Journal article
Development of the Nyika Plateau, Malawi: A Long Lived Paleo-Surface or a Contemporary Feature of the East African Rift?
MF McMillan, SC Boone, BP Kohn, AJ Gleadow, PR Chindandali
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems | Published : 2022
DOI: 10.1029/2022GC010390
Abstract
Northern Malawi's Nyika Plateau is a 3,700 km2 large, highly elevated (∼2,500 m) plateau located at the western margin of the Miocene-Recent Malawi rift and the confluence of multiple Proterozoic orogenic belts. Neighboring asthenospheric upwelling in the Rungwe Volcanic Province, associated with the active East African Rift, has created similar topographic highs, leading some to speculate that the formation of Nyika could be related. Here, we present new low-temperature data using apatite fission track, apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology to constrain the upper crustal thermal history of the Nyika region since the Devonian. The data suggest that Nyika was an isolated ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
MM has received financial support from a Melbourne International Research Scholarship and a Baragwanath Geology Research Scholarship awarded through the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne thermochronology laboratory receives infrastructure support from the AuScope program of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and the Education Investment Fund AGOS program. We would like to thank and acknowledge GEMMAP for their continued support in arranging field assistance as well as providing samples for analysis and field equipment; in particular, Thomas Fulgraff, Carol Zammit, and Steve Boger have all provided crucial assistance during this project. We would also like to thank Kondwani Dombola and the Geologic Survey of Malawi for providing field assistance and Chifundo James Chikwakwa for his safe driving throughout Malawi and high spirits. We warmly thank the 2018 field team, Francois Guillocheau, Maximilien Mathian, Gilles Ruffet, and Jean Carvin. At the University of Melbourne, Ling Chung and Abaz Alimanovic provided lab assistance and technical assistance with (U-Th)/He analysis, respectively. We wish to acknowledge the TrACEES Platform at Melbourne University for providing expertise and support for EPMA analysis by G. Hutchinson. We kindly thank and acknowledge the anonymous reviewer and Dr. Mohamed G. Abdelsalam for their constructive feedback.