The Malolotsha Klippe: Large‐Scale Subhorizontal Tectonics Along the Southern Margin of the Archean Barberton Greenstone Belt, Eswatini

Research on the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains reveals that the Archean Barberton Greenstone Belt (BGB) preserves evidence of large-scale subhorizontal tectonics, challenging long-held assumptions about Archean tectonic processes. The study identifies a tightly re-folded imbricate thrust stack in Eswatini, where metavolcanic and -volcaniclastic strata from the Onverwacht Group have been thrust over younger siliciclastic Moodies Group strata, indicating significant northwestward orogenic movement with a minimum horizontal displacement of 33 km. This finding suggests that Archean tectonics involved complex interactions between vertical and horizontal deformation styles, with implications for understanding the kinematics and thermal state of the early Earth's mantle and the formation of continental crust. The study combines geological mapping and U-Pb zircon dating to reconstruct this tectonic history, providing insights into the asymmetrical late-stage architecture of the BGB.

Heubeck, C., Thomsen, T. B., Heredia, B. D., Zeh, A., & Balling, P. (2023). The Malolotsha Klippe: Large‐Scale Subhorizontal Tectonics Along the Southern Margin of the Archean Barberton Greenstone Belt, Eswatini. Tectonics, 42(1). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022tc007359