Great Dyke

The Great Dyke is a marked by pronounced Synklinalstruktur magnetite - body which has a 550 km long, narrow line runs through Zimbabwe in the form of approximately north-south direction. Its width varies between about 4 and 11 km. He is, as the greenstone belt, embossed rich in economically important minerals and ores and essentially of Ultramafitite, accompanied by dolerites, gabbros and Noriten.

Chromium, nickel, gold, silver, platinum, tin, mica and asbestos are mined here. The chrome ore laminarly occurring ( chromite ), mostly included in Dunitstrukturen, among the world's most important reservoirs for the metallurgical industry. The platinum deposits had initiated around 1927 violent in the South African Union interest. Due to the reservoir conditions and the associated complex extraction methods, the platinum mining activities subsided again.

Most mining towns of Zimbabwe as Shamva, Bindura, Kadoma Muzvezve, Kwekwe, Redcliffe, Gweru, Shurugwi, Somabhula, Mashava Mine are on the Great Dyke. This is in the south a narrow band of hills and rocky ridges, which are higher toward the north, where they reach a height of 460 m with the Umvukwe plateau.

A Dyke formed by the intrusion ( intrusion ) of liquid rock ( magma ) in already-formed rocks. The Great Dyke has formed about 2.6 billion years. His age determination was not determined in conjunction with the Zimbabwe widespread sediment systems, because it is surrounded as an isolated body of a basement complex. Since its creation, it has not been deformed and changed for the most part.

He reaches up to the Bushveld Complex in the Transvaal in the Republic of South Africa, 500 km south lies again from its south end. There you will find the richest ore deposits of the earth.

History of its exploration

The Great Dyke was first explored in 1867 by Carl Mauch. However, its rich ore deposits were recognized only in 1918 and then developed systematically.

Literature and links

  • John M. Guilbert, Charles F. Park, Jr.: The Geology of Ore Deposits. Freeman, 1986, ISBN 0-7167-1456-6
  • R [ ené ]. A [ rthur ]. Pelletier: Mineral Resources of South - Central Africa. Oxford University Press, Cape Town, etc. 1964, p 140, 160-161
  • Mining in Zimbabwe ( English)
  • Description of the country with Geology ( English)
  • Mountains in Africa
  • Geography (Zimbabwe )
  • Natural resources
  • Geology of Africa
  • Mining (Africa)
Syncline Dunite Kadoma, Zimbabwe Redcliff, Zimbabwe Dike (geology) Basement (geology) Bushveld Igneous Complex Transvaal Province Karl Mauch
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