Petrogenesis, LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb geochronology and geodynamic implications of the Kribi metavolcanic rocks, Nyong Group, Congo craton

Metavolcanic rocks are well-exposed in the Kribi area within the Nyong Group, Congo craton, but their origin, age, and tectonic significance are poorly known. Here we report integrated field mapping and petrography, geochemistry, and LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb ages of these metavolcanic rocks to constrain their petrogenesis and geodynamic implications. The studied rocks consist of mafic granulite, garnet-amphibole gneiss, and garnet-biotite gneiss, and occur interbanded with sharp contact and intruded by syenite dyke. These metavolcanic rocks are classified as MORB-like tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalts, basaltic andesite, and rhyodacite rocks with within-plate setting geochemical signatures. The metabasite rocks (basalt to basaltic andesite protolith) are likely the equivalent of a spinel peridotite product representing ~ 2–5 % partial melting of metasomatized mantle source, while the metarhyodacite rocks are derived from the fractional crystallization of the same parental magma. Zircon U-Pb data revealed that the rhyodacite rocks initially formed at 2671 ± 51 Ma and underwent later metamorphism at 2065 ± 55 Ma. The Neoarchean protolith age is comparable to the ca. 2628 Ma tholeiitic magmatism and ca. 2666 Ma high-K granites, suggesting bimodal Neoarchean magmatic event within the Ntem Complex, while the metamorphic ages fall within the ca. 2100–2000 Ma high-grade tectono-metamorphic event attributed to Eburnean/Trans-Amazonian orogeny. At the regional scale, metavolcanic rocks with similar origins and ages are documented in the São Francisco Craton in Brazil, suggesting comparable geodynamic evolution on both sides of the south Atlantic during the Paleoproterozoic.