Heat flow and crustal thermal structure in the Late Archaean Closepet Granite batholith,south India

The Late Archaean Closepet Granite batholith in south India is exposed at different crustal levels grading from greenschist facies in the north through amphibolite and granulite facies in the south along a ∼400 km long segment in the Dharwar craton. Two areas, Pavagada and Magadi, located in the Main Mass of the batholith, best represent the granitoid of the greenschist and amphibolite facies crustal levels respectively. Heat flow estimates of 38 mW m⁻² from Pavagada and 25 mW m⁻² from Magadi have been obtained through measurements in deep (430 and 445 m) and carefully sited boreholes. Measurements made in four boreholes of opportunity in Pavagada area yield a mean heat flow of 39 ± 4 (s.d.) mW m⁻², which is in good agreement with the estimate from deep borehole. The study, therefore, demonstrates a clear-cut heat flow variation concomitant with the crustal levels exposed in the two areas. The mean heat production estimates for the greenschist facies and amphibolite facies layers constituting the Main Mass of the batholith are 2.9 and 1.8 μW m⁻³, respectively. The enhanced heat flow in the Pavagada area is consistent with the occurrence of a radioelement-enriched 2-km-thick greenschist facies layer granitoid overlying the granitoid of the amphibolite facies layer which is twice as thick as represented in the Magadi area. The crustal heat production models indicate similar mantle heat flow estimates in the range 12–14 mW m⁻², consistent with the other parts of the greenstone-granite-gneiss terrain of the Dharwar craton.     

Study of Aeromagnetic Data Over Part of Eastern Ghat Mobile Belt and Bastar Craton

A portion of the aeromagnetic anomaly map of India, from 17⁰ to 20⁰ N and 78^o to 84^o E has been analysed to understand the tectonics of the region. The distribution of magnetic sources in the study region are clearly brought out in the analytic signal map and found to be associated with charnockitic rocks, iron formation and trap flows. The Godavari Graben is devoid of any magnetic sources. High-grade charnockitic rocks on surface and sub-surface, flank the shoulders of the Godavari Graben on either side. From the analysis of magnetic data, Sileru Shear Zone (SSZ) is identified as the contact of the Bastar craton and the Eastern Ghat Mobile Belt (EGMB). The Eastern Ghat is divided into two blocks: Block-N north of Srikakulam is devoid of magnetic sources while the charnockitic rocks are the main magnetic carriers in Block-S. The difference in magnetic characteristics of the two blocks has been attributed to the difference in metamorphic history. Block-N has an over print of amphibolite facies metamorphism while Block-S to the south depicts granulite facies metamorphism. The Euler solutions within the EGMB shows that the magnetic sources along SSZ is shallower than the south east implying that the exhumation process in the EGMB has a differential rate.     

Structural studies and their bearing on the Early Precambrian history of the Dharwar tectonic province,southern India

In the Dharwar tectonic province, the Peninsular Gneiss was considered to mark an event separating the deposition of the older supracrustal Sargur Group and the younger supracrustal Dharwar Supergroup. Compelling evidence for the evolution of the Peninsular Gneiss, a polyphase migmatite, spanning over almost a billion years from 3500 Ma to 2500 Ma negates a stratigraphic status for this complex, so that the decisive argument for separating the older and younger supracrustal groups loses its basis. Correlatable sequence of superposed folding in all the supracrustal rocks, the Peninsular Gneiss and the banded granulites, indicate that the gneiss ‘basement’ deformed in a ductile manner along with the cover rocks. An angular unconformity between the Sargur Group and the Dharwar Super-group, suggested from some areas in recent years, has been shown to be untenable on the basis of detailed studies, A number of small enclaves distributed throughout the gneissic terrane, with an earlier deformational, metamorphic and migmatitic history, provide the only clue to the oldest component which has now been extensively reworked.     

Geological setting and chemistry of kimberlite clan rocks in the Dharwar Craton, India

Diamond exploration in India over the past decade has led to the discovery of over 80 kimberlite-inferred and lamproite-related intrusions in three of the four major Archean cratons that dominate the subcontinent. These intrusions are Proterozoic (1.1 Ga), and are structurally controlled: locally (at the intersections of faults); regionally (in a 200 km wide, 1000 km long diamond corridor); and globally (in the reconstructed supercontinent of Rodinia). The geochemistry of 57 samples from 13 intrusions in the southern Dharwar Craton of Andhra Pradesh has been determined by XRF spectrometry. The bodies are iron-rich with mg#=50–70 and are neither archetypal kimberlites nor ideal lamproites; this may be the underlying reason that conventional exploration techniques have thus far failed to locate the primary sources of India's historically famous diamonds. The two major fields of kimberlite-clan rocks (KCR) in the Dharwar Craton, Wajrakur and Narayanpet, are separated by a NW–SE trending, transcontinental (Mumbai-Chennai) gravity lineament. About 80% of intrusions in Wajrakur are diamondiferous, but diamonds have not yet been reported in Narayanpet. The gravity anomaly may mark the boundary of an architectural modification in the keel of the sub-continental lithosphere, a suggestion that is supported by differences in kimberlite mineralogy, chemistry, mantle xenoliths, structural setting and crustal host rocks.     

Sedimentational,structural and migmatitic history of the Archaean Dharwar tectonic province,southern India

The earliest decipherable record of the Dharwar tectonic province is left in the 3.3 Ga old gneissic pebbles in some conglomerates of the Dharwar Group, in addition to the 3.3–3.4 Ga old gneisses in some areas. A sialic crust as the basement for Dharwar sedimentation is also indicated by the presence of quartz schists and quartzites throughout the Dharwar succession. Clean quartzites and orthoquartzite-carbonate association in the lower part of the Dharwar sequence point to relatively stable platform and shelf conditions. This is succeeded by sedimentation in a rapidly subsiding trough as indicated by the turbidite-volcanic rock association. Although conglomerates in some places point to an erosional surface at the contact between the gneisses and the Dharwar supracrustal rocks, extensive remobilization of the basement during the deformation of the cover rocks has largely blurred this interface. This has also resulted in accordant style and sequence of structures in the basement and cover rocks in a major part of the Dharwar tectonic province. Isoclinal folds with attendant axial planar schistosity, coaxial open folds, followed in turn by non-coaxial upright folds on axial planes striking nearly N-S, are decipherable both in the “basement” gneisses and the schistose cover rocks. The imprint of this sequence of superposed deformation is registered in some of the charnockitic terranes also, particularly in the Biligirirangan Hills, Shivasamudram and Arakalgud areas. The Closepet Granite, with alignment of feldspar megacrysts parallel to the axial planes of the latest folds in the adjacent schistose rocks, together with discrete veins of Closepet Granite affinity emplaced parallel to the axial planes of late folds in the Peninsular Gneiss enclaves, suggest that this granite is late-tectonic with reference to the last deformation in the Dharwar tectonic province. Enclaves of tonalite and migmatized amphibolite a few metres across, with a fabric athwart to and overprinted by the earliest structures traceable in the supracrustal rocks as well as in a major part of the Peninsular Gneiss, point to at least one deformation, an episode of migmatization and one metamorphic event preceding the first folding in the Dharwar sequence. This record of pre-Dharwar deformation and metamorphism is corroborated also by the pebbles of gneisses and schists in the conglomerates of the Dharwar Group. Volcanic rocks within the Dharwar succession as well as some of the components of the Peninsular Gneiss give ages of about 3.0 Ga. A still younger age of about 2.6 Ga is recorded in some volcanic rocks of the Dharwar sequence, a part of the Peninsular Gneiss, Closepet Granite and some charnockites. These, together with the 3.3 Ga old gneisses and 3.4 Ga old ages of zircons in some charnockites, furnish evidence for three major thermal events during the 700 million year history of the Archaean Dharwar tectonic province.     

Tourmaline from the Archean G.R.Halli gold deposit,Chitradurga greenstone belt,Dharwar craton （India）： Implications for the gold metallogeny

Tourmaline occurs as a minor but important mineral in the alteration zc,ne of the Archean orogenic gold deposit of Guddadarangavanahalli （G.R.Halli） in the Chitradurga greenst~ne belt of the western Dharwar craton, southern India. It occurs in the distal alteration halo of the G.R.Halli golcl deposit as （a） clusters of very fine grained aggregates which form a minor constituent in the natrix of the altered metabasalt （AMB tourmaline） and （b） in quartz-carbonate veins （vein tourmaline）. ~[＇he vein tourmaline, based upon the association of specific carbonate minerals, is further grouped as （i） albite-tourmaline-ankerite-quartz veins （vein-1 tourmaline） and （ii） albite-tourmaline-calcite-quartz veins （vein-2 tourmaline）. Both the AMB tourmaline and the vein tourmalines （vein-I and vein-2） belong to the alkali group and are clas- sified under schorl-dravite series. Tourmalines occurring in the veins are zoned while the AMB tour- malines are unzoned. Mineral chemistry and discrimination diagrams 1eveal that cores and rims of the vein tourmalines are distinctly different. Core composition of the ve：n tourmalines is similar to the composition of the AMB tourmaline. The formation of the AMB tourmaline and cores of the vein tour- malines are proposed to be related to the regional D1 deformational event associated with the emplacement of the adjoining ca. 2.61 Ga Chitradurga granite whilst rims of the vein tourmalines vis-a- vis gold mineralization is spatially linked to the juvenile magmatic accretion （2.56-2.50 Ga） east of the studied area in the western part of the eastern Dharwar craton.     

The drift history of the Dharwar Craton and India from 2.37 Ga to 1.01 Ga with refinements for an initial Rodinia configuration

Coupled paleomagnetic and geochronologic data derived from mafic dykes provide valuable records of continental movement. To reconstruct the Proterozoic paleogeographic history of Peninsular India, we report paleomagnetic directions and U-Pb zircon ages from twenty-nine mafic dykes in the Eastern Dharwar Craton near Hyderabad. Paleomagnetic analysis yielded clusters of directional data that correspond to dyke swarms at 2.37 Ga, 2.22 Ga, 2.08 Ga, 1.89–1.86 Ga, 1.79 Ga, and a previously undated dual polarity magnetization. We report new positive baked contact tests for the 2.08 Ga swarm and the 1.89–1.86 Ga swarm(s), and a new inverse baked contact test for the 2.08 Ga swarm. Our results promote the 2.08 Ga Dharwar Craton paleomagnetic pole (43.1° N, 184.5° E; A95 = 4.3°) to a reliability score of R = 7 and suggest a position for the Dharwar Craton at 1.79 Ga based on a virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) at 33.0° N, 347.5° E (a95 = 16.9°, k = 221, N = 2). The new VGP for the Dharwar Craton provides support for the union of the Dharwar, Singhbhum, and Bastar Cratons in the Southern India Block by at least 1.79 Ga. Combined new and published northeast-southwest moderate-steep dual polarity directions from Dharwar Craton dykes define a new paleomagnetic pole at 20.6° N, 233.1° E (A95 = 9.2°, N = 18; R = 5). Two dykes from this group yielded 1.05–1.01 Ga ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb zircon ages and this range is taken as the age of the new paleomagnetic pole. A comparison of the previously published poles with our new 1.05–1.01 Ga pole shows India shifting from equatorial to higher (southerly) latitudes from 1.08 Ga to 1.01 Ga as a component of Rodinia.     

REE-HFSE distribution/partitioning between garnetiferous restites and TTG from Nademavinapura area,Western Dharwar craton

The major part of the Peninsular Gneiss in Dharwar craton is made up of Trondjhemite-Tonalite-Granodiorite (TTG) emplaced at different periods ranging from 3.60 to 2.50 Ga. The sodic-silicic magma precursors of these rocks have geochemical features characteristic of partial melting of hydrated basalt. In these TTGs, enclaves of amphibolites (± garnet) are abundant. These restites are considered to be the residue of a basaltic crust after its partial melting. A detailed study of these (residue) enclaves reveals textures formed due to the process of partial melting. Major, trace and REE analysis of these residue enclaves and the melt TTGs and microprobe analysis of the coexisting minerals show partitioning of REE and HFSE between the precursor melt of TTGs and the upper amphibolite facies residues. Formation of garnetiferous amphibolites with biotite, Cpx and plagioclase consequent to melting, has squeezed the original MORB type of basaltic crust and given rise to the TTGs, depleted in Y, Yb, K₂O, MgO, FeO, TiO₂ and enriched in La, Th, U, Zr and Hf. Coevally during the process of melting, the hydrated basalt was depleted in Na₂O, Al₂O₃, LREE, Th, U and enriched in K₂O, MgO, Nb, Ti, Yb, Y, Sc, Ni, Cr and Co. Mineral chemistry of co-existing garnet-biotite and amphibole-plagioclase in these amphibolitic (restite) enclaves indicates an average temperature of 700 ± 50° C and pressure of 5 ± 1 Kbar. These data are inferred to indicate that during the garnet stability field metamorphism, effective fractionation of HREE and HFSE has taken place between the restites having Fe-Mg silicates, ilmenites and the extracted melt generated from the MORB type of hydrated basalt. These results are strongly substantiated by the reported melting experiments on hydrated basalts.     

Geochemistry of granitoids of Bilgi area,northern part of eastern Dharwar craton,southern India — Example of transitional TTGs derived from depleted source

Mildly deformed granitoids exposed around Bilgi in the northernmost part of the eastern Dharwar craton are divided into two groups viz. granodiorites and monzogranites. The granodiorites contain microgranular enclaves and amphibolite xenoliths, and show low-Al TTG affinity with high SiO₂ (71–74 %), Na₂O, Y and Sr/Y, moderate to moderately high Mg#, Cr and Ni, low to moderate LILE, and low Nb and Ta. However, compared to similar TTGs from different cratons the Bilgi granodiorites have distinctly higher K₂O, K₂O/Na₂O, Rb and lower REE and Th. The amphibolite xenoliths are characterized by variable enrichment of K₂O, Rb, Ba and Th and depletion of Ti, Zr and P compared to MORB. The microgranular enclaves are quartz diorite to granodiorite in composition with high Mg, Ni and Cr, and compared to MORB, are enriched in LILE and depleted in Ti and Y. The monzogranites, compared to the granodiorites, display higher SiO₂, K₂O and Rb with lower Mg#, although still maintaining the high Na₂O, Ni and Cr and low REE character. The Bilgi granodiorites are explained as transitional TTGs late synkinematic with respect to regional deformation. Geochemical signatures and regional geological set up suggest that they are probably derived from partial melting of a highly depleted slab material (metabasalt) followed by variable contamination or assimilation of intermediate crustal rocks in a subduction zone set up. Late stage fluid activity on the granodioritic magma is probably responsible for the generation of monzogranites. The amphibolite xenoliths predate the granodiorites and possibly represent fragments of a schist belt carried away by the granitic magma. They are probably island arc basalt derived from mantle source that has been metasomatized by slab-derived fluids. The microgranular enclaves are coeval with the Bilgi granodiorites and also likely to be island arc magmas derived from mantle variably enriched in slab-derived and within-plate components.     

Negative Ce Anomaly in the Indian Banded Iron Formations: Evidence for the Emergence of Oxygenated Deep-Sea at 2.9-2.7 Ga

Abstract: Major and rare earth element contents are reported for Late Archean banded iron formations (BIFs) in the Bababudan Group of the Dharwar Craton, South India. The BIFs are mostly composed of SiO₂ (average1ρ = 54.88.1 wt%) and Fe₂O₃* (44.38.2 wt%). The Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ contents are remarkably low, suggesting that detrital components were starved during the BIF deposition. The BIFs have a LREE-enriched pattern with a relatively high (La/Yb)_N (6.644.07). Total REE concentrations (RE) vary from 5.2 to 65.3 ppm. The REE patterns are characterized by the presence of a very large negative Ce anomaly (Ce/Ce*: 0.13-0.83) and a positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*: 0.96-2.45). The Eu/Eu* decreases and (La/Yb)_N increases with a increase of RE. These correlations of REE indices are similar to those of modern hydrothermal iron-rich sediments near a mid-ocean ridge (MOR). Greenstones associated with the BIFs have MORB-like geochemical features. These geochemical and geological lines of evidence indicate that the depositional site of the BIFs was remote from a continent and/or island arc and that the BIFs were in situ hydrothermal sediments near a MOR. A striking negative Ce anomaly in the BIFs indicates that oxygenated deep-sea environments emerged at 2.9-2.7 Ga. The existence of contemporaneous Mn deposits in the Dharwar Craton supports this assertion. Our scenario of oxygen in the Earth's surface of the Late Archean is different from long-held notion that the atmosphere and ocean were persistently anoxic throughout the Archean.