Petrology, Age and Geodynamic Implication of the Panafrican Granitoids Associated with the Glito-Kpatala Shear Zone (South-East Togo)

The granitic plutons associated with the Glito-Kpatala shear zone are composed of biotite and amphibole granodiorites, biotite granites, two-mica granites and aplitic granites, which are very poorly represented. The chemical and mineralogical compositions of these facies indicate that they are I type and belong to high-K calc-alkaline series, with a chemical metaluminous character displayed by the granodiorites relative to the biotite and two-mica facies whose chemical compositions vary between metaluminous and peraluminous caracter. The Th/Ta (14.04 - 43.82 ppm, mean = 26.05), Th/U (2.58 to 15.05 ppm, mean = 5.85 ppm), Zr/Hf (25.27 to 37.21, mean = 30.67 ppm) and Rb/Sr (0.16 to 4.32;mean = 1.67 ppm) ratios of these granitoids reveal a strong crustal involvement in their magmatogenesis. Variations in CaO/Na2O (0.47 - 1.44 ppm), Rb/Sr (0.14 - 0.27 ppm), Rb/Ba (0.07 - 0.14 ppm) and Sr/Y (38.21 - 174.42 ppm) ratios indicate that biotite and amphibole granodiorites with their excessive Ni (135.37 - 139.51 ppm) and Cr (395.73 - 447.74 ppm) were derived from a mafic to intermediate lower continental crust where garnet and/or amphibole were stable residual assemblage minerals. The moderate Sr/Y ratios (1.81 - 9.47 ppm) and low transition elements Ni (1 - 6.44 ppm) and Cr (7.89 - 13.47 ppm) contents in both the two-mica and biotite granites are consistent with their emplacement at relatively shallow depths in the upper to mean continental crust, at pressures below 10 Kbar. In the two-mica granites, moderate CaO/Na2O (0.20 - 0.57 ppm, mean = 0.38 ppm) and Rb/Ba (0.39 - 1.37, mean = 0.84 ppm) ratios and quite varied Rb/Sr (1.53 - 4.23 ppm, mean = 2.85 ppm) ratios indicate a predominant derivation from psammitic and pelitic metasediments rather than metagreywackes. These low ratios (0.25 ≤ CaO/Na2O ≤ 0.32, mean = 0.28 ppm;0.31 ≤ Rb/Ba ≤ 0.44, mean = 0.39 ppm;1.11 ≤ Rb/Sr ≤ 1.78, mean = 0.39 ppm) in biotite granites are more consistent with melting from a metagreywacke-derived source. Evidence for the contribution of mantle-derived mafic magma with granitic magma in the plutons studied is materialized by the presence of magmatic enclaves in both granodiorites and two-mica granites, the volcanic arc geochemical signatures displayed by the plutons in geotectonic diagrams and Nb/Ta ratios (14.14 - 34.61 ppm) closer to mantle estimates. Geochemical data and radiometric dating elements suggest that the granitoids studied can be integrated into the pan-African late magmatic episode, which corresponds between 606 and 583 Ma, to the activity of transcurrent ductile strike-slips and to the synchronous emplacement of high K calc-alkaline plutons in a post-collisional context.

Evidence of Atlantic Extension in South-East Togo: Case of Fracturing in the Sandstone Relics of Tohoun

The sandstone relics of probable Cretaceous age found around Tohoun show an extensional tectonics imprint associated with the Atlantic opening. This imprint consists of normal fault networks well expressed on two sites of outcrop and corresponds to three fracturing episodes materialized by families of conjugated planes striking E-W, NW-SE, and NE-SW. Striated plane data analysis shows three extensional axes successively N-S, NE-SW and NNW-SSE. The reconstructed paleostress tensors can be attributed to pre- to syn-rift phases responsible for the development of primary basin structures in the Gulf of Guinea. This preliminary analysis, concerning only fractures in the basal sequence relics, remains to be extended to the entire Togolese coastal basin to a better definition of the Atlantic dynamic.