New U–Pb zircon ages from the Eastern Saghro massif in the Anti-Atlas of Morocco demonstrate a link between Pan-African transpressive collision at c. 600 Ma and transtension caused by the onset of Cadomian subduction and arc development from c. 570 Ma onwards. We present new U–Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ages of detrital and magmatic zircon from the Saghro, M'Gouna, and Ouarzazate Groups. The siliciclastic deposits of the Saghro Group were deposited in a back-arc setting developed on stretched continental crust of the West African margin. Collision with the Atlas–Meseta domain led to the closure of the back-arc basin before 600 Ma. Time of exhumation and surface exposure of the newly formed Pan-African basement is bracketed to c. 30 Ma owing to the maximum depositional age of 571 ± 4 Ma of the overlying M'Gouna Group. The U–Pb age of 567 ± 4 Ma for the lowermost ignimbrite of the Ouarzazate Group limits the time for the deposition of the M'Gouna Group to less than 4 Ma. The Pan-African orogeny was finished at c. 600 Ma whereas the onset of transtension related to Cadomian back-arc formation was very much younger from c. 570 Ma onwards.

The Namibian Mesozoic successions may be remnant of a high dynamic sedimentary system that is characterized by multiple stages of sediment accumulation and erosion with contemporaneous homogenization starting with the deposition of the Permo-Carboniferous Dwyka Group strata and continues at least until the Lower Cretaceous. The Lower Cretaceous sedimentary system is interpreted to have involved at least an area covering the whole SW Gondwana, documenting the sedimentary history during the evolution from an ice house environment to an arid desert. To test the sediment homogenization hypothesis, we applied a combination of isotopic and morphometric data on detrital zircon grains, as well as whole-rock geochemical data of selected Mesozoic sandstones from Namibia. As a base for the interpretation of the detrital zircon age data we compiled a zircon age dataset with c. 44,000 analyses for the southern African region. All samples reveal a major detrital pan-African zircon age peak of c. 0.5–0.7 Ga sourced from the pan-African magmatic events occurring around the Kalahari Craton margin. The lowermost Triassic is characterized by the occurrence of additional Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic age peaks of c. 1.0–1.2 Ga and 1.8–2.0 Ga with a majority of zircon grains showing angular shapes. The protosource of these grains is interpreted to possibly be the Namaqua Metamorphic Complex and other Paleoproterozoic structural units deformed in course of the Namaqua orogeny. In contrast, other samples show a prominent Permo-Triassic age peak and completely rounded zircon grains, putatively derived from within the Gondwanides volcanic arc. The disparity in the zircon age pattern may point towards a change in provenance and also a change in the whole system of zircon recycling during the Mesozoic southern Gondwana. The Lower Triassic Neu Loore fm. are constrained to more local bedrock sources and short zircon transport distance. In contrast, zircon grains of the Middle Triassic Omingonde, the Jurassic Etjo und the Cretaceous Twyfelfontein formations are an expression for a major recycling and sediment homogenization system. The system was facilitated by an interplay between fluvial and eolian sedimentary transport systems.