M.O. de Kock

Paleomagnetic Constraints on the Permian-Triassic Boundary in Terrestrial Strata of the Karoo Supergroup, South Africa: Implications for Causes of the End-Permian Extinction Event

The closure of the Palaeozoic witnessed the greatest biotic crisis in earth history. Surprisingly little is known about the effects and timing of the terrestrial counterpart of the well-described End-Permian mass extinction from known marine successions worldwide. In the present study, reliable paleomagnetic results were obtained from a PT boundary section in the terrestrial Karoo Basin of South Africa. Permo-Triassic aged mudstones from a locality in the Eastern Cape Province yielded two magnetic chrons, reverse followed by normal (with the boundary possibly close to the reversal). This extends to results from a previous study: thereby jointly identifying a R/N/R polarity pattern for this boundary interval. The PTB interval is constrained below the red mudstones of the Beaufort Group at the present locality and within reverse-magnetised green mudstone, implying a diachronic relation between the marine and terrestrial End-Permian mass extinction events.

New U–Pb age and paleomagnetic constraints from the Uitkomst Complex, South Africa: clues to the timing of intrusion

Abstract The Uitkomst Complex is considered to be coeval with, and genetically linked to the Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS) of the Bushveld Large Igneous Province. This study reports new paleomagnetic, geochemical and geochronological results from the Uitkomst Complex and a crosscutting dyke at the Nkomati Mine. Primary magnetisations for the complex and the dyke are statistically indistinguishable. This, together with the geochemical signature of the dyke, suggests a late-magmatic link with the Uitkomst Complex. A Virtual Geomagnetic Pole calculated for the complex at Longitude 28.7°N and Latitude 58.5°E (dp = 6.2; dm = 9.4; N = 3) differs from the 1900 Ma and younger-aged poles for the Kaapvaal Craton. It, however, shares similarities with the poles from the 2058 to 2054 Ma RLS and other ~2.0 Ga paleopoles for the Kaapvaal Craton. Moreover, a new U–Pb baddeleyite age of 2054 ± 7 Ma given by a coarse-grained gabbroic sample from Nkomati’s underground mine provides a minimum age constraint on the crystallisation of the Uitkomst Complex. This date is nominally older than the 207Pb/206Pb zircon age of 2044 ± 8 Ma previously reported for this complex, and also near identical to the new age of 2054.89 ± 0.37 Ma from the Critical Zone of the RLS. Here, it is suggested that the Uitkomst Complex was emplaced at the same time as, if not before the Critical Zone. Data presented here have bearings on the location of the Uitkomst Complex in the time frame model recently proposed for the Bushveld magmatism.

Paleomagnetism and chronology of B-1 marginal sills of the Bushveld Complex from the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa

Abstract The Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS) of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa is the largest mafic–ultramafic-layered complex on Earth. The RLS is associated with marginal sills that penetrate into the ~2.2 billion-year-old sedimentary strata of the Pretoria Group. These sills are in contact and share some geochemical similarities with different zones of RLS and are classified in terms of chemical composition, which suggests their derivation from distinct parental magma compositions (so-called B-1, B-2 and B-3 parental magmas). Existing paleomagnetic constraints for the Bushveld Complex originate from the upper Critical to Upper zones of the RLS, which are associated with B-2 and B-3 marginal sills. Geochemically, verified B-1 marginal intrusions are here used as a proxy for constraining the paleomagnetism and chronology of the Lower and lower Critical zones of the RLS. We identified a dual-polarity magnetic component with a paleopole (Latitude = 13.1°N, Longitude = 44.0°E, A95 = 14.3, N = 7) that is very similar to the established Bushveld Complex poles. We further report 2058.4 ± 1.3 Ma and 2058.1 ± 6 Ma U–Pb baddeleyite ages from B-1 sills that record opposite magnetic polarities. The ca. 2058 Ma ages are older than the 2054.89 ± 0.37 Ma age recently reported from throughout the RLS, but near identical to a previously reported ages of the Marginal Zone and from the upper Critical Zone. The ages could be interpreted as distinct pulses of magma emplacement separated in time by up to 4 million years (i.e., B-1 type magma pulse around ca. 2058 Ma and the B-2 and B-3 types magma pulses following closely on each other around ca. 2054 Ma), but is unlikely when petrological models are considered.