Evolução termocronológica da região à leste da bacia offshore do Namibe, Angola, por meio de traço de fissão e (U-Th)/He em apatitas
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Data
2016-05-09
Autores
Silva, Bruno Venancio da [UNESP]
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Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Resumo
A termocronologia de baixa temperatura tem sido uma ferramenta importante para a quantificação de processos geológicos em margens continentais passivas. Neste contexto, a margem angolana mostra evidências de uma evolução pós-rifte policíclica marcada por eventos de soerguimento, inversão de bacias e mudanças nas taxas de sedimentação para as bacias marginais, os quais têm controlado a tectônica salina e a localização dos depósitos de hidrocarbonetos. Para entender a evolução pré, sin e pós-rifte da margem sudoeste angolana, amostras de afloramentos para análises por traço de fissão e (U-Th)/He em apatitas foram coletadas em um perfil entre as cidades de Namibe e Lubango variando de 79 m à 1675 m de altitude. A área está situada no limite entre os segmentos Central e Austral do Atlântico Sul a poucos kilômetros à norte da cordilheira Walvis e compreende as rochas arqueanas à paleoproterozóicas do cráton do Congo. As idades TFA variam de 120.6 ± 8.9 Ma à 328.8 ± 28.5 Ma e apresentam uma tendência de envelhecimento com o aumento da altitude. O comprimento médio dos traços (MTLs) varia entre 11.77 ± 1.82 µm e 12.34 ± 1.13 µm com uma distribuição unimodal (TLDs). As idades HeA variam entre 128.8 ± 3.9 Ma e 196.6 ± 5.9 Ma e apresentam um padrão de envelhecimento em direção ao Grande Escarpamento, com idades mais antigas do que as respectivas idades TFA, interpretadas como o resultado do acúmulo de danos radioativos nas apatitas. As modelagens das histórias térmicas foram construídas com os parâmetros cinéticos Dpar e com o ângulo em relação ao eixo-c por meio do software Hefty. Ambas as modelagens TFA e HeA indicam três principais eventos de resfriamentos associados à soerguimento/denudação: do Jurássico ao Eocretáceo, no Neocretáceo e do Eocêno – Oligocêno ao recente, os quais são compatíveis com as espessuras de sedimentos interpretadas a partir de dados geofísicos da região offshore do Namibe. Os dados aqui obtidos sugerem uma evolução fanerozóica policíclica para o sudoeste da margem angolana e reforça a importância do evento cenozóico na área o qual têm sido documentado amplamente ao longo da margem angolana mas não têm sido evidente em outras regiões da África meridional, onde têm sido dada mais importância aos eventos do Cretáceo. As diferenças de magnitude entre os eventos registrados no sudoeste de Angola e noroeste da Namíbia parecem estar associados à um controle do embasamento, com os zonas de cisalhamento neoproterozóicas absorvendo mais deformação do que o cráton do Congo durante os episódios de encurtamento da margem.
The low-temperature thermochronology has been an important tool to quantify geological processes in passive continental margins. In this context, the Angolan margin shows evidence of a polycyclic post-rift evolution marked by different events of uplift, basin inversion and changes in sedimentation rates to the marginal basins, which have controlled the salt tectonics and the hydrocarbon deposits. To understand the pre, sin and post-rift evolution of the southwestern Angolan margin, outcrop samples were collected for apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He analysis ranging in elevation from 79 m to 1675 m from the coast toward the interior plateau in a profile between Namibe and Lubango cities. The area lies on the edge of Central and Southern Atlantic segments, a few kilometers northward the Walvis ridge, and encompasses the Archean and Proterozoic basement rocks of the Congo craton. The AFT ages range from 120.6 ± 8.9 Ma to 328.8 ± 28.5 Ma and they show a trend of increasing age with increasing elevation. The partial main track lengths (MTLs) vary between 11.77 ± 1.82 µm to 12.34 ± 1.13 µm with unimodal track length distributions (TLDs). The AHe ages range from 128.8 ± 3.9 Ma to 196.6 ± 5.9 Ma and they show a trend of increasing ages toward the Great Escarpment, older than the respective AFT ages, which could be interpreted as a result of the radiation damage accumulation in the apatites. The thermal histories modelling have been constrained with the kinetic parameters Dpar and c-axis angle by the Hefty software. Both AFT and AHe thermal histories modelling indicate three main episodes of denudation/uplift driven cooling: from Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, in the Late Cretaceous and from Oligocene-Miocene to recent times, which are compatible with the sedimentary fill interpreted from the offshore Namibe basin geophysical data. The data suggest a Phanerozoic polycyclic evolution of the southwestern Angola margin and lend weight to the Cenozoic event in the area which has been widely reported along the Angolan margin but has not been evident in other regions of southern Africa, where it has been documented main Cretaceous events. Differences in magnitude of events between southern Angolan and northern Namibian mrgins suggest a likely basement control linked to different tectonic-denudation episodes, where the Neoproterozoic shear zones have absorbed more deformation than the Congo craton during the shortening events of the margin.
The low-temperature thermochronology has been an important tool to quantify geological processes in passive continental margins. In this context, the Angolan margin shows evidence of a polycyclic post-rift evolution marked by different events of uplift, basin inversion and changes in sedimentation rates to the marginal basins, which have controlled the salt tectonics and the hydrocarbon deposits. To understand the pre, sin and post-rift evolution of the southwestern Angolan margin, outcrop samples were collected for apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He analysis ranging in elevation from 79 m to 1675 m from the coast toward the interior plateau in a profile between Namibe and Lubango cities. The area lies on the edge of Central and Southern Atlantic segments, a few kilometers northward the Walvis ridge, and encompasses the Archean and Proterozoic basement rocks of the Congo craton. The AFT ages range from 120.6 ± 8.9 Ma to 328.8 ± 28.5 Ma and they show a trend of increasing age with increasing elevation. The partial main track lengths (MTLs) vary between 11.77 ± 1.82 µm to 12.34 ± 1.13 µm with unimodal track length distributions (TLDs). The AHe ages range from 128.8 ± 3.9 Ma to 196.6 ± 5.9 Ma and they show a trend of increasing ages toward the Great Escarpment, older than the respective AFT ages, which could be interpreted as a result of the radiation damage accumulation in the apatites. The thermal histories modelling have been constrained with the kinetic parameters Dpar and c-axis angle by the Hefty software. Both AFT and AHe thermal histories modelling indicate three main episodes of denudation/uplift driven cooling: from Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, in the Late Cretaceous and from Oligocene-Miocene to recent times, which are compatible with the sedimentary fill interpreted from the offshore Namibe basin geophysical data. The data suggest a Phanerozoic polycyclic evolution of the southwestern Angola margin and lend weight to the Cenozoic event in the area which has been widely reported along the Angolan margin but has not been evident in other regions of southern Africa, where it has been documented main Cretaceous events. Differences in magnitude of events between southern Angolan and northern Namibian mrgins suggest a likely basement control linked to different tectonic-denudation episodes, where the Neoproterozoic shear zones have absorbed more deformation than the Congo craton during the shortening events of the margin.
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Palavras-chave
Thermochronology, Thermal modelling, Passive margin, Denudation, Termocronologia, Modelagem térmica, Margem passiva, Denudação