the region experienced two cooling episodes inferred to be the denudational response to surface uplift. The first and most significant protracted denudation period was triggered by stress transmission from the adjacent ~750–500 Ma Pan-African orogenesis during the amalgamation of Gondwana. T..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Full sample details, data as well as all QTQt models and input data files can be found in the supporting information. We gratefully acknowledge Abaz Alimanovic and Graham Hutchinson at the University of Melbourne for their assistance with (U-Th)/He and electron microprobe analyses, respectively. The University of Melbourne thermochronology laboratory receives support under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy AuScope program and the Education Investment Fund AGOS program. We thank Andy Moore, William Guenthner, and Associate Editor Eva Enkelmann for their constructive and helpful reviews.