Tectonic amalgamation of crustal blocks along Gadag-Mandya Shear Zone in Dharwar Craton of southern India

The crustal scale Shear Zone that can be traced from Gadag in the north to Mandya in the south in Dharwar Craton of southern India is considered as the boundary between two subcratonic blocks namely the Eastern Dharwar Craton (EDC) and the Western Dharwar Craton (WDC) in published literature. The present study on the Gadag-Mandya Shear Zone (GMSZ) in the Javanahalli-Hagalvadi sector has brought out a detailed account on the disposition, geometry and kinematics of the shear zone, and also the distinctive structural patterns of the two adjacent supracrustal belts, namely the Chitradurga schist belt (CSB) in the west and Javanahalli schist belt (JSB) in the east. The JSB has an overall N-S striking and gentle easterly dipping geometry, the structural features of which are indicative of a predominant noncoaxial deformation and westward transportation of the supracrustal assemblage. In contrast, deformation in the CSB, which is defined mainly by a flattening type of strain, has produced an overall verticality of the structures (dominant foliation, axial planes of regional folds).