Evidence of ca 1.6-Ga detrital zircon in the Bafia Group (Cameroon): Implication for the chronostratigraphy of the Pan-African Belt north of the Congo craton

The southern part of the Central African Fold Belt (CAFB) in Cameroon is a southward regional-scale nappe-stacking domain (the Yaoundé Domain). It comprises the Neoproterozoic Yaoundé Group, thrust onto the Congo craton, and the poorly known Bafia Group, which is classically assumed to be a (Palaeoproterozoic) tectonic slice of basement overthrusting the Yaoundé Group to the north. New field observations, zircon U–Pb, and whole-rock and garnet Sm–Nd data allow a better understanding of the Bafia Group within the context of the CAFB. The Bafia Group is probably a Neoproterozoic metasedimentary sequence, comparable to those situated north of the Congo craton (Poli, Lom, and Yaoundé). In addition to the Palaeoproterozoic to Archean source, the detrital zircons in the Bafia Group are inherited from 1617 ± 16 Ma granitoids. Our results also led us to discuss the source and provenance of the Bafia Groupʹs gneiss protoliths, and the metamorphic evolution of this group.