Knowledge Bank

A pre-Rodinia Supercontinent first proposed by Rogers and Santosh, (2002), and further discussed by Zhao et al., (2002) contained both the Wyoming and Kaapvaal Cratons possibly in close proximity. This investigation looks at the possibility that the Wyoming and Kaapvaal Cratons may have been connected by exploring the geology of the Stillwater and Bushveld Complexes. A reconstruction is presented based on previous reconstructions by Zhao et al., (2002). It has been concluded that these two unique intrusions were not coeval at formation, due to age differences, platinum group element ratios in ore minerals, ore mineralogy, and contact metamorphism. However, this study may contribute to revision of the few proposed Archean supercontinent reconstructions.