Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia

The Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Damara Belt, exposed in the Gaub Canyon in central Namibia, consists of fourteen lithotectonic units of high strain amphiholite facies rock with pelagic, hemi-pelagic and clastic sedimentary protoliths. These rocks are intercalated With lenses of metabasite. R...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay
Other Authors: Fagereng, Ake
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Geological Sciences 2015
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613144412585984
access_status_str Open Access
author Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay
author2 Fagereng, Ake
author_browse Fagereng, Ake
Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay
author_facet Fagereng, Ake
Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay
author_sort Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay
collection Thesis
description The Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Damara Belt, exposed in the Gaub Canyon in central Namibia, consists of fourteen lithotectonic units of high strain amphiholite facies rock with pelagic, hemi-pelagic and clastic sedimentary protoliths. These rocks are intercalated With lenses of metabasite. Regional high-pressure - low-temperature metamorphic conditions (~1O kbar and ~600°C) dominate the Southern and Southern Marginal Zones of the Damara Belt, leading to the interpretation that these tectonostratigraphic terranes formed in an accretionary prism along an ancient subduction margin. The structures in the SMZ are the result of progressive deformation, inferred to have initiated under low-grade metamorphic conditions (D₁) and evolved through prograde to peak metamorphism (D₂), ending in relatively low-temperature retrograde conditions (D₃). Each of the deformation phases is characterised by a foliation. D₁ is associated With pure shear dominated layer-parallel extension characterised by disrupted lithological layering and hedding-parallel foliation S₀+₁. D₃ is defined as deformation related to the formation of an axial-planar S₂ caused by folding of S₀+₁ around F₂ hinge lines. Widespread isoclinal recumbent folding resulted in transposition of these fahrics and the general foliation is thus termed S₀+₁+₂. This composite foliation contains a down-dip stretching lineation L₂. Folding was contemporaneous With top-to-the-SE directed thrusting in D₂ faults and shear zones that are seen to displace D₁ fabric. Fold hinge lines parallel to L₂ suggest D₂ is characterised by non-ideal simple shear. D₃ is defined by a crenulation cleavage S₃, at near right angles to S₀+₁+₂ foliation resulting from NW-SE pure shear shortening. This phase of deformation is also associated with retrograde, reverse faulting that is localised along some of the D₂ shear zones.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15756
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:28.055Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Department of Geological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Geological Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15756 The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay Fagereng, Ake Diener, JFA Geological Sciences The Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Damara Belt, exposed in the Gaub Canyon in central Namibia, consists of fourteen lithotectonic units of high strain amphiholite facies rock with pelagic, hemi-pelagic and clastic sedimentary protoliths. These rocks are intercalated With lenses of metabasite. Regional high-pressure - low-temperature metamorphic conditions (~1O kbar and ~600°C) dominate the Southern and Southern Marginal Zones of the Damara Belt, leading to the interpretation that these tectonostratigraphic terranes formed in an accretionary prism along an ancient subduction margin. The structures in the SMZ are the result of progressive deformation, inferred to have initiated under low-grade metamorphic conditions (D₁) and evolved through prograde to peak metamorphism (D₂), ending in relatively low-temperature retrograde conditions (D₃). Each of the deformation phases is characterised by a foliation. D₁ is associated With pure shear dominated layer-parallel extension characterised by disrupted lithological layering and hedding-parallel foliation S₀+₁. D₃ is defined as deformation related to the formation of an axial-planar S₂ caused by folding of S₀+₁ around F₂ hinge lines. Widespread isoclinal recumbent folding resulted in transposition of these fahrics and the general foliation is thus termed S₀+₁+₂. This composite foliation contains a down-dip stretching lineation L₂. Folding was contemporaneous With top-to-the-SE directed thrusting in D₂ faults and shear zones that are seen to displace D₁ fabric. Fold hinge lines parallel to L₂ suggest D₂ is characterised by non-ideal simple shear. D₃ is defined by a crenulation cleavage S₃, at near right angles to S₀+₁+₂ foliation resulting from NW-SE pure shear shortening. This phase of deformation is also associated with retrograde, reverse faulting that is localised along some of the D₂ shear zones. 2015-12-10T09:31:08Z 2015-12-10T09:31:08Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15756 eng application/pdf Department of Geological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Geological Sciences
Hartnady, Michael Ian Hay
The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia
title_full The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia
title_fullStr The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia
title_full_unstemmed The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia
title_short The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia
title_sort structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the damara belt namibia
topic Geological Sciences
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15756
work_keys_str_mv AT hartnadymichaelianhay thestructuralevolutionofanancientaccretionaryprisminthedamarabeltnamibia
AT hartnadymichaelianhay structuralevolutionofanancientaccretionaryprisminthedamarabeltnamibia