West African Craton

The West African Craton (WAC) is one of the five cratons of the Precambrian basement rock of Africa that make up the African Plate, the others being the Kalahari craton, Congo craton, Saharan Metacraton and Tanzania Craton.[1] Cratons themselves are tectonically inactive, but can occur near active margins,[2] with the WAC extending across 14 countries in Western Africa, coming together in the late Precambrian and early Palaeozoic eras to form the African continent. It consists of two Archean centers juxtaposed against multiple Paleoproterozoic domains made of greenstone belts, sedimentary basins, regional granitoid-tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) plutons, and large shear zones. The craton is overlain by Neoproterozoic and younger sedimentary basins. The boundaries of the WAC are predominantly defined by a combination of geophysics and surface geology, with additional constraints by the geochemistry of the region.[1] At one time, volcanic action around the rim of the craton may have contributed to a major global warming event.[3]

  1. ^ a b Jessell M.W., Liégeois J-P. (2015). "100 years of research on the West African Craton". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 112(B): 377– 381. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.10.008
  2. ^ Ennih N. & Liégeois J-P. (2008). The Boundaries of the West African Craton. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 297: 1–17. doi:10.1144/SP297.1
  3. ^ Doblas, Miguel; López-Ruiz, José; Cebriá, José-María; Youbi, Nasrrddine; Degroote, Eugenio (September 2002). "Mantle insulation beneath the West African craton during the Precambrian-Cambrian transition". Geology. 30 (9): 839. Bibcode:2002Geo....30..839D. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0839:MIBTWA>2.0.CO;2.