shear wave structure of the south indian lithosphere from rayleigh wave phase velocity measurements we investigate the upper mantle shear wave speed structure beneath the south indian shield by measuring and modeling fundamental mode rayleigh wave phase velocity dispersion observed phase velocities for the south indian shield closely match those observed for the canadian shield we constrain the south indian crust using published receiver function results and invert the dispersion data for upper mantle shear wave structure the 155 km thick seismic lithosphere of the south indian shield is composed of a 35 km thick two layer crust and a 120 km thick high velocity upper mantle lid beneath the moho the average sn wave speed is 4 7 km sec 1 both sn travel times data and the dispersion data suggest a positive sub moho shear wave speed gradient beneath the seismic lithosphere there is a low velocity layer where the shear wave speed drops to 4 4 km sec 1

seismic imaging of crust beneath the dharwar craton india from ambient noise and teleseismic receiver function modelling we use cross correlation of continuous 18 months 2009 february to 2010 august ambient noise data recorded over 35 broad band seismographs in the archean dharwar craton and the adjoining granulite terrain to generate rayleigh wave group velocity maps in the period 5 28 s this is supplemented with longer period data 40 70 s from earthquake source combined group velocity measurement was inverted jointly with the teleseismic receiver functions obtained at 50 stations includes 15 stations operated during 1998 2002 to produce shear velocity image of the crust the velocity image reveals thinner crust 34 38 km in the late archean 2 7 ga eastern dharwar craton edc while all other terrains mid archean and proterozoic have crustal thickness from 40 to over 50 km the mid archean 3 36 ga greenstone belt of the western dharwar craton wdc has the thickest crust 50 km the average crustal vs beneath the edc is 3 70 3 78 km s 1 as compared to 3 80 3 95 km s 1 beneath the wdc we observe significant lateral variation in the thickness of lower crust vs 3 8 4 2 km s 1 10 15 km in the edc compared to 20 30 km in the wdc the lowermost part of the crust vs 4 0 km s 1 is thin 5 km beneath the edc in contrast to more thickness 10 27 km beneath the wdc our analysis suggests intermediate composition for the crust beneath the edc similar to those for other cratons in contrast the mid archean exposed wdc crust has more mafic composition and exceptional thickness a scenario at variance with the global observations we interpret this thick mafic crust to represent undeformed geological segment of 3 36 ga the edc with a nearly flat moho felsic to intermediate composition of crust and thin basal layer may represent a reworked terrain during the late archean

lithospheric thinning in the eastern indian craton evidence for lithospheric delamination below the archean singhbhum craton abstract we herein present shear velocity structure extending down to 300 km depth below the archean singhbhum odisha craton soc and proterozoic chotanagpur granitic gneissic terrain cggt which has been obtained through the inversion modeling of p receiver functions we use three component broadband recordings of 200 teleseismic earthquakes 30 90 from a 15 station seismic network that has been operational in the eastern indian shield since february 2013 we obtain the thinnest crust of 35 km overlying a thin lithosphere of 78 km below the region near south singhbhum shear zone which could be attributed to the 1 6 ga plume activity associated with dalma volcanic however the thickest crust of 47 km overlying a thin lithosphere of 81 km is noticed below the region near the singhbhum granite of 3 6 ga this thinning of lithosphere could be attributed to the delamination of lithospheric root due to the himalayan orogeny with a shortening rate of 2 cm year this delamination model in soc gets further support from the densification of the lower crust which could result from repeated episodes of basaltic underplating associated with episodes related to dalma 1 6 ga and rajmahal 117 ma volcanisms this led to relatively more mafic heterogeneous and deformed crustal structure in soc as well as egmb with an average crustal vs of 4 0 km s in comparison to that in cggt with an average crustal vs of 3 9 km s as seen through our modeling results the thickest lithosphere of 100 km is observed in the southwestern soc as well as northeastern cggt we also notice that a sharp and flat moho in cggt which could be attributed to thermal reactivation and large volume melting of the mafic cratonic crust during the late archean subduction process and associated volcanism episodes this model gets further support from the estimated 169 km thick lower vs zone in the upper mantle below cggt our modeling results also support a northward subduction of archean soc under the proterozoic cggt during 1 0 1 6 ga as earlier proposed by the geological age data from the region

imaging and observing the electrical moho abstract defining the depth to the base of the crust is of profound importance for understanding and developing theories of the secular variation of our planet including crustal formation and evolution since its discovery 100 year ago the seismic moho is almost ubiquitously used as the crust mantle boundary reference laboratory studies on crustal and mantle rocks suggest that there should be a concomitant step lie change in electrical conductivity an electric moho emoho at the crust mantle boundary we examine resolution properties of electrical and electromagnetic methods for imaging and observing an emoho for three generic models one to represent the archean one for the proterozoic and the third for the phanerozoic we show that in all three cases given the existence in most localities of a conducting lower crust compared to the upper crust and upper lithospheric mantle the problem is difficult and at the edge and often beyond confident resolution for some highly unusual localities however the lower crust is more resistive than the underlying upper mantle and in those cases it is possible to resolve an emoho but very high quality data are required examples of emoho observations around the globe are discussed focussing on the results from a site on the southwestern part of the slave craton northwestern canada

passive seismological imaging of the narmada paleo rift central india abstract the narmada son lineament nsl is a prominent nearly e w trending tectonic feature dividing india into the peninsular and extra peninsular regions it marks the possible suture between two contrasting geological settings termed proto continents lying to the north and south of it various views prevail about the nature of the rift zone the present study delineates the seismic structure of the crust using p wave receiver functions at 10 broadband seismic stations installed along a profile across the nsl the results from common conversion point ccp stacking reveal a near continuous image of the moho boundary with the amplitudes of the ps conversions from the moho being weaker at stations within the rift modelling the receiver functions employing nearest neighborhood algorithm approach brings out a distinct 15 km thickening of the crust and a complex nature of the moho within the rifted zone we find that the backazimuthal variations of the sv and sh receiver functions at the permanent station jabalpur can be explained better by introducing azimuthal anisotropy in the middle and lower crust with the fast axes perpendicular to the rift axis also we find substantial evidence of post rifting magmatic underplating in the lower crust which could be reminiscence of deccan volcanism and or reunion plume path

crustal structure beneath the archean proterozoic terrain of north india from receiver function modeling abstract the shear velocity structure of the north indian crust comprising of the archean cratons aravalli bundelkhand and proterozoic vindhyan basin is modeled and compared with the eastern dharwar craton as well the global models for archean and proterozoic terrains the velocity structure is deduced from joint inversion of teleseismic receiver function time series and surface wave group velocity measurements the north indian archean crust is a simple two layered an average v s 3 3 0 1 km s in the upper 10 km increasing to 3 7 0 1 km s in the 26 28 km thick lower crust this upper crustal velocity is significantly less compared to those of either eastern dharwar craton 3 5 3 6 km s or the global average these results suggest presence of a highly silica rich upper crust and an intermediate composition of the lower crust the moho is modeled at a depth of 36 38 km with thin transition 2 km similar to those in eastern dharwar craton in contrast the proterozoic vindhyan basin has significantly deeper moho 44 46 km with a 4 10 km thick underplated layer v s 4 0 km s at the base of the crust the sedimentary layer thickness is 2 4 km the results support the view that proterozoic crust is thicker and underlain by a mafic layer at its base in contrast to a thin archean crust with near absence of the basal layer as observed globally

heat sources for tertiary metamorphism and anatexis in the annapurna manaslu region central nepal following the collision of india with southern tibet crustal rocks of the leading edge of india 1 underwent regional metamorphism to upper amphibolite grade 2 melted locally to produce anatectic granitoids and 3 were sheared and thrust onto lower grade rock along the main central thrust yielding an inverted metamorphic sequence this sequence is exemplified in the annapurna manaslu region we use simple physical calculations to examine the heat sources involved in the different phases of metamorphism the regional metamorphism apparently is due to the burial of the northern edge of india beneath the accretionary prism along the southern edge of tibet the observed temperatures and pressures of this first phase of metamorphism are consistent with the thermal relaxation during the 10 30 m y before slip on the main central thrust began of thickened continental lithosphere whose original surface heat flux was between 50 and 70 mw m 2 the release of water from the footwall of the main central thrust apparently facilitated melting of the overlying crust in the second phase such melting could have occurred in the first million years or so of thrusting if warm 550 650 c crust in the footwall contained the necessary water if melting did not occur in the earliest stages of slip on the main central thrust dissipative heating with shear stresses of 10 to 100 mpa is required for temperatures near the main central thrust to have remained high enough to generate melting above the fault during the underthrusting of cold material the thickness 6 8 km of the zone of inverted isograds associated with the fault if undisrupted and due solely to thermal diffusion implies that the time required to carry the rocks preserving the inverted metamorphism from the surface to depths of 30 40 km was 4 8 m y the apparent inverted temperature gradients about 10 25 c km in this zone can be understood as the combined result of two processes diffusion of heat from hot rock thrust over cold rock expunged the original temperature gradient near the fault and could have created an inverse gradient of 10 20 c km the peak temperatures in such a zone however would not have exceeded about 350 c without an additional source of heat dissipative heating at shear stresses of about 100 mpa can account for peak temperatures in excess of 600 c during slip on the fault and would have contributed as much as 13 c km to the inverse gradient although inversion of metamorphic isograds could have occurred as a result of deformation within the main central thrust zone the high temperatures during slip on this zone still require dissipative heating unless the duration of slip exceeded 25 m y

crustal density structure across the central indian shear zone from gravity data abstract the central indian shear zone is a distinct tectonic feature in the central part of india that separates the central indian tectonic zone from the bastar craton the complete bouguer anomaly map of the region encompassing central indian shear zone is characterised by a broad relative gravity high over central indian tectonic zone as compared to the bastar craton the paired gravity anomaly across the two crustal domains signifies that the central indian shear zone is a locus of density discontinuity along which the two crustal domains accreted horizontal gravity gradient analysis further demonstrates the northward subduction of the bastar craton beneath the bundelkhand craton 2 d gravity modelling along mungwani rajnandgaon profile constrained by seoni kalimati seismic section delineates a thick crust beneath the bastar craton as compared to the central indian tectonic zone northward dipping contact of the two crustal domains when projected on the surface coincides with the central indian shear zone with a well defined moho offset and crustal density discontinuity central indian shear zone represents a suture zone that separates the bastar craton from the central indian tectonic zone a low velocity 6 4 km s density 2 90 g cm 3 layer at the base of the crust and relatively lower density 3 21 g cm 3 subcrustal mantle may be the imprint of thermal remobilization beneath the central indian tectonic zone

deep crustal structure of the indian shield from joint inversion of p wave receiver functions and rayleigh wave group velocities implications for precambrian crustal evolution 1 the s wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle of the indian shield has been investigated by jointly inverting p wave receiver functions and rayleigh wave group velocities at 38 broadband stations in the subcontinent the indian shield is an amalgamation of several terranes of archean and proterozoic age that were partly flooded by deccan trap volcanism during cenozoic times and that make up a natural laboratory for assessing models of precambrian crustal evolution our results reveal significant variations in crustal thickness and deep crustal velocities 45 50 km thick under the archean west dharwar craton and southern granulite terrane with lower crustal velocities around 4 1 km s 32 35 km thick beneath the archean east dharwar and bundelkhand cratons with lower crustal velocities around 3 8 3 9 km s 50 65 km thick under the proterozoic bhandara craton with lower crustal velocities around 4 2 4 3 km s and 55 km thick under the proterozoic aravalli delhi belt with lower crustal velocities around 4 2 km s s velocities in the 4 1 4 3 km s range in the deep crust can be attributed to mafic lithologies suggesting there has been no secular change in the precambrian evolution of the south indian shield moreover pervasive mafic dike swarming throughout the indian shield suggests that the layer of mafic cumulates is 2 5 1 6 ga old and that it delaminated from some archean terranes our interpretation is that mafic underplating of the terranes making up the indian shield occurred in proterozoic times and that a refractory root developed under the archean terranes after the proterozoic event

crustal shear velocity structure of the south indian shield 1 the south indian shield is a collage of precambrian terrains gathered around and in part derived from the archean age dharwar craton we operated seven broadband seismographs on the shield along a n s corridor from nanded nnd to bangalore bgl and used data from these to determine the seismic characteristics of this part of the shield surface wave dispersion and receiver function data from these sites and the geoscope station at hyderabad hyb give the shear wave velocity structure of the crust along this 600 km long transect inversion of rayleigh wave phase velocity measured along the profile shows that the crust has an average thickness of 35 km and consists of a 3 66 km s 1 12 km thick layer overlying a 3 81 km s 1 23 km thick lower crust at all sites the receiver functions are extremely simple indicating that the crust beneath each site is also simple with no significant intracrustal discontinuities joint inversion of the receiver function and surface wave phase velocity data shows the seismic characteristics of this part of the dharwar crust to be remarkably uniform throughout and that it varies within fairly narrow bounds crustal thickness 35 2 km average shear wave speed 3 79 0 09 km s 1 and vp vs ratio 1 746 0 014 there is no evidence for a high velocity basal layer in the receiver function crustal images of the central dharwar craton suggesting that there is no seismically distinct layer of mafic cumulates overlying the moho and implying that the base of the dharwar crust has remained fairly refractory since its cratonization index terms 7203 seismology body wave propagation 7205 seismology continental crust 1242 7255 seismology surface waves and free oscillations keywords continental crust archean crust receiver function indian shield

is a cation ordering transition of the mg fe olivine phase in the mantle responsible for the shallow mantle seismic discontinuity beneath the indian craton 1 we use first principles molecular dynamics simulations to study the behavior of cation ordering in the non equivalent octahedral sites of mg fe olivine solid solutions our theoretical calculations confirm the previous experimental finding that mg2 and fe2 can invert their octahedral site occupancy at a critical temperature assuming that the site preference of fe changes discontinuously between two states in which it is completely restricted to either m1 or m2 sites we have calculated the transition temperature tt between the two extreme states under ambient pressure tt is calculated to be 520 c that agrees fairly with the experimental finding in which however the ordering state changed discontinuously over a much smaller range of the site occupancy of fe tt is found to be pressure sensitive showing an increase by 30 to 100 c per unit gpa depending upon the iron content using the indian continental geotherm we estimate a depth of around 75 km corresponding to the calculated transition pressure and temperature of cation ordering which matches well with the depth for the hales discontinuity marked by a jump of shear wave velocity by 4 for olivine solid solutions with 12 5 iron the ordering transition increases vs from 4 5 to 4 7 km s both the inferences viz depth of discontinuity and magnitude of velocity increase find support from the modeling of teleseismic earthquake waveforms recorded over broadband seismographs on the dharwar craton this leads us to infer that the cation ordering transition in ferromagnesian olivine might be a potential factor for the hales discontinuity

seismic evidence for significant crustal thickening beneath jabalpur earthquake 21 may 1997 source region in narmada son lineament central india 1 we investigate crustal properties beneath the deep crustal 35 km jabalpur earthquake of 21 may 1997 narmada son lineament nsl central india in search of a possible cause of stress accumulation in the region teleseismic receiver functions computed at nine digital seismographs along a 250 km long profile suggests moho downwarp to 52 km across the width of the lineament in contrast with an average 40 km depth elsewhere in addition the crust beneath the nsl has higher vp vs of 1 84 compared to 1 73 in the surrounding suggestive of a high density mafic mass at depth that compensates the crustal root also supported by small topographic variation 200 m across the lineament presence of such an anomalous mass in the deep crust may lead to gravitationally induced stresses in the lower crust that contribute to the failure of rock along the pre existing narmada son fault leading to the earthquake in deep crust

the nature and thickness of lithosphere beneath the archean dharwar craton southern india a magnetotelluric model abstract the dharwar craton in the southern indian shield region occupies a key position in reconstructions of the earliest supercontinent ur as well as in the global neoarchean configurations of continental assembly here we synthesize the available geophysical data that include heat flow seismic tomography temperature profile derived from xenoliths and magnetotellurics mt from the dharwar craton a thickness of more than 200 km is identified for the lithosphere beneath this craton by magnetotelluric model our inference lends support to the models from recent seismological investigations that argue for the presence of a thick lithosphere as well as the upper mantle structure derived from the analysis of mantle xenoliths a synthesis of recent geophysical and geochemical data together with our magnetotelluric model indicate the existence of a thick lithospheric root beneath the dharwar craton and suggest that not much of the lithosphere has been eroded since precambrian in this region leading to the conclusion that the dharwar craton preserves an archean tectosphere an increase in the lithospheric thickness from east to west in the dharwar craton and the lithosphere asthenosphere boundary lab migration to shallower levels observed from geophysical data towards the east is interpreted as a probable reflection of the mesoproterozoic subduction erosion of the archean cratonic keel

insights into the crustal structure and geodynamic evolution of the southern granulite terrain india from isostatic considerations the southern granulite terrain of india formed through an ancient continental collision and uplift of the earth s surface was accompanied by thickening of the crust once the active tectonism ceased the buoyancy of these deep crustal roots must have supported the nilgiri and palani cardamom hills here the gravity field has been utilized to provide new constraints on how the force of buoyancy maintains the state of isostasy in the southern granulite terrain isostatic calculations show that the seismically derived crustal thickness of 43 44 km in the southern granulite terrain is on average 7 8 km more than that required to isostatically balance the present day topography this difference cannot be solely explained applying a constant shift in the mean sea level crustal thickness of 32 km the isostatic analysis thus indicates that the current topography of the southern granulite terrain is overcompensated and about 1 0 km of the topographic load must have been eroded from this region without any isostatic readjustment the observed gravity anomaly an order of magnitude lower than that expected 125 mgal however shows that there is no such overcompensation thermal perturbations up to pan african present day high mantle heat flow and low te together negate the possible resistance of the lithosphere to rebound in response to erosional unloading to isostatically compensate the crustal root compatible to seismic moho a band of high density 2 930 kg m 3 in the lower crust and low density 3 210 kg m 3 in the lithospheric mantle below the southern granulite terrain is needed a relatively denser crust due to two distinct episodes of metamorphic phase transitions at 2 5 ga and 550 ma and highly mobilized upper mantle during pan african thermal perturbation reduced significantly the root buoyancy that kept the crust pulled downward in response to the eroded topography

a review of crust and upper mantle structure beneath the indian subcontinent this study has been supported by a grant from the ministry of earth sciences moes iitkgp ckh

archean and proterozoic crustal evolution evidence from crustal seismology seismic velocity models for archean and proterozoic provinces throughout the world are analyzed the thickness of the crust in archean provinces is generally found to be about 35 km except at collisional boundaries whereas proterozoic crust has a significantly greater thickness of about 45 km and has a substantially thicker high velocity 7 0 km s layer at the base we consider two models that may explain these differences the first model attributes the difference to a change in the composition of the upper mantle the higher temperatures in the archean mantle led to the eruption of komatiitic lavas resulting in an ultradepleted lithosphere unable to produce significant volumes of basaltic melt proterozoic crust developed above fertile mantle and subsequent partial melting resulted in basaltic underplating and crustal inflation in the second model convection in the hot archean mantle is considered to have been too turbulent to sustain stable long lived subduction zones by the proterozoic the mantle had cooled sufficiently for substantial island and continental arcs to be constructed and the high velocity basal layer was formed by basaltic underplating

preserved and modified mid archean crustal blocks in dharwar craton seismological evidence abstract we report significant lateral variability in shear wave velocity and moho depth in the archean crust beneath the dharwar craton using earthquake waveform data recorded over 50 broadband seismographs the craton is a continuously exposed archean continental fragment divided into the west dharwar craton wdc of age 2 7 3 36 ga and the east dharwar craton edc of age dominantly 2 5 ga the craton progressively transitions into the southern granulite terrain sgt with age of metamorphism around 2 6 ga the inversion and modeling of receiver function data reveal significant variation of moho depth viz 38 54 km in the wdc and 40 46 km in the sgt and 32 38 km in the edc the average shear wave velocity vs of crust beneath the wdc is 3 85 km s as compared to 3 6 km s in the edc we infer highly variable thickness 16 30 km of mafic cumulate vs 4 0 km s and vp 7 0 km s beneath the wdc in contrast with a thin one 50 km as compared to felsic to intermediate composition for the edc crust with almost flat moho down to 38 km these results suggest preserved mafic crustal root beneath the middle archean terrain in the wdc that has remained inert since then on the other hand felsic to intermediate composition of crust with a nearly flat moho beneath the late archean edc could be a consequence of regional delamination of lower crust the preserved distinct moho topography across the archean terrains suggests it as compositional boundary considering the surface exposure of 15 20 km crust based on p t condition in the granulite segment of the wdc we speculate a himalaya like crustal thickness 50 70 km beneath the middle archean crust pointing toward a plate tectonic like scenario at 3 0 ga

a unified view of craton evolution motivated by recent deep seismic reflection and refraction results summary an attempt is made to integrate recent continental seismic reflection refraction and geologic observations into a unified scheme of craton evolution 1 nascent continental crust of basaltic bulk composition is produced in island arcs as with oceanic crust moho in this setting lies within the magmatic edifice and corresponds to a downward transition from dominantly mafic cumulate rocks above to dominantly ultramafic cumulates below the petrologic crust mantle boundary lying 25 per cent deeper in the lithosphere has no seismic expression and corresponds to a depositional magmatic contact between cumulate ultramafic rocks above and residual mantle ultramafic tectonite below both contacts are presumably extensively disrupted by magmatic injection 2 island arcs are amalgamated into continents at collision zones delamination of the lower mafic ultramafic portion of the crust along with the mantle lithosphere during hard collisions acts as a mechanical refining process that pushes the bulk crust toward intermediate composition 3 subsequent extensional collapse of the overthickened crust together with thermal re equilibration of the lithosphere results in youthful stable continental crust which is 30 km thick with its top surface awash at sea level and has the bulk composition of andesite this crust characteristically exhibits extensional features half grabens in the upper portion and is prominently laminated in the lower portion due to the injection of modest amounts of basaltic magma in the form of sills during delamination the moho and petrologic base of the crust coincide in this setting and can correspond to either a ductile high strain zone or intrusive contact separating mafic intermediate composition material above from fertile mantle lherzolite below 4 subsequent cratonization is the cumulative effect of episodic injection of the crust by mafic magma at intervals of hundreds of myr as manifest by the ubiquitous overlapping dike swarms of the precambrian shields this results in net long term thickening of the crust by underplating shifts the bulk crust back toward mafic composition periodically produces a new deeper moho and petrologic crust mantle boundary that do not coincide and through repeated dike injection disrupts pre existing laminated reflectors the first magmatic injection event sweats out the light melting fraction in the pre existing andesitic crust producing voluminous granitic magmatism typified by the great proterozoic anorogenic granite rhyolite provinces subsequent injection events into refractory crust produce uplift with attendant erosional denudation of supracrustal sequences the cumulative result is shield type crust in which intermediate crustal levels are exposed over wide areas crustal thickness commonly exceeds 40 km average crustal velocity is somewhat higher than in younger stable crust and the crust is commonly complexly reflective diffractive throughout

thickness composition and evolution of the indian precambrian crust inferred from broadband seismological measurements abstract we present seismological constraints to model the evolution of indian precambrian crust through receiver function analysis of teleseismic waveforms recorded on 22 broadband seismographs along a n s corridor from southern granulite terrain to delhi on the aravalli craton archean terrains eastern dharwar bastar bundelkhand and aravalli cratons are underlain by crust with felsic intermediate composition vp vs 1 65 1 75 in contrast to mafic composition vp vs 1 78 of crust beneath vindhyan basin godavari basin and the narmada son lineament nsl of proterozoic age the moho depth varies between 33 and 43 km with no definite relationship with age of the crust duplex moho with highly mafic underplated lower crust is characteristic feature of the nsl signifying its paleo rift character present day felsic character of the indian archean crust could be a consequence of post formation modification of the initial mafic lower crust through the process of lithospheric delamination this major tectonic event also created layered lithosphere beneath parts of india imprinted as positive velocity contrast at a depth of 80 km usually referred to as hales discontinuity the upper part of the lithosphere has shear velocity vs 4 52 km s and the lower one 4 77 km s we speculate that such a layered lithosphere could be due to a low density depleted spinel peridotite with archean affinity lying over higher density fertile garnet peridotite of proterozoic age

crustal structure beneath southern africa and its implications for the formation and evolution of the kaapvaal and zimbabwe cratons the formation of archean crust appears to in volve processes unique to early earth history initial results from receiver function analysis of crustal structure beneath 81 broadband stations deployed across southern africa re vealsignicantdierences inthenatureof thecrustandthe crust mantle boundary between archean and post archean geologic terranes with the notable exception of the colli sional limpopo belt where the crust is thick and the moho complex the crust beneath undisturbed archean craton is typically thin 35 40 km unlayered and characterized byastrongvelocitycontrastacrossarelativelysharpmoho thiscrustalstructurecontrastsmarkedlywiththatbeneath post archeanterranesandbeneatharcheanregionsaected bylarge scaleproterozoicevents thebushveldcomplexand the okwa magondi belts where the crust tends to be rel atively thick 45 50 km and the moho is complex

subcrustal low velocity layers in central india and their implications a 2 d subcrustal velocity model for the central indian continental lithosphere has been derived by travel time and relative amplitude modeling of a digitally normalized analog seismic record section of the hirapur mandla dss profile using a ray tracing technique some prominent wave groups with apparent velocities slightly higher than the moho reflection phase pmp are identified on the normalized record sections assembled with a reduction velocity of 6 km s 1 we interpret these phases as the wide angle reflections from subcrustal lithospheric boundaries comparison of synthetic seismograms with the observed record section shows that the observed phases cannot be explained either by multiples or by the p to s converted phase pms from the moho subcrustal velocity models either with a velocity increase or with a single low velocity layer lvl also do not provide a satisfactory fit we infer that a subcrustal velocity model with two alternate lvls velocity 7 2 km s 1 separated by a 6 km thick high velocity layer velocity 8 1 km s 1 can satisfy both the observed travel times and amplitudes the prominent reflection phases are modeled at depths of 49 51 57 and 60 km it is inferred that the subcrustal lithosphere in the central indian region has a lamellar structure with varying structural and mechanical properties the alternating lvls occurring at relatively shallow depths below moho may be associated with the zones of weakness and lower viscosity suggesting continued mobility with a possible thermal source in the upper mantle this explains the source of observed high heat flow values in the central indian region

evidence for an early archaean granite from bastar craton india abstract granitoids in the early archaean are believed to be potassium poor tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite rocks only after continental crust attained sufficient thickness did true relatively potassium rich granites form no record of true granite prior to 3 4 ga is available we report a 3 6 ga true granite from the archaean bastar craton in india in contrast to the typical early archaean granitoids which are commonly deformed into gneisses this granite is relatively undeformed the age and composition of the granite implies that continental crust of the bastar craton attained sufficient thickness to permit intracrustal melting at 3 6 ga supplementary material representative major element trace element and ree composition of the dalli rajhara granite samples and a summary of shrimp u pb zircon data for the granite sample d 9 are available at http www geolsoc org uk sup18337

new aspects of deformed cross strata in fluvial sandstones examples from neoproterozoic formations in northern norway abstract extensive 20 200 m long exposures of tabular cross sets in neoproterozoic fluvial sandstone in northern norway demonstrate that deformed cross strata in the form of recumbently folded cross strata with associated massive sand are localized features passing in both up and down current direction into undeformed concave upward or sigmoidal cross strata the deformation occurs in down current inclined tangential wedge shaped zones beneath reactivation surfaces and less commonly as flat topped lenticular zones the localized nature of the sediment deformation is attributed to local liquefaction below the top of the bed in the case of the flat topped lenses and at the dune front in the case of the more common tangential wedges the position of the flat topped lenses suggests deformation by the shear stress of high velocity suspension laden currents although liquefaction of the dune front implies the action of gravity forces it is argued that the fluvial currents were the main driving force at the instant of bed liquefaction post folding gravitational shearing probably enhanced the deformation within the upper part of the wedges with their long flat lying toeset resulting from redeposition of downslope moving liquefied sand the down current alternation of deformed tangential wedges and undeformed cross strata suggests that the mechanism that triggered the liquefaction of the dune lee side was related to the fluvial system itself and hence was of autokinetic origin the tabular cross sets have previously been interpreted as a product of the dune upper stage plane bed flow regime in this flow context it can be speculated that the liquefaction and deformation occurred when the flow conditions approached the plane bed phase probably inducing a highly differential turbulent pattern and pressure fluctuations sufficient to liquefy the fine medium sand the small flat topped deformation lenses also suggest liquefaction by cyclic loading whereas the solitary nature of the large lenses may alternatively be the result of impulsive loading from bank collapse in less well exposed fluvial successions the auto or allokinetic origin of recumbently folded cross strata may be difficult to determine however the common occurrence of recumbent folds in cross stratified fluvial sandstones and their virtual absence in marine cross stratified deposits suggests strongly that in the majority of cases the deformation was autokinetic resulting from flow phenomena typical of river channels this kind of deformation structure should thus not be attributed to an allokinetic seismic triggering mechanism unless independent evidence of fault activity can be documented

long and short wavelengths of indian ocean geoid and gravity lows mid to upper mantle sources rapid drift and seismicity of kachchh and shillong plateau india abstract spectral analysis of the indian ocean geoid low provides depth to the large wavelength sources as 1300 700 and 340 km that are supported from the spectral analysis and the modeling of the corresponding large wavelength regional gravity anomaly with negative density contrasts at these levels the three levels coincide with the sharp changes in the gradient of the seismic velocities related to the olivine spinel transformation of successively increasing fe mg ratio as depth increases known as transition zones the first two segments are supported from continuous wavelet transform analysis of the large wavelength component of the corresponding gravity field the low density rocks in this section appear to be related to the subducted indian tethyan lithosphere that roll back and drifted southwards after subduction as inferred from tomography experiments the relatively short wavelength sources of the spectrum of the geoid data at depths of 162 and 85 km suggest sources along the lithosphere asthenosphere boundary lab under the indian continent and surrounding oceans respectively a low viscosity zone has been envisaged below 660 km discontinuity that may correspond to the low density rocks in this section which is popularly referred to as graveyards of the subducted rocks under geoid lows the subducted slab is hydrated due to dehydration from metamorphism that causes upwelling in the mid to upper mantle which is likely to set in baby plumes presence of fluid may transform part of olivine to serpentine further reducing the bulk density of rocks in this section they would make this region buoyant that appears to be responsible for the central indian ocean deformation zone with large scale folding faulting seismicity and high heat flow the same also appear to be responsible for the rapid drift of the indian plate short wavelength component of the indian ocean geoid low reflects most of the surface shallow tectonics of the region similar to the gravity anomaly providing an additional data set for this purpose kachchh and the shillong plateau inspite of being in the intra plate region are highly seismogenic that compare almost to the activity along the plate boundaries tectonics and residual geoid anomalies of the indian continent and adjoining regions suggest that the geoid highs of kachchh and the shillong plateau along the nw and the ne corners of india are connected to the geoid highs of the plate boundaries through several lineaments and faults that also show geoid highs and trends of seismic activity leading to plate boundaries geoid highs indicating high density mafic rocks suggest their connections extensions to plate boundaries indicating them to be plausibly part of diffused plate boundaries besides both these regions are affected by i prominent lithospheric flexure of the indian plate ii large scale mafic intrusions and iii interaction of proterozoic mobile belts with effects of present day himalayan orogeny that make them more vulnerable for seismic activity

through thick and thin a new model for the colorado plateau from seismic refraction data from pacific to arizona crustal experiment we have constructed a model for the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the colorado plateau by combining newly acquired seismic refraction wide angle reflection data from the 1989 pacific to arizona crustal experiment pace cross profile with data collected by roller 1965 a combination of forward modeling methods was used to model travel times and relative amplitudes of crustal and upper mantle phases the salient features of the model for the colorado plateau hereafter referred to as the plateau are 1 an upper crust having an average velocity of 6 1 km s with a low vertical velocity gradient 2 midcrustal discontinuities at depths of 30 to 38 km beneath the plateau 3 a lower crust that varies in thickness 5 to 16 km and has an average velocity of 6 8 km s 4 a transitional lower crust upper mantle boundary and 5 a crustal thickness of 45 3 km a comparison of our new model for the colorado plateau with recent models for the basin and range shows that the upper crusts of the two provinces are similar but that the lower crust of the plateau is thicker particularly in the plateau s central region these observations are consistent with the idea that the basin and range could have formed from crust like that of the colorado plateau

composition of the crust in the grenville and appalachian provinces of north america inferred from v p v s ratios we use the ratios between p and s wave velocities vp vs derived from seismic refraction data to infer the composition of the crust in the grenville and the appalachian provinces of north america the crust exhibits vp vs increasing with depth from 1 64 to 1 84 there is a clear distinction between the grenville province average vp vs 1 81 and the appalachian province average vp vs 1 73 which persists at all depths the boundary between these provinces is east dipping extending for 100 km east of the champlain thrust in the appalachian province the increase in vp vs ratios with depth from 1 67 to 1 74 0 02 may reflect a normal decrease of silica content in the continental crust in the grenville province beneath the central granulite terrane an anomalous vp vs ratio of 1 82 0 02 is observed extending to a depth of 10 km this correlates with the abundance of ca plagioclase in the marcy anorthosite at greater depth 15 20 km where seismic lamination and high electrical conductivity is observed vp vs is 1 84 0 02 and correlates with the tahawus complex a layered mafic intrusion within the 25 km thick lower crust of the grenville province the vp vs is 1 84 0 02 and p velocity is 7 0 0 1 km s which are typical for plagioclase bearing rocks gabbro norite the high vp vs ratio in the grenville province has not been reported in crust of any other age since the grenville province contains 75 of the world s known anorthosites high vp vs ratio is related to high plagioclase we suggest that the composition of the grenville lower crust was significantly modified by the emplacement of the anorthosites in the mid proterozoic

the poisson ratio of the australian crust geological and geophysical implications the poisson ratio which depends on the vp vs ratio provides much tighter constraints on the crustal composition than either the compressional or the shear velocity alone the crustal poisson ratio can be determined from the joint analysis of the travel times of waves converted at the moho and of crustal multiples reflected at the top of the moho we have analyzed the records of the permanent stations installed on the australian continent complemented by the data of the skippy experiment the results reveal substantial variations in the poisson ratio in the different tectonic units for the proterozoic crust an increase of the poisson ratio with increasing crustal thickness is systematically observed while for the phanerozoic crust the poisson ratio tends to decrease for increasing crustal thicknesses these observations are in remarkable agreement with the results of the deep seismic soundings that were performed in the former soviet union the variations observed in the proterozoic provinces can perhaps be explained by underplating of mafic materials at the base of the crust fl 2000 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

velocity structure composition and discrimination of crustal provinces in the former soviet union significant progress had been made over the last two decades in seismic refraction wide angle reflection investigations of continental russia highlights of this progress include the determination of crustal thickness lithospheric body wave velocities compressional and shear wave attenuation and existence of deeply penetrating dipping reflectors these new multiwave deep seismic sounding dss data recorded along geotraverses crossing precambrian cratons pc provinces of cenozoic basin deposition cb and palaeozoic fold belts pb provide a basis for the study of eurasian continental structure and tectonics interpretation of dss data has shown that geological provinces of different age and tectonic history can be distinguished by the relationship between vp vs and the crystalline crustal thickness h there are two primary relationships in the vp vs vs h function in the first characteristics of pc vp vs is directly proportional to crustal thickness in the second relationship observed in cb and pb vp vs is inversely proportional to crustal thickness province boundaries are imaged as dipping reflectors through analysis of the wave field of three component records using special velocity filtering dynamic features of these reflections suggest that these boundaries are detachment faults separating relatively thin layers with complicated fine structure the composition of the crystalline crust determined from body wave velocities varies significantly over the transition zone from one geological province to another mapping of regions according to the vp vs vs h function shows a correlation of the known mineral oil and gas deposits with province boundaries

a vertic paleosol at the archean proterozoic contact from the singhbhum orissa craton eastern india abstract we report on an inferred paleoproterozoic soil horizon from the singhbhum orissa craton near keonjhargarh orissa eastern india which preserves vertic vertisol like features the 2 10 m thick white shale consists of quartz muscovite pyrophyllite interpreted as a paleosol overlies 3 32 ga granite and is covered by pre 2 0 ga sandstones kolhan group deposited in marginal marine environments the paleosol passes downwards through a partly altered granite saprolith zone to fresh granite abundant pedogenic slickensides ped structures gilgai topography reddish stain on ped surfaces and sepic plasmic microfabric in the paleosol were probably related to shrink and swell processes driven by marked seasonal precipitation in a well drained landscape an observed decrease of alkali elements and an increase of silica alumina and cia values from granite to paleosol together with relatively constant ti al ratios suggest in situ weathering of granite protolith however a paleo vertisol necessitates a mafic parent rock either directly igneous or reworked through alluvium the c 2 25 ga malangtoli jagannathpur basaltic rocks are relatively widespread and close to the inferred paleosol occurrences and provide a logical solution geochemistry of the highly depleted paleosol in contrast particularly when applying the isochon method strongly supports a granitic parent the apparent conundrum can possibly be solved through repeated alluvial reworking of both granitic and mafic detritus and accumulation of weathered material with varying proportions of these two components yet enough smectitic clays 30 to form a paleo vertisol this pre 2 0 ga weathering event in the singhbhum craton is consistent with a global scenario of paleoproterozoic weathering which followed an extended global glaciation and thus has the potential to contribute to understanding of pre 2 0 ga amalgamation of regional and global cratonic blocks

deep electrical signatures across the achankovil shear zone southern granulite terrain inferred from magnetotellurics abstract two parallel magnetotelluric mt traverses across the achankovil shear zone aksz in southern india using a wide band 1 khz 1 ks data acquisition system reveal the regional geo electric average strike direction of n 40 w consistent with the geological strike direction of the aksz the derived model shows distinct high electrical resistivity 1000 m for the upper crust below the madurai granulite block mgb with a gentle dip towards south and a northerly dip below the kerala khondalite block kkb the lower crust is resistive below both mgb and kkb while it is moderately conductive

crustal tomographic imaging and geodynamic implications toward south of southern granulite terrain sgt india abstract the crustal structure toward southern part of sgt is poorly defined leaving an opportunity to understand the tectonic and geodynamic evolution of this high grade granulite terrain surrounded by major shear and tectonically disturbed zones like achankovil shear zone aksz and palghat cauvery shear zone pcsz to develop a geologically plausible crustal tectonic model depicting major structural elements a comprehensive tomographic image was derived using deep seismic sounding data corroborated by bouguer gravity modeling coincident reflection seismic heat flow and available geological geochronological informations along the n s trending vattalkundu kanyakumari geotransect the final tectonic model represents large compositional changes of subsurface rocks accompanied by velocity heterogeneities with crustal thinning 44 36 km and moho upwarping from north to south this study also reveals and successfully imaged anomalous zone of exhumation near aksz having transpression of exhumed rocks at mid to lower crustal level 20 30 km with significant underplating and mantle upwelling forming a complex metamorphic province the presence of shear zones with high grade charnockite massifs in the upper crust exposed in several places reveal large scale exhumation of granulites during the pan african rifting 550 ma and provide important insights of plume continental lithosphere interaction with reconstruction of the gondwanaland

geodynamics of the shanxi rift system china the pliocene quaternary shanxi rift system of northern china transsects the domal axis of the shanxi highlands and is defined by an s shaped string of asymmetric basins extending from huailai yanqing in the north via taiyuan to yuncheng in the south this rift system has a length of about 1200 km and a width of 20 80 km it is characterized by strong earthquakes its central nne trending transtensional segment forms the main element of the shanxi rift system basin subsidence commenced during the early pliocene along nne oriented master faults characterized by large strike slip rates 5 68 7 mm yr crustal extension amounts to some 1 4 km basins are separated by push up blocks destructive earthquakes m 7 8 are unevenly distributed the ene trending northern and southern branches of the shanxi rift system are characterized by orthogonal crustal extension along ene striking normal faults amounting to about 8 km these areas are characterized by a basin and range type structural style and weak seismic activity the shanxi rift system developed on a some 40 km thick thermally cool precambrian crustal segment that was overprinted during mesozoic diastrophic events there is only minor rift related volcanic activity the moho is pulled up by a few kilometers only under the axial rift zone sub moho compressional velocities are in the 8 0 8 1 km s range the shanxi rift system evolved in response to the build up of regional stress fields related to the collision of india and eurasia its localization involved reactivation of pre existing fracture systems

cenozoic epeirogeny of the indian peninsula peninsular india is a cratonic region with asymmetric relief manifest by eastward tilting from the 1 5 km high western ghats escarpment toward the floodplains of eastward draining rivers oceanic residual depth measurements on either side of india show that this west east asymmetry is broader scale occurring over distances of 2 000 km admittance analysis of free air gravity and topography shows that the elastic thickness is 10 3 km suggesting that regional uplift is not solely caused by flexural loading to investigate how indian physiography is generated we have jointly inverted 530 river profiles to determine rock uplift rate as a function of space and time key erosional parameters are calibrated using independent geologic constraints e g emergent marine deposits elevated paleosurfaces uplifted lignite deposits our results suggest that regional tilt grew at rates of up to 0 1 mm a 1 between 25 ma and the present day neogene uplift initiated in the south and propagated northward along the western margin this calculated history is corroborated by low temperature thermochronologic observations by sedimentary flux of clastic deposits into the krishna godavari delta and by sequence stratigraphic architecture along adjacent rifted margins onset of regional uplift predates intensification of the indian monsoon at 8 ma suggesting that rock uplift rather than climatic change is responsible for modern day relief a positive correlation between residual depth measurements and shear wave velocities beneath the lithosphere suggests that regional uplift is generated and maintained by temperature anomalies of 100 c within a 200 25 km thick asthenospheric channel this article is protected by copyright all rights reserved

stochastic modeling of the thermal structure to decipher the lithospheric thickness application to dharwar craton a wide range of speculation regarding lithospheric thermal thickness in a region calls for quantifying the uncertainties associated with model parameters in this paper we present an attempt to decipher it by solving the differential equations governing the heat transfer through the lithosphere adequately quantifying the temperature field is very important since it is highly dependent on the controlling thermal parameters thermal conductivity is modeled as a random parameter with a known mean value and correlation structure we compute the temperatures in the crust and lithospheric mantle along with their error bounds using an analytical solution to the steady state heat equation and the adomian method of decomposition we apply these solutions in the archean dharwar craton which is divided into western dharwar craton wdc and eastern dharwar craton edc we obtain a moho temperature estimate of 304 58 c in wdc whilst in edc it is 375 74 c for a 20 coefficient of variability in thermal conductivity the range of lithospheric thickness obtained for wdc is 150 280 km and 110 160 km for the edc these values are in agreement with other geophysical and geological findings in the region the thermal lithosphere obtained from this study is based on the mantle solidus and the surface wave seismological studies considering radial anisotropy reveal that the lithosphere is characterized by higher shear wave velocities and decrease at the lithosphere asthenosphere boundary average shear velocity model for two different cratonic blocks edc and wdc is used to show the lab thickness for the eastern and western dharwar craton the two independent studies show a correlation in the lithospheric thickness

the nature of the crust in southern india implications for precambrian crustal evolution 1 we present crustal thickness and poisson s ratio determinations from receiver function analyzes at 32 sites on the archaean and proterozoic terrains of south india the crustal thickness in the late archaean 2 5 ga eastern dharwar craton varies from 34 39 km similar crustal thickness is observed beneath the deccan volcanic province and the cuddapah basin the most unexpected result is the anomalous present day crustal thickness of 42 51 km beneath the mid archaean 3 4 3 0 ga segment of the western dharwar craton since the amphibolite grade metamorphic mineral assemblages 5 7 kbar paleopressures in this part of western dharwar craton equilibrated at the depths of 15 20 km our observations suggest the existence of an exceptionally thick 57 70 km crust 3 0 ga ago beneath the exhumed granulite terrain in southernmost india the crustal thickness varies between 42 60 km the poisson s ratio ranges between 0 24 0 28 beneath the precambrian terrains indicating the presence of intermediate rock type in the lower crust these observations of thickened crust suggest significant crustal shortening in south india during the archaean

group velocity tomography of the indo eurasian collision zone we present results of a rayleigh and love wave group velocity dispersion study of the indo eurasian collision zone group velocity dispersion curves are measured and combined to produce dispersion maps for 10 70 s period rayleigh waves from 4054 paths and for 15 70 s love waves from 1946 paths group velocity maps benefit from the inclusion of data recorded at a large number of stations within india an advantage over previous global studies this has the largest impact at short periods as a result of the improved path length distribution synthetic tests are used to estimate resolution which ranges from 3 to 5 on the continents for rayleigh wave maps and from 5 to 7 5 for love wave maps group velocities correspond well with known geological and tectonic features and show good correlation with sediment thickness at short periods the cratons of the indian shield can be distinguished in the short period and midperiod group velocities group velocities are slow across tibet until 70 s whereas the cratonic cores of the indian shield appear as a high velocity anomaly at 70 s dispersion curves extracted from the rayleigh wave group velocity maps are inverted for shear wave velocity as a function of depth for profiles across india and tibet the relationship between shear velocity contours and the moho indicated by receiver function studies has been used to obtain a first order estimate of crustal thickness across the collision zone results suggest a slow tibetan midcrust and low sub moho velocities beneath the central and northeastern tibetan plateau

composition and weathering conditions of paleoproterozoic upper crust of bundelkhand craton central india records from geochemistry of clastic sediments of 1 9ga gwalior group abstract the 1 9 ga gwalior group represents one of the major paleoproterozoic depositional basin of bundelkhand craton and is comprised of 1 km thick unmetamorphosed and undeformed sedimentary succession with basal clastic sequence of sandstone shale association par formation and an upper chemogenic bif rich sequence morar formation the geochemical examinations of the basal clastic rocks are the subject of present study the compositional maturity and extreme quartz enrichment in sandstones of gwalior group suggest slow upliftment and high in situ weathering of basement terrains in a stable platformal setting these clastic sediments are characterized by strong depletion of mobile constituents like ca sr and na high plagioclase index of alteration pia values and strong positive correlation between al 2 o 3 and tio 2 indicating severe weathering of upper crust positive correlation between feo t and tio 2 suggests fe retention in paleoweathering profiles and is attributed to oxygenated atmosphere post depositional potash metasomatism is indicated in a cn k systematics of these sediments and k enrichment from near zero to as high as 38 is inferred with most of the shale samples show 30 extraneous k 2 o additions depleted transition element ni cr co sc contents elevated large ion lithophile element lile k rb ba th light rare earth elements lree contents fractionated rare earth element ree patterns strong negative eu anomalies in these sediments point toward k rich intracrustal granitic source component steeper ree patterns avg la yb n 12 57 compared to basement granites and conspicuous depletion of y over other liles in auc normalized spidergram also suggest a heavy rare earth element hree depleted ttg source component minor contribution from tholeiitic mafic rock is evidenced from th sc sc la sc sc th systematics and positive correlation of transition elements with feo t and tio 2 mixing calculations on the ree data suggest that upper continental crust of bundelkhand craton was constituted of 40 granite 40 ttg and 20 mafic rocks this is in contrast with the present day composition of bundelkhand granite gneiss complex bggc that contains 90 high k granite the data suggest unroofing of granite batholiths by means of erosion and upliftment of supracrustal ttg cover

crustal structure beneath the sub himalayan fold thrust belt kangra recess northwest india from seismic reflection profiling implications for late paleoproterozoic orogenesis and modern earthquake hazard abstract most compressional orogens include salients and recesses along their strike the age and origin of which can be hard to ascertain in the kangra recess in the trace of the main boundary thrust mbt the largest such recess within the active himalayan orogen the sub himalayan sedimentary fold thrust belt increases in width to as much as 90 km the kangra basin but narrows to as little as 10 km in the adjoining nahan salient of the mbt the subathu basin to the southeast new seismic reflection profiling places the himalayan decollement at 6 8 km depth above thin but reflective meso to neoproterozoic vindhyan lesser himalayan series equivalent strata these data show that the vindhyan sedimentary rocks are thinner in the kangra recess than further southeast allowing the hypothesis that the width of the lesser himalayan thrust belt and the existence of the kangra recess could be related to the pre deformation basin thickness this hypothesis obviates the need for control of the kangra recess by a lateral ramp in the main himalayan thrust so making it more likely that the kangra segment could rupture as part of an earthquake far larger than the devastating 1905 m 7 8 kangra earthquake below the proterozoic sedimentary rocks our reflection data show a west southwest dipping reflective fabric spanning a 30 km crustal thickness which we infer corresponds to a widespread ulleri wangtu orogenic event at c 1850 ma affecting a pre tethyan indian continental margin thickening the basement by c 20 the deepest 10 km of this 50 km thick crust shows a more horizontal arguably younger reflectivity though the moho is not clearly marked by strong reflectors

southern african crustal evolution and composition constraints from receiver function studies 1 stacking of approximately 1500 radial receiver functions recorded at about 80 broadband seismic stations deployed in southern africa reveals systematic spatial variations in the ratio of crustal p and s wave velocities crustal thickness h and the amplitude of the converted moho phases r the eastern zimbabwe and the southern kaapvaal cratons are characterized by small h 38 km small 1 73 and large r 0 15 values suggesting that the relatively undisturbed archean crust beneath southern africa is separated from the mantle by a sharp moho and is felsic in composition the limpopo belt which was created by a collisional event at 2 7 ga displays large h 43 km but similar and r values relative to the cratonic areas the bushveld mafic intrusion complex and its surrounding areas show large 1 78 large h 43 km and small r 0 11 values reflecting the intrusion of mafic material into the original crust as a result of the bushveld event at 2 05 ga excluding the bushveld the spatially consistent and age independent low accentuate the difference between felsic crustal composition and more mafic island arcs that are thought to be the likely source of continental material within such an island arc model our data combined with xenolith data excluding mantle delamination in cratonic environments suggest that the modification to a felsic composition e g by the partial melting of basalt and removal of residue by delamination is restricted to have occurred during the collision between the arcs and the continent

3 d numerical modelling of the influence of pre existing faults and boundary conditions on the distribution of deformation example of north western ghana abstract high strain zones bound and separate the high grade tectono metamorphic terranes from low grade greenstone belts in the north western parts of ghana these belts are bounded by granitoid domains characterized by two main episodic pulses of magmatic intrusive events which occurred between 2213 ma and 2086 ma high strain zones are thought to play a significant role in creating fluid pathways particularly for partially molten material from lower crustal sources to the upper crust in this study a three dimensional thermo mechanical model has been used to explore the evolution of high strain zones and relief under compressional and simple shear boundary conditions different orientations of a system of branched strike slip faults were tested the effects of the frictional angle and density contrast on the evolution of relief were also compared in this study the resulting model indicates domains of tensile vs compressional strain as well as shear zones this shows that the internal fault zones as well as the host rock in between the faults behave as relatively weaker domains than the external regions under both applied compressive and simple shear boundary conditions these weakened domains constitute preferential zones of tensile and shear strain accommodations in the upper crust which may favour infilling by deeper partially molten rocks this processes is suggested by the authors as the most likely processes to have occurred in pre existing branched shear zones systems in north western ghana during the eburnean orogeny around 2 20 2 10 ga the orientations of faults in these models play an important role in controlling the evolution of relief and localized deformation in particular greatest the largest relief is obtained when faults dip parallel to each other and when they are inclined at depth as they thus facilitate strain rotation and material transfer from depth the host rock density does not play a primary role in producing relief compared to variations in friction angle at crustal scale of our model relief increases by 200 300 m when the host rock density is increased by 200 kg m3 whereas relief reduces by about 1200 m when decreasing the host rock friction from 20 to 10 this study suggests a model for interpreting the evolution and locus of exhumation of partially molten rocks in north western ghana