The Formation and Evolution of Africa: A Synopsis of 3.8 Ga of Earth HistoryDouwe J. J. van Hinsbergen The African continent preserves a long geological record that covers almost 75% of Earth's history. The Pan-African orogeny (c. 600-500 Ma) brought together old continental kernels (West Africa, Congo, Kalahari and Tanzania) to form Gondwana and subsequently the supercontinent Pangaea by the late Palaeozoic. The break-up of Pangaea since the Jurassic and Cretaceous, primarily through opening of the Central Atlantic, Indian, and South Atlantic oceans, in combination with the complicated subduction history to the north, gradually shaped the African continent. This volume contains 18 contributions that discuss the geology of Africa from the Archaean to the present day. |
Contents
VAN HINSBERGEN D J J BUITER S J H TORSVIK T H GAINA C WEBB S J The formation and | 1 |
MAHANEY W C BARENDREGT R W VILLENEUVE M DOSTAL J HAMILTON T S MILNER M W 301 | 7 |
VAN SCHIJNDEL V CORNELL D H HOFFMANN K H FREI D Three episodes of crustal | 27 |
KEY R M PITFIELD P E J THOMAS R J GOODENOUGH K M DE WAELE B SCHOFIELD D I | 49 |
Tectonosedimentary expressions of the evolution of the Fungurume foreland basin in | 69 |
DE WALL H DIETL C JUNGMANN O TEGENE A T PANDIT M K Tectonic evolution of the | 85 |
GIBSON R L KINNAIRD J A ARMSTRONG R A Constraining the timing of | 107 |
TORSVIK T H Cocks L R M The Palaeozoic palaeogeography of central Gondwana | 137 |
LANGEREIS C KRIJGSMAN W EL HACHIMI H CHELLAI E H Palaeomagnetic results | 195 |
C PALENCIAORTAS A VILLALAÍN J J MCINTOSH G MARTÍNHERNÁNDEZ F | 211 |
TORSVIK T H VAN HINSBERGEN D J J GAINA C CORFU F WERNER S | 229 |
The relations between felsic and mafic volcanic rocks in continental flood basalts of | 253 |
WICHURA H BOUSQUET R OBERHÄNSLI R STRECKER M R TRAUTH M H The MidMiocene | 285 |
a review of | 343 |
| 373 | |
EL HACHIMI H YOUBI N MADEIRA J BENSALAH M K MARTINS L MATA J MEDINA F | 167 |
Common terms and phrases
Abbabis Complex African Earth Sciences Alemzi amphibolite Antananarivo Archaean Argana Basin basement Billstein Formation Bushveld Cambrian CAMP Central Zone conglomerate Congo Craton continental core Cretaceous crust crustal Damara Deccan deformation demagnetization deposits Dome dykes Earth and Planetary East African emplacement Ethiopia evolution flood basalts folds Fungurume Geological Society Geophysical Research global Gondwana grey granites Group igneous isotopic Journal of Geophysical Kaapvaal Kaapvaal Craton Kalahari Craton Kenya lava flows lineations lithosphere lobes London lower Madagascar mafic magmatism magnetic mantle plume margin metamorphism monzonite Morocco Namibia Neoproterozoic northern Ocean olistostrome Ordovician Orogen pahoehoe palaeomagnetic Palaeoproterozoic Palaeozoic Pan-African Permian Phalaborwa Planetary Science Letters plateau poles Precambrian region Rehoboth Province rhyolites rift rocks Rodinia samples SE-verging sediments seismic Seychelles shear zones South Africa Special Publications structures Supergroup tectonic Terrane thick TORSVIK Triassic U-Pb unconformably up/W upper vesicles volcanic Wendorff zircon