Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Dahomey belt in Togo and Benin is an important segment of the larger West Gondwana Orogen. Here, we review the geodynamic evolution of the Dahomey belt and discuss new U–Pb and Lu–Hf zircon data in light of similar data previously acquired on the geologically related Northern Borborema Province, in NE Brazil. Eighteen samples from different tectonic settings and regions within the belt were collected for zircon isotopic investigation. Passive margin deposits of the Atacora Structural Unit and lower units of the Volta Basin have detrital zircon signatures compatible with the flanking West Africa Craton. The arc-related magmatism resulted from the east-dipping subduction of the Goiás-Pharusian oceanic lithosphere and is represented by a variety of granitoids emplaced in the Benino-Nigerian Shield between 670 and 610 Ma. These granitoids were mainly sourced from crustal reservoirs with subordinate juvenile input. Detrital zircon ages from syn-orogenic deposits in Benino-Nigerian Shield suggest that arc development could have started as early as 780 Ma. The main period of melting in the internal part of the belt, the Benino-Nigerian Shield, is related to crustal thickening and occurs only ca. 30 m.y. after initiation of the continental collision, marked by the ca. 610 Ma ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphism recorded at Lato Hills. Foreland development represented by the upper units of the Volta basin developed soon after continental collision and persisted with the development of the west-verging thrust front synchronously with the main period of crustal melting due to collision at ca. 580 Ma. The subvertical Transbrasiliano Lineament in South America, that corresponds to the Kandi Lineament in Africa, provides a present-day fit between NW Africa and NE Brazil. Restoration of the movement of the Transbrasiliano-Kandi Lineament (strike-slip plate boundary) places the Dahomey belt and Borborema Province (NE Brazil) along the same section of the West Gondwana Orogen. This configuration would explain some of the misfits previously discussed in the literature and aligns the UHP eclogites in Togo and NE Brazil.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01358584
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01358584
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2016.01.032

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD [London] : Nature Pub. Group Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
The deeply eroded West Gondwana Orogen is a major continental collision zone that exposes numerous occurrences of deeply subducted rocks, such as eclogites. The position of these eclogites marks the suture zone between colliding cratons, and the age of metamorphism constrains the transition from subduction-dominated tectonics to continental collision and mountain building. Here we investigate the metamorphic conditions and age of high-pressure and ultrahigh-pressure eclogites from Mali, Togo and NE-Brazil and demonstrate that continental subduction occurred within 20 million years over at least a 2,500-km-long section of the orogen during the Ediacaran. We consider this to be the earliest evidence of large-scale deep-continental subduction and consequent appearance of Himalayan-scale mountains in the geological record. The rise and subsequent erosion of such mountains in the Late Ediacaran is perfectly timed to deliver sediments and nutrients that are thought to have been necessary for the subsequent evolution of sustainable life on Earth.
ISSN: 2041-1723

hal-01122789
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01122789
DOI : 10.1038/ncomms6198