Palaeozoic source-to-sink relation in the northern trans-Gondwana Orogen (Eastern Africa, Arabia)

Applicants: Prof. Dr. Matthias Hinderer, Dr. Guido Meinhold (Keele University, UK)

Funding: DFG HI 643/13-1 and ME 3882/4-1

Persons in charge: Dr. Alexander Bassis, Dr. Anna Lewin

Duration: 2014 – 2020

Summary

The Gondwana supercontinent amalgamated between 650 and 600 Ma before present by closure of the Mozambique Ocean. This led to the formation of the trans-Gondwana Orogen, a huge mountain range, from which massive amounts of detritus were transported towards the continental margins. The project aims to test the model of a super-fan system in the Palaeozoic of Gondwana. To do so we perform an integrated provenance study of Palaeozoic Sandstones on the Arabian Peninsula and in Ethiopia: bulk-rock petrography and geochemistry are combined with heavy mineral analysis and single-grain techniques, such as rutile and garnet chemistry and U-Pb dating of detrital zircons. A source-to-sink transect is studied from Ethiopia to the Arabian platform linking potential source regions in East Africa with Palaeozoic siliciclastics in the north. The provenance data from Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula are compared with existing data from North Africa to correlate provenance patterns over great distances in Northern Gondwana. The data can give additional insight into the Palaeozoic erosion history of the trans-Gondwana Orogen, one of the largest accretionary orogens on Earth. Furthermore, the composition and provenance of the sediments should reflect tectonic, lithological and climatic changes in the hinterland. We expect to find temporal changes in provenance, as it is the case in North Africa. Their causes are discussed in regard of palaeotectonic activity and climate variability in central Gondwana during the Palaeozoic. Of particular interest are the Gondwana glaciations during the Hirnantian and Carboniferous-Permian. Generally, the age, provenance and composition of Palaeozoic sandstones in North-Eastern Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula are of great importance for the understanding of exogenic and tectonic processes in the central part of the supercontinent Gondwana.