The Thabazimbi-Murchison Lineament of the Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa: 2700 Ma of episodic deformation

Abstract

The Thabazimbi–Murchison Lineament is a prominent tectonic feature extending for approximately 500 km in a NNE–SSW direction across the Kaapvaal Craton. The lineament has a tectonic history of more than 2.5 Ga, because it appears to form and/or influence: the boundary between the Archaean granite/greenstone terrain of the Kaapvaal Craton and the southern margin of the high grade terrain of the Limpopo Mobile Belt; the northern margin of the Archaean-Proterozoic Transvaal Basin; the southern margin of the Mesoproterozoic Waterberg Basin; and has probably also influenced the emplacement of the Mesoproterozoic Bushveld Complex. Mesozoic Karoo basalts and sediments formed the Springbok Flats; these lavas erupted into half graben structures formed by the normal reactivation of the previously strike/slip Zebedelia Fault, part of the Thabazimbi-Murchison Relay System. The lineament is cut by a Mesozoic dyke swarm associated with the break up of Gondwana.