Understanding the Stratigraphy, age, and provenance of the diamondiferous Calonda Formation in North-Eastern Angola: Implications for regional magmatism and paleo fluvial drainage evolution (Old ID 25071)

De Beers Group Services Pty Ltd
Role

Principal Investigator

Description

The pilot research, based on four Calonda Formation Core Samples, has identified a suite of unexpected Permian-Late Cretaceous magmatic detrital zircon populations, which have the potential to improve our understanding of the age and provenance of the Calonda Formation, as well as the tectonic history of this region. The pilot research identified a suite of Cretaceous detrital zircons that form three discrete age clusters, which we hypothesis may have been produced during kimberlite or other alkaline volcanism; perhaps synchronously with deposition of the Calonda Formation or other Cretaceous cover sequences. However, due to the small number of grains discovered in the pilot study and lack of systematic sampling, robust conclusions cannot be drawn at present. However, the results demonstrate that it should be possible to significantly refine the age of these sedimentary sequences, including the Calonda Formation, through detrital zircon geochronology, as well as to study the geochemistry of these grains to better understand the regional tectonics of this area during the Cretaceous, possibly including better dating of the timing of kimberlite volcanism.

Date

01 Jun 2018 - 31 Dec 2019

Project Type

CONTRACT_RESEARCH

Keywords

Angola;Detrital Zircon;Sedimentology;Diamond

Funding Body

De Beers Group Services Pty Ltd

Amount

68000

Project Team

Prince Owusu Agyemang