The 3D geometry of regional-scale dolerite saucer complexes and their feeders in the Secunda Complex, Karoo Basin

Abstract

Dolerites in the Karoo Basin of South Africa commonly represent kilometre-scale, interconnected saucer-shaped structures that consist of inner sills, bounded by inclined sheets connected to stratigraphically higher outer sills. Based on information from over 3000 boreholes and mining operations extending over an area of ca. 500km2 and covering a >3km vertical section from Karoo strata into underlying basement rocks, this paper presents the results of a 3D modelling exercise that describes the geometry and spatial relationships of a regional-scale saucer complex, locally referred to as the number 8 sill, from the Secunda (coal mine) Complex in the northern parts of the Karoo Basin.The composite number 8 sill complex consists of three main dolerite saucers (dolerites A to C). These dolerite saucers are hosted by the Karoo Supergroup and the connectivity and geometry of the saucers support a lateral, sill-feeding-sill relationship between dolerite saucers A, B and C. The saucers are underlain and fed by a shallowly-dipping sheet (dolerite D) in the basement rocks below the Karoo sequence. The 3D geometric strata model agrees well with experimental results of saucer formation from underlying feeders in sedimentary basins, but demonstrates a more intricate relationship where a single feeder can give rise to several split level saucers in one regionally extensive saucer complex.More localised dome- or ridge-shape protrusions are common in the flat lying sill parts of the regional-scale saucers. We suggest a mode of emplacement for these kilometre-scale dome- and ridge structures having formed as a result of lobate magma flow processes. Magma lobes, propagating in different directions ahead of the main magma sheet, undergo successive episodes of lobe arrest and inflation. The inflation of lobes initiates failure of the overlying strata and the formation of curved faults. Magma exploiting these faults transgresses the stratigraphy and coalesces to form a ring-like inclined sheet that subsequently feeds a central flat lying roof at a higher stratigraphic level.On a regional scale, the kilometre-size saucer geometries reflect the lateral migration and transport of mafic magmas close to or at the level of the Karoo Supergroup, fed by only isolated feeders in the basement. On a more local scale, the complex internal geometries within saucers mainly reflect the flow pattern of the magmas and wall-rock accommodation structures.