The age and petrology of the Chimbadzi Hill Intrusion, NW Zimbabwe: first evidence for early Paleoproterozoic magmatism in Zimbabwe

The mafic-ultramafic Chimbadzi Hill intrusion in the NW of the Zimbabwe craton is a dyke with inward-dipping margins comprising magnetite peridotite, troctolite and magnetite melatroctolite. The magnetite peridotite is composed of about equal amounts of V- and Ti-bearing magnetite and olivine (Fo₆₀). The troctolite is composed of about 50% olivine (Fo_50-54), 40% plagioclase (An_53-58), 7% clinopyroxene and minor apatite and magnetite with ilmenite lamellae. Geochemical trends suggest that the Chimbadzi Hill Intrusion formed by fractional crystallisation from a single initial magma. However, the more primitive magnetite peridotite overlies the more evolved troctolite in the intrusion. This ‘apparent’ inverted stratigraphy may be due to emptying of a fractionated magma chamber from the top, or to floor subsidence during intrusion.U–Pb dating on baddeleyite reveals that the age of the Chimbadzi Hill Intrusion is 2262 ± 2 Ma. This age does not correspond to any known tectono-thermal event in the Zimbabwe Craton or adjacent metamorphic belts. It is 300 Ma younger than the late Archean Great Dyke, and 230 Ma older than other Paleoproterozoic events in and around the craton. Therefore, it may represent a so far undocumented very early Proterozoic igneous event in the Zimbabwe Craton. The intrusion represents a vanadium resource for Zimbabwe, with titanium potentially being mined as by-product.     

The structure of the Kohistan-Arc terrane in northern Pakistan as inferred from gravity data

Modelling of gravity data taken across the Kohistan Island-Arc terrane in northern Pakistan can be used to constrain the shape and thickness of the Arc.Over 600 new gravity measurements were made across the Kohistan Island-Arc terrane in northern Pakistan. These data were taken along traverses normal to the structures bounding the Arc and were reduced to terrain-corrected Bouguer values. The reduced data were then modelled using standard two-dimensional modelling techniques.The southern margin of the Arc, the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT), dips to the north at approximately 45° and gradually flattens out at a depth of 7–9 km. The northern margin of the Arc, the Main Karkoram Thrust (MKT), also dips towards the north, but at a shallower initial angle (15°). From the models, the Arc terrane now appears to be around 7–9 km thick with the thicker sections occurring closer to the southern margin.The proposed model, in particular the angle of the MMT and the MKT, may have been significantly affected by the recent and rapid uplift that is occurring along the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh Massif.