Cretaceous reactivation and intensified erosion in the Archean-Proterozoic Limpopo Belt, demonstrated by apatite fission track thermochronology

Abstract

Cratons are generally assumed to be regions of long-lasting tectonic stability. In particular the study of the Phanerozoic exhumation history of cratons has been largely hampered by the scarcity of suitable stratigraphic controls onshore. This fact is even more pronounced in terranes lacking Mesozoic or younger penetrative structural fabrics and metamorphic overprinting. Our study in the Limpopo belt shows that modern apatite fission track thermochronology provides a hitherto unavailable perspective in the study of these rocks, and has profound implications for the crustal evolution of the Zimbabwe Craton. Apatite fission track data from 35 samples taken along two transects, in the southern ..