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| Lufilian Arc | |
|---|---|
| Name | Lufilian Arc |
| Type | Orogenic belt |
| Location | Zambia; Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Area | Central Africa |
| Period | Neoproterozoic |
| Orogeny | Pan-African |
Lufilian Arc is a major Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic orogenic belt in Central Africa notable for its folded thrust belts, stratiform sediment-hosted base metal deposits, and high-grade metamorphic core. The belt crosses modern Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and lies adjacent to cratonic margins including the Kalahari Craton and the Congo Craton. It links regional tectonic frameworks associated with the Pan-African orogeny, Brasiliano orogeny, and the assembly of Rodinia and Gondwana.
The belt occupies a suture between the Congo Craton and the Kalahari Craton and records convergence related to the Pan-African orogeny, the breakup of Rodinia, and the amalgamation of Gondwana. Its position relates to nearby Proterozoic provinces such as the Kaapvaal Craton, the Limpopo Belt, and the Tanzania Craton and to Neoproterozoic mobile belts including the Brasiliano belts and the East African Orogen. Major structural elements include fold-thrust complexes that are comparable to the Zambezi Belt and to segments of the West Gondwana Orogen. The orogen contains large sedimentary basins correlated with the Katanga Supergroup and links to rift systems documented near the Irumide Belt and Ubendian Belt.
Stratigraphic successions include the glaciogenic and carbonate-rich units comparable to the Sturtian and Marinoan successions, siliciclastic sequences, and passive-margin carbonates analogous to the Otavi Group and Nguba Group. Major lithologies include metasedimentary schists, quartzites, dolomites, shales, and cherts similar to units described in the Katanga Province and in the Zambian Copperbelt. Volcaniclastic beds and basaltic flows correlate with Neoproterozoic magmatic events recorded in the Damara Belt and the Kaoko Belt. Evaporite and carbonate horizons host stratiform mineralization comparable to deposits in the Siberian Platform and the Midcontinent Rift.
Metamorphic grades range from greenschist to amphibolite and locally granulite facies, reflecting regional heating episodes tied to collision and burial comparable to metamorphism in the Namaqua-Natal Belt and the Usagaran Belt. Structural architecture displays large-scale nappes, recumbent folds, regional thrust sheets, and isoclinal folding analogous to the Alps and the Himalaya. Deformation phases include early extensional fabrics correlated with Neoproterozoic rifting and later contractional fabrics tied to the Pan-African orogeny and to events recorded in the Trans-Nyika Orogen. Shear zones and metamorphic domes resemble features in the Limpopo Belt and the Lewisian Complex.
The belt hosts world-class stratiform copper-cobalt deposits similar to those of the Zambian Copperbelt and the Katanga Province, and significant lead-zinc-silver mineralization analogous to deposits in the Irish Midlands and the Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) districts. Mineral deposits occur in carbonate-hosted stratabound settings, vein-hosted systems, and structurally controlled orebodies reminiscent of Broken Hill and Kupferschiefer styles. Key commodities include copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, silver, and associated byproducts comparable to resources exploited by companies such as First Quantum Minerals, Glencore, and ZCCM-IH. Exploration targets parallel techniques used in the Borden Lake and Canning Basin plays.
High-precision geochronology using U-Pb zircon, Sm-Nd, and Ar-Ar methods ties magmatic and metamorphic events to Neoproterozoic ages (~900–500 Ma) comparable to timing in the Damara Orogen and the Brasiliano orogeny. Detrital zircon populations link provenance to the Congo Craton, Kalahari Craton, and farther afield to sources like the Amazon Craton and West African Craton. Cooling histories derived from thermochronology resemble those reconstructed for the Mozambique Belt and indicate exhumation synchronous with the final assembly of Gondwana and later reactivation during Paleozoic intraplate events.
Paleogeographic reconstructions place the belt along the southern margin of Neoproterozoic Gondwana adjacent to the Iapetus Ocean-equivalent seaways and link it with the Brasiliano-Pan African belts across present-day South America and Antarctica. Correlations with the Nama and Adelaide basins suggest synchronous glacial and carbonate events, while faunal and isotopic comparisons align with sequences in the Siberian Platform and Laurentia-adjacent margins. Tectonic models draw parallels with the closure of the Tethys and the docking of microcontinents similar to Avalonia.
Scientific study accelerated during the 20th century through geological surveys by institutions such as the British Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Zambia, and the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (DRC), with significant contributions from researchers affiliated with University of Oxford, University of Cape Town, Université de Liège, and Stanford University. Early mineral exploration involved corporations like Roan Selection Trust and later multinational firms including Anaconda Copper and Noranda. Key publications and mapping campaigns drew on techniques developed in studies of the Zambian Copperbelt, the Katanga Supergroup, and comparative analyses with the Damara and Namaqua belts, fostering integrated tectonostratigraphic frameworks and guiding contemporary exploration by entities such as Konkola Copper Mines and Tenke Fungurume Mining.
Category:Geology of Zambia Category:Geology of the Democratic Republic of the Congo