The Precambrian drift history and paleogeography of Congo−São Francisco craton

Congo and Sao Francisco cratons are made of several Archean and Paleoproterozoic nuclei welded together by Paleoproterozoic belts. The pair is considered to be a stable lithospheric entity by ~2.0 Ga and hosts fissural mafic magmatism at 2.7–2.6, 1.71, 1.50, and 0.92 Ga; magmatic events at 1.38 and 1.10 Ga are restricted to Africa. Some of these dike swarms and also younger sedimentary units have been targeted for paleomagnetic studies, but the paleomagnetic data for the Congo−Sao Francisco craton is still scarce. Here we review the available data for both cratons. A total of 21 paleomagnetic poles was selected for paleogeographic reconstructions, 11 of them with Q-index higher than 4. Segments of apparent wander paths were drawn for 1.1–0.92, 0.79–0.74, and 0.57–0.52 Ga. Tentative reconstructions are proposed to place Congo−Sao Francisco into the context of supercontinents Columbia, Rodinia, and Gondwana.