Significance of the Radiometric Ages of the Nchanga and Lusaka Granites, Northern Rhodesia

Abstract

The similarity between the “whole-rock” ages of the Nchanga and Lusaka granites, 755 m.y. and 725 m.y. respectively, is misleading. The field evidence indicates that the Lusaka granite, although syntectonic, intrudes Katanga metasediments, whereas the Nchanga granite is overlain unconformably by basal Katanga conglomerate and arkose. The age of the Lusaka granite thus sets a younger limit to the age of the Katanga metasediments of the Central Province and dates the waning phases of the Lufilian orogeny. The radiometric age of the Nchanga red granite is too young for a pre-Katanga intrusive, and it is suggested that it has been modified by subsequent metasomatism.