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Vertical movements along the northern border of the West African Craton: the Reguibat Shield and adjacent basins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2013

R. LEPRÊTRE ,
J. BARBARAND ,
Y. MISSENARD ,
F. LEPARMENTIER  and
D. FRIZON DE LAMOTTE
R. LEPRÊTRE*
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Sud, UMR UPS-CNRS 8148 IDES, F- 91405 Orsay, France
J. BARBARAND
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Sud, UMR UPS-CNRS 8148 IDES, F- 91405 Orsay, France
Y. MISSENARD
Affiliation:
Université Paris-Sud, UMR UPS-CNRS 8148 IDES, F- 91405 Orsay, France
F. LEPARMENTIER
Affiliation:
TOTAL EP, Projets Nouveaux, place Jean Millier, F92 400 Paris-La Défense, France
D. FRIZON DE LAMOTTE
Affiliation:
TOTAL EP, Projets Nouveaux, place Jean Millier, F92 400 Paris-La Défense, France Département Géosciences et Environnement, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Cergy-Pontoise, France
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

The absence of a sedimentary record on large cratonic areas often prevents the reconstruction of the history of their vertical movements. The Reguibat Rise, belonging to the West African Craton, is typically a large basement high, whose Meso-Cenozoic history is poorly known because of the extreme reduction of this sedimentary record. In this paper we present the first thermochronological data from the centre of the Reguibat Rise, and combine them with the geometry of the sedimentary formations in the adjoining Tindouf and Taoudeni basins situated north and south, respectively. Fission track analysis on apatite yields ages from 256±21 Ma to 139±8 Ma, and 120±10 Ma by (U–Th)/He dating. Two competing scenarios are tested based on these data with thermal history modelling. We favour the scenario that includes a Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous cooling of the samples, based on stratigraphical constraints and the thermochronological results. We then propose a new model for the evolution of this region and reveal the occurrence of a previously unknown major exhumation event at the Jurassic/Cretaceous transition accounting for the main present-day structures.

Keywords

Thermal modellingReguibat RiseTindouf/Taoudeni basins
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 151 , Issue 5 , September 2014 , pp. 885 - 898
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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