Controls on mineralisation during early Damara rifting in Namibia

The late Proterozoic Damara Orogen in central Namibia initiated as a triple junction centred near the present coastal town of Swakopmund. Early rifting within the inland arm is believed to have been controlled by two north-northwest-dipping detachment faults. Of the two resulting asymmetric rift basins, the southern one developed into a small ocean, the Khomas sea. It is concluded that the present distribution of mineral deposits in the inland branch of the Damara Orogen was controlled by detachment faulting and associated fluid flows during the rifting stage of the basin development. Subsequent processes may have led to further concentration of initially metal-enriched protoliths. 1 fig., 10 refs