From a repot submitted by Yeimmy Alejandra Gutierrez Pardo, University of Brazil
This project aimed to investigate the petrogenesis and geochemical characteristics of the mafic and felsic portions of the Vredefort Granophyre, the main impact melt rock of the 2.02 Ga Vredefort impact structure in South Africa. The study focused on mineral chemistry, geochemistry, and isotopic analyses (Sr–Nd, and U–Pb on zircon) to better constrain the origin of the mafic variety and evaluate whether it resulted from assimilation of local mafic lithologies such as epidiorite or Dominion Group meta-dolerite.
The grant covered travel and research-related expenses, including analytical work at the Natural History Museum in Vienna and isotopic analyses at the University of Vienna.
During the active stage of the project, several key steps were completed:
- Petrographic and mineral-chemical study of felsic and mafic Granophyre samples.
- EMPA analyses of mafic microclasts conducted at the Natural History Museum of Vienna.
- Preliminary isotopic work on Dominion Group meta-dolerite, in comparison with existing datasets.
The work completed contributed valuable data and experience to the study of impact melt rocks from the Vredefort structure.