The Bushveld Complex was emplaced and cooled in less than one million years – results of zirconology, and geotectonic implications

The Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS) of the Bushveld Complex (BC) represents Earth's oldest large igneous province (>370000km3), and contains the world's largest reserves of platinum-group elements, chromium and vanadium. However, its mode of formation, the exact timing and nature of magma emplacement, solidification and sub-solidus cooling history remain a matter of debate. High precision UPb dates, backed by petrological observations reveal that...