Sense of shear and displacement estimates in the Abeibara-Rarhous late Pan-African shear zone,Adrar des Iforas,Mali

The late Pan-African Abeibara-Rarhous shear zone in the Adrar des Iforas (Mali) is described and studied with the aim of defining the direction, sense of movement and amount of displacement along the zone. It is a strike-slip shear zone, the dextral sense of which is demonstrated at the scale of the map by the rotation of the related mylonitic foliation and at the scale of the thin section with characteristic microstructures. Preferred orientation of quartz c-axes is tentatively used; three quartz-rich samples of 35% or more quartz indicate dextral strike-slip movement, but other samples do not show preferred orientation of quartz c-axes. Strain measurements have been performed on one half of the shear zone using established techniques and a new technique using the thickness of mylonitic layering. The results vary along the length of the shear zone when using the same method and for the same cross-section when using the three methods together. A mean value of 4 km is obtained for total displacement which is low when considering the apparent width of the shear zone. This result is discussed in view of the assumptions involved in the strain estimation. The tectonic history of the Abeibara-Rarhous shear zone and its significance in the Trans-Saharan Pan-African collisional belt are discussed.