Review of Pseudotachylites in the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa

Abstract

The Vredefort Dome, located in the central part of the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa, is the type locality for pseudotachylite. Pseudotachylite at the Vredefort Dome is generally regarded to be of impact origin. Pseudotachylites which are closely associated with faults are, however, also known to be common along the northern and northwestern edges of the Witwatersrand Basin. In order to compare pseudotachylites from the Vredefort Dome and from the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin, different studies were undertaken in the past. Mode of occurrence, microscopic textures, geochemical analyses and chronological measurements of pseudotachylites are briefly reviewed in this paper.In the Vredefrot Dome, pseudotachylites are commonly observed except in the central part of its core. In the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin, they are reported from drill core sections and in underground workings. The matrix in pseudotachylite from the Vredefort Dome is mostly a recrystallized melt phase, while those from the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin seem to be composed of clastic material. Pseudotachylites both from the Vredefort Dome and the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin are geochemically closely related to their host rocks. Although evidence for more than one generation of pseudotachylite has been presented, both in the Vredefort Dome and the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin, it is widely believed that most of them were formed as a result of the Vredefort impact event (ca. 2.0 Ga). Other fault rocks reported from the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin are older than the pseudotachylites and therefore not related to their formation.