Collaborative Research: Constraints on Mesoproterozoic Supercontinent Assembly and Plate Dynamics: Studies on the 1.1 Ga Umkondo Large Igneous Province in Southern Africa

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9909269 Hanson9909854 GoseSupercontinent assembly and dispersal throughout geologic time represent a fundamental theme in earth history. The Phanerozoic assembly and dispersal of Gondwana and Pangea has been extensively studied but was preceded by an earlier supercontinent, Rodinia, which began to assemble at 1300 Ma, possibly incorporating most or all continental crust by 1000 Ma and began to disperse at 750 Ma. This project focuses on a key element in both the Rodinian and Gondwanan supercontinents which involves a large-scale, poorly understood 1.1. Ga within plate igneous province in the Kalahari craton. One interpretation is that the igneous province, and possible correlatives in Antarctica and Laurentia, originated from a large-scale mantle thermal anomaly or plume near one of the main sites of plate convergence during Rodinia assembly. This project will gather geochronological, paleomagnetic and geochemical data required to test the hypothesis that the Umkondo and Laurentian provinces are expressions of a single large-scale magmatic event. Results will help paleogeographic reconstructions of the neoproterzoic and has implications for formation of large igneous provinces in relation to supercontinent evolution in general.