Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Kuunga orogeny

The Kuunga orogeny was an orogeny that occurred in South-east Africa during the Ediacaran and Cambrian. Composed of three separate orogenic belts that are slightly younger than the East African orogeny, the Kuunga orogeny documents the collision between north and south Gondwana, or what is today Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica and northern Mozambique in Africa.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
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570 to 530 Ma collisional metamorphism of the Kuunga orogeny in red, 620 to 550 Ma post-collisional extension of the East African Orogeny in blue. source ↗

The Kuunga orogeny (from Swahili, "to unite")1 was an orogeny that occurred in South-east Africa during the Ediacaran and Cambrian. Composed of three separate orogenic belts (Damara, Zambesi, and Lurio) that are slightly younger than the East African orogeny, the Kuunga orogeny documents the collision between north and south Gondwana, or what is today Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica and northern Mozambique in Africa.2

The name was proposed in 1995 by J. G. Meert, R. van der Voo and S. Ayub.3

References

References

  1. Meert 2003, p. 32
  2. Grantham et al. 2013, Introduction, p. 86
  3. Meert, J. G.; van der Voo, R.; Ayub, S. (1995). "Paleomagnetic investigation of the Neoproterozoic Gagwe lavas and Mbozi complex, Tanzania and the assembly of Gondwana". Precambrian Research. 74 (4): 225–244. doi:10.1016/0301-9268(95)00012-T.
Sources

Sources