The northern segment of the Palaeoproterozoic Itabuna-Salvador- Curaçá collisional orogen in the São Francisco craton (Brazil) comprises two high-grade terranes separated by the 150km long, N-S-trending Itiúba Syenite. The Curaçá terrane to the west contains copper sulphide deposits hosted by hypersthenite-norite complexes (e.g. Caraíba body), whereas the Jacurici terrane to the east contains chromite deposits hosted by peridotite-norite sills (e.g. Medrado body). SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons, combined with a significant major element compositional gap indicates that the Caraíba (2580±10Ma) and the Medrado (2085±5Ma) mafic-ultramafic complexes are not related by fractional crystallisation as previously thought. Depleted-mantle Nd model ages for the regional gneisses are also distinct, with the Curaçá terrane having younger ages (2.4-2.8Ga) than the Jacurici terrane (2.9-3.2Ga), suggesting that they represent two independent fragments of continental crust accreted during the Palaeoproterozoic orogeny. Emplacements of the Itiúba Syenite (ca. 2084Ma) and of the Medrado complex were apparently coeval, probably controlled by orogen-parallel block displacement, or escape tectonics, following continent-continent collision. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1281-2143165Barbosa, J.S.F., The granulites of the Jequié complex and Atlantic Mobile Belt, southern Bahia, Brazil - An expression of Archean-Proterozoic plate convergence (1990) Granulites and Crustal Evolution, pp. 195-221. , Vielzeuf, D., Vidal P. (Eds.) Springer VerlagBarbosa, J.S.F., Sabaté, P., Geological features and the Paleoproterozoic collision of four Archean crustal segments of the São Francisco craton, Bahia, Brazil (2002) A Synthesis Anais Da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 74, pp. 343-359Carvalho, M.J., Oliveira, E.P., Barrueto, H.R., The Itareru Diorite-Tonalite sheet like body, Bahia-Brazil: Geological evidence of a major terrane boundary in the Paleoproterozoic Rio Itapicuru Greestone Belt? (2000) Proceedings of the 32nd IGC, , Rio de Janeiro-BrazilChauvet, A., Silva, F.C.A., Faure, M., Guerrot, C., Structural evolution of the Paleoproterozoic Rio Itapicuru granite-greenstone belt (Bahia, Brazil): The role of synkinematic plutons in the regional tectonics (1997) Precambrian Res., 84, pp. 139-162Clifford, T.N., Barton, E.S., Retief, E.A., Rex, D.C., Fanning, C.M., A crustal progenitor for the intrusive anorthosite-charnockite kindred of the cupriferous Koperberg Suite, O'okiep District, Namaqualand, South Africa. New isotope data for the country rocks and the intrusives (1994) J. Petrol., 36, pp. 231-258Compston, W., Williams, I.S., Meyer, C., U-Pb geochronology of zircons from lunar breccia 73217 using a sensitive high mass-resolution ion microprobe (1984) J. Geophys. Res., 89, pp. 252-B534Conceição, H., Sabaté, P., Bonin, B., The Itiúba alkaline syenite massif Bahia State (Brazil): Mineralogical, geochemical and petrological constraints - Relation to the genesis of rapakivi magmatism (1991) Precambrian Res., 51, pp. 283-314Conradie, J.A., Schoch, A.E., Petrographical characteristics of the Koperberg Suite, South Africa - An analogy to massif-type anorthosites? (1986) Precambrian Res., 31, pp. 157-188Cunha, J.C., Fróes, R.J.B., (1994) Komatiítos Com Textura Spinifex Do Greenstone Belt de Umburanas, Bahia. 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Geoc., 12, pp. 251-262Jardim De Sá, E.F.J., Souza, Z.S., Fonseca, V.P., Legrand, J.M., Relações entre "greenstone belts" e terrenos de alto grau: O caso da Faixa Rio Capim, NE da Bahia Proceedings of the XXXIII Congresso Brasileiro de Geologia, p. 1984. , Rio de JaneiroKosin, M., Guimarães, J.T., Abram, M.B., (1999) Folha Aracaju-SW, Folha SC.24-Y. Serviço Geológico Do Brasil (CPRM), , Programa Levantamentos Geológicos Básicos do BrasilLedru, P., Cocherie, A., Barbosa, J., Johan, V., Onstott, T., Ages du métamorphisme granulitique dans le craton du São Francisco (Brésil). Implications sur la nature de l'orogène transamazonien (1994) Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Paris, 318 (SERIE II), pp. 251-257Lindenmayer, Z.G., (1981) Evolução Geológica Do Vale Do Curaçá e Dos Corpos Máfico-ultramáficos Mineralizados a Cobre, pp. 72-110. , Inda, H.A.V., Marinho, M.M., Duarte, F.B. (Eds.), Geologia e Recursos Minerais do Estado da Bahia, vol. 4. 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