Synkinematic emplacement of the Pan-African Ngondo igneous complex (west Cameroon,central Africa)

The Ngondo Complex is one of the Pan-African plutons intruded in the West Cameroon Pan-African Orogenic Belt. The complex consists of three major groups of rocks: basic to intermediate rocks (diorites, granodiorites and minor gabbros), fined-grained granites and coarsed-grained granites successively emplaced in a metamorphic country rock of amphibolite-facies. Synkinematic emplacement of the complex, in relation with a ductile mega shear zone, is documented by a study of microstructures and foliation patterns which indicate a continuous transition from magmatic to high temperature solid-state deformation. The geometry of the internal foliation trajectories and the joint orientation in the complex suggest that the emplacement of the three groups of rocks was totally controlled by a N30° sinistral shear zone. Emplacement mechanisms, which are related in time and space to a continuum of deformation, may indicate a relative rheological change of the crust from ductile to brittle behaviour.