Lenhardt, NilsEriksson, Patrick GeorgeCatuneanu, OctavianBumby, Adam John2013-02-202013-02-202012-09Lenhardt, N, Eriksson, PG, Catuneanu, O & Bumby, AJ 2012, 'Nature of and controls on volcanims in the ca. 2.32-2.06 Ga Pretoria Group, Transvaal Supergroup, Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa', Precambrian Research, vol. 214-215, no. 9, pp.106-123.0301-9268 (print)1872-7433 (online)10.1016/j.precamres.2011.09.012http://hdl.handle.net/2263/21128The time of deposition of the Pretoria Group between 2.32 and 2.06 Ga on South Africa’s Kaapvaal Craton was characterized by the first major increase in atmospheric oxygen. It was accompanied by the extrusion of significant thicknesses of volcanic deposits, namely the Bushy Bend lavas of the Timeball Hill Formation, the Hekpoort Formation and the Machadodorp Volcanic Member of the Silverton Formation, marking the three major volcanic events within the Transvaal Supergroup which are thought to be precursors to the succeeding Bushveld Complex magmatism. The Bushy Bend Lava Member of the Timeball Hill Formation is characterized by subaqueous basaltic-andesitic fissure eruptions with fumarolic activity and probably minor subaerial explosive eruptions in the hinterland of the Transvaal Supergroup basin. The subaerial volcanism of the Hekpoort Formation appears to have been dominated by fissure eruptions with a preponderance of lava flows and locally important pyroclastic material. Intermittent hiatuses in volcanism were marked by local lacustrine shale deposition. Finally, the Machadodorp Lava Member can be interpreted as the deposits of several seamounts aligned along a fissure, probably within an extensional environment. The geodynamic control inferred for the evolution of the Pretoria Group basin encompasses two cycles of prerift uplift, subsequent mechanical rifting and long lived thermal subsidence. The limited extent of the Bushy Bend lavas in the south of the Pretoria Group depository attest to the likelihood that volcanism accompanying the first rifting event was short-lived. In contrast, the second rifting cycle postulated for the Pretoria Group basin has a strong association with widespread and large scale volcanism of the Hekpoort-Ongeluk flood basalts, which may have been plume-related. The scale of the second cycle volcanism and its importance in influencing the upper part of the Pretoria Group basin-fill is underlined by the Machadodorp volcanism, probably related to hot spot volcanism as the Ongeluk-Hekpoort plume waned.en© 2012 Elsevier. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Precambrian Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Precambrian Research, vol. 214-215, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.precamres.2011.09.012.Palaeoproterozoic within-craton volcanismPretoria GroupKaapvaal CratonSouth AfricaPostprint Article