A 2058 Ma paleopole for the Kaapvaal Craton: Implications for late Rhyacian plate motion and duration of the Bushveld Complex

•The Rustenburg Layered Suite of the Bushveld Complex (South Africa) and its associated satellite intrusions (e.g. Uitkomst Complex) and marginal sills share a common parental heritage (i.e. the B1, B2 and B3 parental magmas).•Possibility of punctuated emplacement of the Rustenburg Layered Suite and its associated marginal sills and satellite intrusions is highly debated.•The precision and extent of existing age data for the Bushveld Complex has not allowed confirmation of the relative timing of emplacement.•New mean 2058 Ma-aged paleopole from Bushveld-related intrusions with B1 geochemical affinity (i.e. marginal sills and Uitkomst Complex) is statistically distinguishable from the 2056–2055 Ma pole of Bushveld rocks with B2 and B3 geochemical affinity in the Rustenburg Layered Suite.•Paleomagnetism provides independent support for at least two episodes of magma emplacement for the Rustenburg Layered Suite and its associated marginal sills and satellite intrusions (i.e. B1 magma pulse at 2058 Ma, and B2 and B3 magmas pulses around 2056–2055 Ma). The Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS) of the Bushveld Complex, the largest ultramafic–mafic-layered intrusion on Earth, is associated with satellite intrusions and marginal sills with which it shares a common parental heritage (i.e. the B1, B2 and B3 parental magmas). The duration of the RLS emplacement is regarded as a focused event of less than 1 million years. Some of the more primitive satellite intrusions and marginal sills have been interpreted to predate the main Bushveld Complex. The precision and extent of existing age data, however, have not allowed confirmation of the relative timing of their emplacement. This study provides paleomagnetic support of a longer period of emplacement for the RLS and its marginal sills and satellite intrusions. Stepwise demagnetization of marginal sills with B1-geochemical affinity sampled regionally and associated with the exposed western and eastern limbs of the RLS reveals stable near antipodal components with improved grouping upon structural restoration of sills to their paleo-horizontal. 40Ar/39Ar dating of one of the studied sills indicates a crystallization age of 2058.5 ± 7.9 Ma. Although this age overlaps with the precise 2056–2055 Ma ages from the RLS, it is similar to seemly older ages reported from the lowermost part of the RLS and from other Bushveld-related units (e.g. pyroxenitic sills and Uitkomst Complex) with B1 geochemical affinity. A mean paleopole (λ = 26