LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE GEORGE PLUTON UNITS (CAPE GRANITE SUITE), SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

The George Pluton is part of the late Ediacaran to Early Cambrian Cape Granite Suite and was named after the city of George in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Emplaced during several distinct cycles of magmatism, the pluton is subdivided into the Maalgaten Granite, Rooiklip Granite-Gneiss, Blanco Albitite, Modderkloof Granodiorite and Kleinfontein Granite-Gneiss members. These S-type granites were probably derived from melting of the Neoproterozoic Kaaimans Group of the Pan-African Saldania Belt, which they intrude. The geochemistry and deformation history support an Ediacaran-Cambrian age for the George Subsuite, in common with the age of Cape Granite Suite in the Saldania Belt.