The Pan-African quartz-syenite of Guider (north-Cameroon): Magnetic fabric and U–Pb dating of a late-orogenic emplacement

Abstract

The small Guider pluton (70km2) in-between the cities of Maroua and Garoua (north Cameroon) is one of the quartz-syenite bodies that intrude Pan-African orthogneisses, and that are aligned along the western side of the NNE-directed Poli-Léré volcano-sedimentary corridor. The Guider syenite is here studied for its internal structures, using field and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility measurements, and for its emplacement age of 593±4 Ma (U–Pb zircon), ∼20Ma younger than the beginning of gneissification of the country-rocks, mainly made of deformed granodiorites and diorites. In these orthogneisses, constantly NNE-trending vertical foliations, variously plunging stretching lineations and fold axes, as well as kinematic markers attest to a transpressive and possibly dextral regime. The Guider syenite, rich in K-feldspar and magnetite, displays typical magmatic microstructures with incipent solid-state features such as chess-board subgrains in quartz. Its magnetic fabric displays a well-defined feeding-zone in its centre and western side, attesting to its unrooted nature. However, N- to NE-trending lineations at its northern and southern ends, parallel to the overall linear structure of the country-rocks, point to its late-orogenic emplacement. Our results reveal that the NE-trending and dextral transpressive shear zone that acted in the Guider area ended after the emplacement of the syenite body; they specify the age of collage of the NW-Cameroon domain with the Mayo-Kébbi domain. They also show that the tectonic evolution of Guider area is closer to the E-Nigerian domain, to the west, than to its eastern neighbouring Mayo-Kébbi and Adamawa-Yadé domains. The connection of our sector with E-Brazil is briefly discussed.