The Itombwe Belt (Kivu, RD. Congo): A Far-Field Effect of Eastern Pan-African Belts on the Neoproterozoic Rift, in Central Africa

The Itombwe belt is a North-South oriented structure which belongs to the Neoproterozoic rift system of central Africa including at least four troughs folded during the Pan-African orogeny. This Neoproterozoic rift located inside the Congo craton is tectonically dependent of the far away (400 to 800 km) Pan-African belts surrounding the Congo Craton. The N-S opening of this Itombwe structure around 662 Ma and its folding by 550 Ma is linked to the eastern Pan-African Mozambique belt and to the Southern Lufilian belt (Katanga). This study includes geological observations from the thin section to the regional scale deformations. The model is compared to similar regional rift systems such as the Tertiary Mid-European and the East African rifts. An overall geodynamic explanation based on field studies and radiometric data is proposed.