DEFINITION OF GREAT DIKE, ZIMBABWE

A 310-mile (500-km) long, 2.5- billion-year-old mafic and ultramafic dike that cuts across the

Zimbabwe craton in a north-northeasterly direction. The

main dike is associated with many smaller but parallel satellite

dikes. The Great Dike is one of the most prominent mafic

dikes on the planet, clearly visible from space and on satellite

imagery. The dike is actually comprised of a number of smaller

layered mafic-ultramafic intrusions, some of which exhibit

igneous layering. Since the dike is essentially undeformed in

most places, its age of 2.5 billion years shows that most

deformation in the Zimbabwe craton ceased before then.

Using this observation, plus the orientation of the stresses

that must have allowed extension perpendicular to the dike

margins, several authors have noted that the dike probably

intruded as a result of the collision of the Zimbabwe and

Kaapvaal cratons to the south, just prior to 2.5 billion years

ago. Parts of the dike are mined for chromite and platinum

group elements.

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