Tectonic Assembly of Gondwanaland, Northern Namibia

最近的假说表明，单个超大陆在750 Ma左右解体，导致了几个独立大陆的起源，这些大陆现在广泛分布在地球上。它为识别这些大陆以前的范围和联系提出了可检验的模型，并赋予了以前识别的洲际(例如。泛非/巴西利亚诺和格雷维利亚/基巴兰)造山系统。这项工作将集中在纳米比亚北部沿海悬崖上的纳米布沙漠中暴露出来的一个独特的三重结上。这一关键位置靠近假设的超级大陆的中心。该项目最初的重点是刚果南部和西部边缘的前陆冲断带和褶皱带，涉及与裂谷、被动边缘下沉、地体吸积和末端碰撞有关的序列。这些结果将为重建该地区的构造历史提供必要的数据，并允许对这些事件是导致目前大陆地壳分布的超大陆解体的一部分这一假设进行严格检验。

Recent hypotheses suggest that the breakup of a single supercontinent at about 750 Ma has led to the origin of several independent continents now widely scattered over the earth. It poses testable models for identifying the former extent and connections of these continents and gives new meaning to previously identified intercontinental (eg. Pan-African/Brasiliano and Grevillian/Kibaran) orogenic systems. The work will focus on a unique triple junction exposed in the Namib Desert on the coastal escarpment of northern Namibia. This key locations is near the center of the hypothesized supercontinent. The initial focus of the project is on the foreland thrust and fold belts of the southern and western Congo margins , involving sequences related to rifting, passive-margin subsidence, terrane accretion and terminal collision. Pesults will provide essential data to reconstruct the tectonic history of this area and to allow a rigorous test of the hypothesis that these events are part of a supercontinent breakup that has led to the present distribution of continental crust.