Complex vein systems as a data source in tectonics: An example from the Ugab Valley, NW Namibia

• We present a model for the formation of the vein networks in the Lower Ugab metaturbites.
• The veins form due to high hydrostatic pressure at an early stage of the regional deformation evolution.
• A combination of regional scale sinistral transpression and flexural slip on the fold limbs deform the vein networks.
• We provide new information about the tectonic evolution of the junction between the Kaoko and Damara mobile belts.

Neoproterozoic metaturbidites in the Lower Ugab Domain, Namibia, contain a complex network of four sets of quartz-calcite veins, overprinted by km-scale folds associated with four regional foliations. The veins formed by fluid overpressure predating the main deformation. Deformation structures developed at the junction of two mobile belts during the assembly of Gondwana, the NS Kaoko Belt, and the EW trending Damara Belt. Km-scale NS trending folds were initiated during EW constriction in the Kaoko Belt, while their further development and all subsequent events are related to constriction in the EW-Damara Belt, with coeval sinistral strike slip in the Kaoko Belt. Deformation of the veins, and development of four orthogonal foliations are due to gradual changes in the bulk tectonic framework rather than separate orogenic events. The veins are deformed in a complex manner allowing a full 3D reconstruction of regional sequence of events. The local complex tectonics could be reconstructed because of the perfect local exposure and the multitude of veins: it illustrates the potential complexity of tectonic events and structural evolution in apparently simple slate belts.