Response to the Comment by Reimold et al. on 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on low-grade metamorphism and cleavage development in the Transvaal Supergroup (central Kaapvaal craton, South Africa): implications for the tectonic setting of the Bushveld Igneous Complex (South African Journal of Geology, 109, 393–410), by Alexandre et al. (2006)

Reimold et al.’s observations on Alexandre et al.(2006) concern the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar analytical data, their statistical treatment, and the suggested age interpretations, without commenting on the extensive and detailed structural data presented. Their criticisms can be divided into three categories: (a) not taking into account the recoil effects on the age calculation leads to erroneous ages; (b) the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages we suggest are in fact lower than the real crystallization ages, due to a suggested “bias” between ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and U/Pb ages; and (c) the metamorphism dated is not the result...