Geology, geochemistry and genesis of BIF of Kushtagi schist belt, Archaean Dharwar Craton, India

The Banded Iron-Formation (BIF) of the Kushtagi schist belt, Dharwar Craton is interbedded with metavolcanics. The oxide fades cherty (Al₂O₃ < 2%) and shaley (Al₂O₃ > 2%) BIFs show large-scale variations in their major and trace elements abundance. Cherty Banded Iron-Formation (CBIF) is depleted in Al₂O₃, TiO₂, Zr, Hf and other trace elements like Cr, Ni, Co, Rb, Sr, V, Y and REE in comparison to Shaley Banded Iron-Formation (SBIF). Depleted REE, positive Eu anomalies and the flat to HREE-enriched pattern of CBIF indicate that Fe and SiO₂ for these BIFs were added to ambient ocean water by hydrothermal solutions at the AMOR vent sites. It is inferred that the higher amount of hydrothermal fluid flux with a higher exit temperature provided enormous quantities of iron and silica. Fine-grained sedimentation in the basin gave rise to the observed variability in the composition of BIF. During transgression a wave base was raised up, consequently deposition of CBIF became possible, whereas, during the regressive stage, these chemical sediments were buried by and/or mixed with the terrigenous sediments resulting in deposition of SBIF and interbedded shales. Volcaniclastic activity within the basin appears to have contributed significantly to the composition of some SBIF and shales. The hydrothermal exhalative hypothesis combined with the Archaean miniplate model explains most of the chemical features of the BIFs of greenstone belts.