Post-Gondwana break-up record constraints from apatite fission track thermochronology in NW Namibia

Abstract

The break-up of Western Gondwana Supercontinent was responsible in NW Namibia for significant tectono-thermal events at Early Cretaceous. In the Kaoko Belt and Walvis Basin, several evidences of this plate readjustment are registered: Etendeka Province, Great Escarpment Mountains, Precambrian structure reactivations, unconformities of surfaces in both continental area and margin basins. Apatite fission track thermochronology applied to the Kaoko basement rocks provides evidence of long-lived cooling history since the Early Cretaceous. The thermal modelings indicate accelerated uplift and/or upwarping of the local crust at ± 130 Ma followed by a gradual and continuous cooling history.