The Sredogriv greenschist facies rocks belong to the Western Balkan Zone in northwestern Bulgaria. The low-grade rocks consist of clastic-tuffaceous precursors and presumably olistostromic magmatic bodies. We present U-Pb LA-ICP-MS zircon age constraints for the Sredogriv metaconglomerate, intruding metaalbitophyre and a breccia-conglomerate of the sedimentary cover. Detrital zircons in the Sredogriv metaconglomerate yield a maximum depositional age of 523 Ma, with a prominent NeoproterozoicEarly Cambrian detrital zircon age clusters derived from igneous sources. The metaalbitophyre crystallized at 308 Ma and contains the same age clusters of inherited zircons. A 263 Ma maximum age of deposition is defined for a breccia-conglomerate of the Smolyanovtsi Formation from the sedimentary cover that recycled material from the Sredogriv metamorphics and Carboniferous–Permian magmatic rocks. The depositional setting of the Sredogriv sedimentary succession is characterized by proximity to Cadomian island arc sources and provenance from the northern periphery of Gondwana. The timing of the Variscan greenschist facies metamorphism of the Sredogriv metamorphics is bracketed between 308 Ma and the depositional age of 272 Ma of another adjacent clastic formation. These results constrain the timing of the Cadomian sedimentary history and the Variscan magmatic and tectono-metamorphic evolution in this part of the Western Balkan Zone.

The Sredogriv greenschist facies rocks belong to the Western Balkan Zone in northwestern Bulgaria. The low-grade rocks consist of clastic-tuffaceous precursors and presumably olistostromic magmatic bodies. We present U-Pb LA-ICP-MS zircon age constraints for the Sredogriv metaconglomerate, intruding metaalbitophyre and a breccia-conglomerate of the sedimentary cover. Detrital zircons in the Sredogriv metaconglomerate yielded a maximum depositional age of 523 Ma, with a prominent Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian detrital zircon age clusters derived from igneous sources. The metaalbitophyre crystallized at 308 Ma and contains the same age clusters of inherited zircons. A maximum age of deposition is defined at 263 Ma for a breccia-conglomerate of the Smolyanovtsi Formation from the sedimentary cover that recycled material from the Sredogriv metamorphics and Carboniferous-Permian magmatic rocks. Proximity to Cadomian island arc sources and provenance from the northern periphery of Gondwana outline the depositional setting of the Sredogriv sedimentary succession. The timing of the Variscan greenschist facies metamorphism of the Sredogriv metamorphics is bracketed between 308 Ma and the depositional age of 272 Ma of another adjacent clastic formation. The results obtained allow us to identify the timing of the Cadomian sedimentary history and the Variscan magmatic and tectono-metamorphic evolution in part of the Western Balkan Zone.

New U-Pb geochronological data obtained via LA-ICP-MS from detrital zircons in quartzo-feldspathic schists and quartzites from the Jebba-Bode Saadu area, southwestern Nigeria, provide maximum depositional ages and insights into their provenance. The Jebba quartzo-feldspathic schist and quartzite were deposited after the Late Mesoproterozoic (1 199 Ma) and Early Neoproterozoic (938 Ma), respectively, while the units from Bode Saadu were likely deposited after the Late Palaeoproterozoic (1 701 to 1 729 Ma). This suggests that the metasedimentary units in Bode Saadu are probably older than those in Jebba to the north. The protoliths of these units were derived from sources spanning the Archaean to Early Neoproterozoic, with some linked to the local basement and others potentially connected to more distant sources, such as the Borborema Province and the São Francisco Craton in Brazil. The similarities in both age distributions and lithologies between the analysed rock samples and their counterparts from South America support the hypothesis of the Atlantica Continent in the Proterozoic, which included the major cratonic blocks of West Africa and South America.

The Rzhanski granitoid pluton and Ignatitsa diorite porphyry bodies are considered Late Paleozoic in age, belonging to the Western Balkan Zone (WBZ) in Northwestern Bulgaria. Here, we provide U-Pb zircon geochronology of these magmatic bodies, together with their geochemistry complemented by the geochemistry of the overlying volcanic rocks. Geochemical data indicate that the intermediate to acid magmatic rocks are mostly peraluminous, calc-alkaline diorite/andesite to granite, that have an origin in a continental magmatic arc tectonic environment. All plutonic, subvolcanic and volcanic rocks exhibit uniform LILE- and LREE-enriched characteristics of an arc-related igneous suite. Zircons in the Ignatitsa diorite porphyry yield a magmatic crystallization age of 315 Ma, while the zircons in the Rzhanski aplitic metagranite pluton crystallize at 294 Ma. The record of the Variscan intrusive magmatism encompasses a region-wide, well-defined time interval 332–294 Ma in the WBZ, which coincides with those of the Central Balkan Zone and the adjacent Sredna Gora Zone. The age of the Variscan greenschist facies metamorphism using the metagranite and host greenschists relationships is limited between 294 Ma and the unpublished depositional age of 268 Ma for the overlying clastic formation in the studied part of the WBZ.