Uplifted crust in parts of western India

During northward movement of the Indian sub-continent, after its breakup from the Gondwanaland in the Late Cretaceous, the western part of India traversed over the Reunion plume. The Saurashtra peninsula and the Cambay Basin are two important geological regions in this part. Two and half dimensional density models, based on the crustal seismic structure, were generated to establish a relationship between these two regions. These models indicate that the crust is 32–33 km thick in the eastern Saurashtra and the northern part of the Cambay Basin. The shallower crust is in a triangular region formed by the extension of the western limb of the Proterozoic Aravalli trend in Saurashtra, its eastern limb and the Narmada fault in the south. Compared to 36–37 km thick crust to the west and 38–40 km to the east of this region the crust in the above triangular region is uplifted by 4 to 6 km. This uplift took place either after the deposition of Mesozoic sediments or was concomitant with the rise of Reunion plume prior to the extrusion of the Deccan volcanics as the region was close to the axis of the plume.     

Chemical evolution, petrogenesis, and regional chemical correlations of the flood basalt sequence in the central Deccan Traps, India

The lava sequence of the central-western Deccan Traps (from Jalgaon towards Mumbai) is formed by basalts and basaltic andesites having a significant variation in TiO₂ (from 1.2 to 3.3 wt%), Zr (from 84 to 253 ppm), Nb (from 5 to 16ppm) and Ba (from 63 to 407 ppm), at MgO ranging from 10 to 4.2 wt%. Most of these basalts follow a liquid line of descent dominated by low pressure fractionation of clinopyroxene, plagioclase and olivine, starting from the most mafic compositions, in a temperature range from 1220° to 1125°C. These rocks resemble those belonging to the lower-most formations of the Deccan Traps in the Western Ghats (Jawhar, Igatpuri and Thakurvadi) as well as those of the Poladpur formation. Samples analyzed for⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr give a range of initial ratios from 0.70558 to 0.70621. A group of flows of the Dhule area has low TiO₂ (1.2–1.5 wt%) and Zr (84–105 ppm) at moderate MgO (5.2–6.2 wt%), matching the composition of low-Ti basalts of Gujarat, low-Ti dykes of the Tapti swarm and Toranmal basalts, just north of the study area. This allows chemical correlations between the lavas of central Deccan, the Tapti dykes and the north-western outcrops. The mildly enriched high field strength element contents of the samples with TiO₂ > 1.5 wt% make them products of mantle sources broadly similar to those which generated the Ambenali basalts, but their high La/Nb and Ba/Nb, negative Nb anomalies in the mantle normalized diagrams, and relatively high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, make evident a crustal input with crustally derived materials at less differentiated stages than those represented in this sample set, or even within the sub-Indian lithospheric mantle.     

Effect of high-pressures on the electrical resistivity of natural zeolites from Deccan Trap, Maharashtra, India

We report here the electrical resistivity measurements on two natural zeolites–natrolite and scolecite (from the Killari borehole, Maharashtra, India) as a function of pressure up to 8 GPa at room temperature. High-pressure electrical resistivity studies on hydrous alumino-silicate minerals are very helpful in understanding the role of water in deep crustal conductivities obtained from geophysical models. The results obtained by magneto-telluric (MT) soundings and direct current resistivity surveys, along with the laboratory data on the electrical resistivity of minerals and rocks at high-pressure–temperature are used to determine the electrical conductivity distribution in continental lithosphere. The electrical resistivity of natural natrolite decreases continuously from 2.9 × 10⁹ Ω cm at ambient condition to 7.64 × 10² Ω cm at 8 GPa, at room temperature. There is no pressure-induced first order structural phase transitions in natrolite, when it is compressed in non-penetrating pressure transmitting medium up to 8 GPa. On the other hand scolecite exhibits a pressure-induced transition, with a discontinuous decrease of the electrical resistivity from 2.6 × 10⁶ to 4.79 × 10⁵ Ω cm at 4.2 to 4.3 GPa. The observed phase transition in scolecite is found to be irreversible. Vibrational spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction studies confirm the amorphous nature of the high-pressure phase. The results of the present high-pressure studies on scolecite are in good agreement with the high-pressure Raman spectroscopic data on scolecite. The thermo gravimetric studies on the pressure-quenched samples show that the samples underwent a pressure-induced partial dehydration. Such a pressure-induced partial dehydration, which has been observed in natural scolecite could explain the presence of high conductive layers in the earth's deep-crust.     

A preliminary geochemical study of zircons and monazites from Deccan felsic dikes,Rajula, Gujarat,India: Implications for crustal melting

Zircons of 10–100μm size and monazites of up to 10μm size are present in rhyolite and trachyte dikes associated with Deccan basalts around Rajula in the southern Saurashtra Peninsula of Gujarat. On the basis of structural conformity of the felsic and basaltic dikes, K-Ar ages and trace element considerations, a previous study concluded that the felsic rocks are coeval with the Deccan Volcanics and originated by crustal anatexis. The felsic rocks contain two populations of zircons and monazites, one that crystallized from the felsic melt and the other that contains inherited crustal material. Trace element variations in the rhyolites and trachytes indicate that zircons and monazites crystallized from the felsic melts, but compositional analysis of a zircon indicates the presence of a small core possibly inherited from the crust. Hf compositional zoning profile of this zircon indicates that it grew from the host rhyolitic melt while the melt differentiated, and Y and LREE contents suggest that this zircon crystallized from the host melt. Pb contents of some monazites also suggest the presence of inherited crustal cores. Hence, any age determination by the U-Th-Pb isotopic method should be interpreted with due consideration to crustal inheritance. Temperatures estimated from zircon and monazite saturation thermometry indicate that the crust around Rajula may have been heated to a maximum of approximately 900°C by the intruding Deccan magma. Crustal melting models of other workers indicate that a 1–2 million year emplacement time for the Deccan Traps may be appropriate for crustal melting characteristics observed in the Rajula area through the felsic dikes.     

Feeder and post Deccan Trap dyke activities in the northern slope of the Satpura Mountain: Evidence from new 40Ar-39Ar ages

We present new 40Ar-39 Ar plagioclase crystallization ages from the dykes exposed at the northern slope of the Satpura Mountain range near Betul-Jabalpur-Pachmarhi area,~800 km NE of the Western Ghats escarpment.Among the two plateau ages,the first age of 66.56±0.42 Ma from a dyke near Mohpani village represents its crystallization age which is either slightly older or contemporaneous with the nearby Mandla lava flows(63-65 Ma).We suggest that the Mohpani dyke might be one of the feeders for the surrounding lava flows as these lavas are significantly younger than the majority of the main Deccan lavas of the Western Ghats(66.38-65.54 Ma).The second age of 56.95±1.08 Ma comes from a younger dyke near Olini village which cuts across the lava flows of the area.The age correlates well with the Mandla lavas which are chemically similar to the uppermost Poladpur,Ambenali and Mahabaleshwar Formation lavas of SW Deccan.Our study shows that the dyke activities occurred in two phases,with the second one representing the terminal stage.     

Mantle sources and crustal input as recorded in high-Mg Deccan Traps basalts of Gujarat (India)

Near-primitive picritic basalts in the northwestern Deccan Traps have MgO > 10 wt.% and consist of two groups (low-Ti and high-Ti) with markedly different incompatible element and Nd–Sr–Pb isotope characteristics. Many elemental characteristics of the low-Ti picritic basalts are similar to those of transitional or normal ocean ridge basalts. However, values of ratios like Ba/Nb (13–30) and Ce/Pb (4–11), and isotopic ratios (e.g., ε_Nd(t) + 0.3 to − 6.3, (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_t 15.63–15.75 at (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_t 18.19–18.84, δ¹⁸O_olivine as high as + 6.2‰) are far-removed from ocean-ridge-type values, indicating a significant contribution from continental crust. The crustal signature could represent crustal contamination of ascending magmas; alternatively, it could represent a minor component within the Indian lithospheric mantle of anciently subducted sedimentary material or fluids derived from subducted material. In contrast, the high-Ti picritic basalts are chemically and isotopically rather similar to recent shield lavas of the Réunion hotspot (e.g., ε_Nd(t) + 2 to + 4) and to volcanic rocks along the postulated pre-Deccan track of this hotspot in Pakistan. Neither type of picritic basalt is parental to the voluminous flows comprising the bulk of the Deccan Traps. However, many of the Deccan primary magmas could have been derived from mixtures of a high-Ti-type, Réunion-like source component and a component more similar to, or even more incompatible-element-depleted than, average ocean-ridge mantle.     

No K/T boundary at Anjar, Gujarat, India: Evidence from magnetic susceptibility and carbon isotopes

The paper describes the variation pattern of magnetic susceptibility of Lameta sediments and isotopic variation of organic¹³C from Chui Hill, Bergi, Kholdoda, Pisdura and Girad. The susceptibility pattern and a negative carbon isotopic anomaly allows fixation of the K/T boundary at these localities and they differ in these aspects from the inter-trappean sediments at Anjar. Paleomagnetic measurements of the Anjar sediment and the overlying basalt flow demonstrate reversed polarity. The Lameta sediments with dinosaur nests at Kheda and the overlying intertrappean sediments are of normal polarity. The clay layers at Anjar, associated closely with Ir-enrichments, are strongly leached, rhyolitic bentonites containing low-quartz paramorphs after high-quartz with glass inclusions. It is concluded, that the inter-trappean lake deposits at Anjar were deposited in the early part of magnetochron 29R and are unrelated to the K/T boundary.     

Age and duration of the Deccan Traps, India: A review of radiometric and paleomagnetic constraints

A review of the available radiometric and paleomagnetic data from the Deccan Flood Basalt Province (DFBP) suggests that the volcanism was episodic in nature and probably continued over an extended duration from 69 Ma to 63 Ma between 31R and 28N. It is likely that the most intense pulse of volcanism at 66.9 ± 0.2 Ma preceded the Cretaceous Tertiary Boundary (KTB, 65.2 ± 0.2Ma) events by R∼1.7Ma. The magnetostratigraphic record in the Deccan lava pile is incomplete and it is therefore possible that the lava flows constituting the reverse polarity sequence were erupted in more than one reversed magnetic chron.     

Petrology, geochemistry and magnetic properties of Sadara sill: Evidence of rift related magmatism from Kutch basin, northwest India

Mafic volcanic rocks of the Mesozoic Kutch basin represent the earliest phase of Deccan volcanic activity. An olivine-clinopyroxene-plagioclase-phyric undersaturated basalt occurs as a sill near Sadara in the Pachham upland, Northern Kutch. The Sadara sill is deformed and emplaced along faults. The sill is alkaline in character and is transitional between basalt and basanite. Compared to primitive mantle, the Sadara sill is enriched in Sr, Ba, Pb and LREE but depleted in Nb, Cr, Y, Cs and Lu. Fractional crystallization of olivine and clinopyroxene from an alkaline mafic melt generated by low degree partial melting of mantle peridotite can explain the observed chemical variation in the sill.IRM and L-F test experiments and mineral analyses show titano-magnetite as the major remanence carrying magnetic mineral. AF and thermal demagnetizations of the Sadara sill yielded a mean ChRM direction as D=315.6°, I=−43.0° (α₉₅=9.78; k=25.38) and the corresponding VGP at 25°S; 114.6°E (dp/dm=6.58°/11.6°). The Sadara sill pole is significantly different from those of the Deccan (65 Ma) and the Rajmahal Traps (118 Ma) but is close to the Cretaceous poles of 85–91 Ma rock units from southern India. This suggests a pre-Deccan age for the sill.