The Limpopo Mobile Belt: A result of continental collision

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Abstract
The 600‐km‐long Limpopo Mobile Belt is discussed within the frame of a Proterozoic supercontinent model [Piper, 1976]. Evidence is presented that the Rhodesian and Kaapvaal cratons may have been separated by distances of more than 1000 km of oceanic crust. From about 3350 Ma ago the Kaapvaal Craton appears to have been driven intermittently N, NW, and then WNW against the Rhodesian Craton forming the NE‐SW trending collision zone, the Limpopo Mobile Belt, and all the major fold and fracture patterns found. This movement would be similar to the oblique movement of the Pacific plate into the Aleutian trench. When collision ceased around 2500 Ma ago, it is likely that the Great Dyke and other complexes intruded along release fractures formed at right angles to the compression.