mid archaean evolution of the eastern indian craton geochemical and isotopic evidence from the bonai pluton abstract the archaean eastern indian craton consists of several granitoid batholiths intruding greenstone like sequences the bonai pluton one such body in the central sector of the craton consists of a dominant porphyritic and a subordinate equigranular variety ranging in composition from trondhjemite to granite xenoliths of massive trondhjemite migmatite and quartzite occur in both phases the granitoid xenoliths represent remnants of a sialic crust and are the oldest recognizable element in the bonai pluton these are high al 2 o 3 trondhjemites with a highly fractionated rare earth element ree pattern a pb pb isochron age of 3369 57 ma has been obtained from a few spatially related xenoliths the porphyritic and equigranular granitoids show similar petrographic characteristics and most of the samples show a calc alkaline trondhjemitic association a few granite samples however belong to a normal calc alkaline association the trondhjemitic samples are of the low al 2 o 3 type with fractionated light ree lree flat heavy ree hree and a marked negative eu anomaly granites of the calc alkaline association have an identical ree pattern pb isotopic data for all samples together yield a pb pb isochron age of 3163 126 ma the ree characteristics of the two trondhjemite suites can be generated by partial melting of a mafic source with variable residual phases at different depths on the other hand the normal calc alkaline granite may be generated by partial melting of trondhjemite similar in composition to that represented by the 3369 ma xenoliths isotopic ages and the chemical nature of the bonai pluton are similar to those identified in the adjacent singhbhum granite complex it is suggested that the entire eastern indian craton has a common mid archaean history the earliest sialic crust formed at 3400 ma and was followed by trondhjemitic addition at 3300 ma during this phase restricted reworking of the older sialic crust produced calc alkaline granites

forty years of ttg research abstract ttgs tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite are one of the archetypical lithologies of archaean cratons since their original description in the 1970s they have been the subject of many studies and discussions relating to archaean geology in this paper we review the ideas concepts and arguments brought forward in these 40 years and try to address some open questions both old and new the late 1960s and the 1970s mark the appearance of grey gneisses ttg in the scientific literature during this period most work was focused on the identification and description of this suite and the recognition that it is a typical archaean lithology ttgs were already recognised as generated by melting of mafic rocks this was corroborated during the next decade when detailed geochemical ttg studies allowed us to constrain their petrogenesis melting of garnet bearing metamafic rocks and to conclude that they must have been generated by archaean geodynamic processes distinct from their modern counterparts however the geodynamic debate raged for the following 30 years as many distinct tectonic scenarios can be imagined all resulting in the melting of mafic rocks in the garnet stability field the 1990s were dominated by experimental petrology work a wealth of independent studies demonstrated that melting of amphibolites as well as of mafic eclogites can give rise to ttg liquids whether amphibolitic or eclogitic conditions are more likely is still an ongoing debate from 1990s onwards one of the key questions became the comparison with modern adakites as originally defined these arc lavas are reasonably close equivalents to archaean ttgs pending issues largely revolve around definitions as the name ttg has now been applied to most archaean plutonic rocks whether sodic or potassic irrespective of their hree contents this leads to a large range of petrogenetic and tectonic scenarios a fair number of which may well have operated concurrently but are applicable only to some of the rocks lumped together in the ever broadening ttg bin

continental growth and convergence related arc plutonism in the mesoarchaean evidence from the barberton granitoid greenstone terrain south africa u pb zircon ages from trondhjemitic gneisses of the badplaas domain located in the southwestern parts of the mesoarchaean barberton granitoid greenstone terrain of south africa document a hitherto largely unrecognized plutonic event the geochronological results indicate the addition of juvenile felsic crust over a period of 60 myr between ca 3290 and 3230ma and prior to the main collisional event in the granitoid greenstone terrain at 3230 ma the timing and duration of plutonism together with the structural and compositional heterogeneity of the badplaas domain suggest that the badplaas domain represents part of a convergence related magmatic arc on a regional scale the spatial and temporal relationships between plutonism metamorphism and deformation are interpreted to preserve an almost complete inventory of a mesoarchean arc trench system this includes 1 the 3290 3230ma convergence related magmatic arc 2 a largely coeval deposition of the back arc type volcano sedimentary 3260 3225ma fig tree group of the barberton greenstone belt 3 relics of the underplated crust preserved in high p low t rocks to the immediate east of the magmatic arc juxtaposed against 4 high t medium p rocks of the overlying plate along the major crustal structure of the inyoni shear zone these findings corroborate the notion that thermal and rheological conditions on the early earth supported at least locally crustal growth and the extraction of buoyant felsic crust along convergence related magmatic arcs

mesoarchean assembly and stabilization of the eastern kaapvaal craton a structural thermochronological perspective 1 understanding the construction and stabilization of archean continental lithosphere has important implications for models of tectonic and thermal regimes in the early earth as well as for the subsequent evolution of continents we provide new constraints for the amalgamation and stabilization of the eastern kaapvaal craton in the vicinity of the barberton greenstone belt circa 3 3 3 1 ga isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry u pb geochronology and thermochronology are combined with mapping and structural analysis around the margins of this belt in order to constrain movement on major shear zones that separate high grade orthogneiss terranes from low grade supracrustal rocks and to relate this movement to the timing of differential exhumation new and existing data are consistent with accretion at 3 23 ga within an oblique subduction plate boundary manifested in the bgb as an asymmetric flower like structural geometry for 100 ma following terrane assembly transform boundary tectonics manifested partially as transtension on reactivated faults led to large scale juxtaposition of middle to lower crustal basement orthogneiss complexes against upper crustal greenstone sequences and episodic emplacement of granitic batholiths stabilization of this portion of archean lithosphere involved at least a three stage process 1 creation of a thick and rigid mantle lithosphere during crustal growth subduction and terrane assembly from circa 3 30 to 3 23 ga 2 generation of a rigid crust during strike slip and transtensional tectonics coupled with migration of granites and heat producing elements into the upper crust between circa 3 2 and 3 1 ga and 3 erosion and removal of the uppermost crust during regional peneplanation that lasted until circa 2 9 ga

dating the oldest terrestrial rocks fact and fiction abstract this paper is a review of well documented geochronological and related isotopic evidence for the age and total crustal residence time of the oldest known terrestrial rocks mainly using rb 1bsr sm 1bnd and u 1bpb decay schemes the oldest known stable sialic crust of true continental character predominantly composed of calc alkaline orthogneisses was produced during major mantle differentiation some 3 7 3 5 ga ago and is represented on several continents enclaves of older supracrustal rocks as well as a major remnant of a volcano sedimentary sequence of greenstone belt affinity dated at 3 8 ga are preserved within the surrounding gneisses in southern west greenland recent ionmicroprobe evidence for 4 1 ga old detrital zircon grains in a younger early archaean metasedimentary sequence in western australia is also discussed several cases are reviewed where claims for early archaean 3 4 ga dates are believed to be erroneous and to result from oversimplistic and incorrect interpretation of isotopic data some of the geological and geochemical mechanisms which have given rise to claims for spuriously old sm 1bnd u 1bpb and pb pb dates are critically discussed to supplement published data we present several new sets of whole rock sm 1bnd and pb pb isotopic data from west greenland labrador zimbabwe and eastern india relevant to the overall topic of this review

sm nd isotopic and geochemical study of the archean tonalite amphibolite association from the eastern indian craton we report the results of a sm nd isotopic major element and rare earth element ree study of the older metamorphic group omg tonalite amphibolite association of the eastern indian craton the older metamorphic tonalite gneisses omtg have been previously dated to be 3 8 ga using sm nd isotope systematies and 3 2 3 4 ga by rb sr and pb pb dating the results of this study indicate that the protoliths of the omg amphibolites are 3 3 ga isochron age 3 30 0 06 ga nd 0 9 0 7 and therefore the omtg which intrude into the associated amphibolites cannot be any older than 3 3 ga the amphibolites display light ree enrichment ce yb n 2 2 6 7 la 30 100 x chondrite and nearly flat heavy ree patterns tb lu n 1 2 1 9 the basaltic parents of the amphibolites were probably generated by the partial melting of a spinel lherzolite mantle strong linear relationships between the amphibolites and tonalites in 147sm 144nd 143nd 144nd space isochron age 3 29 0 04 ga nd 0 8 0 8 imply that they are genetically related the tonalites display fractionated ree patterns la 100 300 x chondrite with moderate heavy ree depletions tb lu n 1 9 3 4 the isotopic major element and ree data are consistent with the derivation of the omtg from partial melting of omg amphibolites or equivalent rocks at amphibolegarnet stabilization depths an initial nd t value of 0 9 0 7 for the amphibolites indicates the presence of a slightly depleted mantle source at 3 3 ga with 147sm 144nd between 0 20 and 0 22 it is suggested that the growth of continental crust in the eastern indian craton occurred in response to magmatic underplating in a plume setting

geochronological constraints on evolution of singhbhum mobile belt and associated basic volcanics of eastern indian shield abstract the singhbhum mobile belt smb of the eastern indian shield represents a roughly east west trending arcuate belt of folded supracrustals overlying the granite greenstone basement of the singhbhum orissa craton along its northern eastern and western margins and is bounded by the chotanagpur gneissic complex to further north the radiometric ages of the basement singhbhum and equivalent granites and the intrusive anorogenic mayurbhanj granite pluton constrain the time of evolution of this mobile belt between 3 12 and 3 09 ga hence the smb supracrustals also known as singhbhum group is late mesoarchaean in age and not proterozoic as thought earlier the evolution of the smb was followed by emplacement of some major basic igneous rocks within or adjacent to the supracrustals these include simlipal volcanics at 3 09 ga on the smb mayurbhanj gabbro along with mayurbhanj granite at 3 09 ga along the marginal part of the craton near the smb and the dalma volcanics on the smb along with the dhanjori volcanics adjacent to smb at 2 80 ga the 2 80 ga old basic volcanics is also associated with emplacement of some small granite plutons occurring along the marginal part of the craton one of them the tamperkola granite intrudes the smb the 3 09 ga onward igneous activities along the marginal part of singhbhum orissa craton took place essentially under anorogenic tectonic setting before being affected by a major metamorphism at 2 50 ga which is recorded on the dalma volcanics and on some small granite pluton occurs along the marginal part of the craton the jagannathpur and stratigraphically equivalent malangtoli volcanics occurring within the singhbhum orissa craton at the west were erupted at 2 25 ga the boundary between the smb supracrustals and the singhbhum orissa craton is demarked by a prominent shear zone known as the singhbhum shear zone which shows multiple reactivation the oldest being at 3 09 ga followed by subsequent reactivation during palaeo and mesoproterozoic periods at 2 2 1 8 1 6 1 5 1 4 and 1 0 ga respectively the singhbhum group and the adjacent chotanagpur gneissic complex appear to have evolved from a near shore syn rift and a distal post rift stable shelf sedimentary assemblages respectively which were deposited without any stratigraphic break in a marine basin existed in the present north of the singhbhum orissa craton both of these assemblages were deformed and metamorphosed together during proterozoic at 2 5 to 2 3 ga 1 6 ga and 1 0 ga

207pb 206pb zircon ages and the evolution of the singhbhum craton eastern india an ion microprobe study1this paper is dedicated to prof a k saha one of the senior co authors who passed away after submission of the paper 1 abstract we used an ion microprobe to measure 207 pb 206 pb ages of single zircons from four key lithologies from the singhbhum craton of eastern india detrital zircons from the oldest recognized sedimentary sequence of the craton the older metamorphic group yielded 3 5 3 6 ga ages indicating that crustal formation had already been initiated by 3 6 ga in this region this data also established an older limit of 3 5 ga for the age of sediment deposition the first appearance of extensive continental crust in the singhbhum region marked by the emplacement of the older metamorphic tonalite gneisses is dated at 3 44 ga our data from both of these units reveal that a 3 2 ga event induced overgrowths within each of these pre existing zircon populations we determine an age of 3328 7 ma for the singhbhum granite phase ii the most widespread of this granite s three phases the emplacement of the two phases of the mayurbhanj granite marking the youngest major episode of acid plutonism in this craton took place in rapid succession at 3 1 ga marking the broad scale stabilization of this terrain

constraints on the u pb systematics of metamorphic rutile from in situ la icp ms analysis abstract in situ laser ablation icp ms u pb dating of metamorphic rutile from granulite facies metapelitic rocks of the archaean pikwitonei granulite domain manitoba canada provides constraints on pb diffusion and characterizes the closure behavior of rutile the analysis of transects of 35 m spots across 15 rutile grains having a size of 120 to 280 m yielded concordant ages with core ages of ca 2450 ma and core to rim younging towards 2280 ma age profiles indicate that volume diffusion of pb occurs in rutile implying that the ages represent cooling ages to investigate the closure behavior of pb in rutile closure temperature profiles t c x were constructed based on different models combined with experimentally determined diffusion parameters the classical t c x model of dodson 1986 mat sci forum 7 145 154 indicates a rapid decrease of t c in the rims of grains providing unrealistic estimates for the cooling rate when combined with u pb ages a new t c x model was constructed based on the analyzed age profiles that are described by an error function this model shows a more steady decrease in t c throughout the grain from ca 640 c in the core depending on grain size to a rim intercept t c rim of 490 c 7 2 which is interpreted to be the extrapolated theoretical absolute temperature of insignificant pb diffusion in rutile the new model provides a better description of the relation between age and t c for the analyzed grains however both t c x models demonstrate that even in small grains the variations of t c can be significant making it impossible to derive one representative t c for pb in rutile the error function based t c x model allows the determination of cooling rates which show a decrease over time from ca 2 2 to 0 4 c ma agreeing well with previous estimates for the pikwitonei granulite domain this consistency supports the validity of our model and indicates that cooling rates can be estimated from single grains by la icp ms u pb dating of rutile providing constraints on the cooling history of a metamorphic terrane the slow cooling rates imply that exhumation was slow

zircon geochronology geochemistry and origin of the ttg suites of the rio maria granite greenstone terrane implications for the growth of the archean crust of the carajas province brazil abstract ttg suites are the most voluminous granitoid rocks exposed in the mesoarchean rio maria granite greenstone terrane rmggt southeastern amazonian craton extensive field work in key areas of the rmggt integrated with petrographic geochemical and geochronological studies the latter employing the pb pb evaporation and u pb la mc icpms on zircon techniques indicates that the ttg magmatism in the rmggt can be divided into three episodes 1 at 2 96 0 02 ga the older rocks of the arco verde tonalite and the mogno trondhjemite 2 at 2 93 0 02 ga caracol tonalitic complex mariazinha tonalite and the younger rocks of the arco verde tonalite and 3 at 2 86 0 01 ga agua fria trondhjemite the new data demonstrate that the mogno trondhjemite is significantly older than thus far assumed reveal the existence of a new ttg suite mariazinha tonalite and indicate that the volume of ttg suites formed during the 2 86 event was relatively small the arco verde tonalite yielded significant age variations 2 98 2 93 ga but domains with different ages could not be discerned the tonalitic trondhjemitic suites of the rmggt derived from sources geochemically similar to the metabasalts of the andorinhas supergroup that were extracted from the mantle during the mesoarchean 3 0 2 9 ga three groups of ttg granitoids were distinguished in rio maria 1 high la yb group with high sr y and nb ta ratios derived from magmas generated at relatively high pressure 1 5 gpa from sources with residual garnet and amphibole 2 medium la yb group with magmas formed at intermediate pressure 1 0 1 5 gpa but still in the garnet stability field and 3 low la yb group with low sr y and nb ta ratios crystallized from magmas generated at lower pressures 1 0 gpa from an amphibolitic source with residual plagioclase these three geochemical groups do not have a direct correspondence with the three episodes of ttg generation and a single ttg unit can be composed of rocks of different groups a model involving hot subduction underneath a thick oceanic plateau was envisaged to explain the tectonic evolution of the rmggt in this context the low la yb group was formed from magmas originated by the melting of the base of a thickened basaltic oceanic crust at comparatively lower pressures ca 1 0 gpa whereas the medium and high la yb groups were derived from slab melting at differing pressures 1 0 1 5 and 1 5 gpa respectively part of the ttg magmas formed between 2 98 and 2 92 ga reacted during their ascent with the mantle wedge and were consumed in the process leaving behind a metasomatized mantle 50 m y later at ca 2870 ma thermal events possibly related to slab break off and resultant asthenosphere mantle upwelling or to a mantle plume induced melting of the metassomatized mantle to form sanukitoid magmas these magmas may have heated the base of the archean continental crust and could have led to local melting of basaltic crust forming the agua fria trondhjemite magma

paleoarchean partial convective overturn in the singhbhum craton eastern india abstract analyses of fold superposition structures and kinematics of shear zones along a 120 km long e w corridor across the singhbhum craton eastern india are combined with u pb th chemical ages of texturally constrained monazites in supracrustals gneisses and granitoids to reconstruct the paleoarchean tectonic history of the western part of the craton metamorphic sub greenschist facies shallow marine to platformal sediments of the iron ore group iog and the accordantly deformed jagnnathpur meta lavas were accreted onto a basement composed of 3 4 ga amphibolite facies para amphibolites quartzites muscovite schists older metamorphic group omg and anatectic older metamorphic tonalite gneisses omtg crustal shortening was followed by emplacement ascent of the singhbhum granitoid pluton sgp 3 2 3 3 ga synchronous with sinking of supracrustal screens along n nne trending steep dipping sinistral normal ductile shear zones deformation microstructures indicate the bulk of the pluton responded to exhumation strain by low t 500 c ductile flow of quartz and k feldspar with plagioclase being largely unaffected but granitoids along the western margin of pluton emplaced concurrent with westward retreating exhumation of the thickened crust was deformed at t 650 c since all granitoids in the pluton share the same n nne trending tectonic fabric microstructural features imply phased emplacement of the pluton during exhumation strain the transition from crustal shortening to exhumation interrupted by phased granitoid emplacement between 3 2 and 3 4 ga is explained by a two stage partial convective overturn model involving structures typical of supracrustal down granitoid up sense of movement the tectonic restoration in the western part of the singhbhum craton is new and complements growing evidence that accretion and convective overturn may have operated during the paleoarchean

accretion of continental crust thermal and geochemical consequences the irreversible chemical differentiation of the earth s mantle to produce sialic crust over the past 3900 ma has most probably occurred during widely separated but short lived accretion episodes these episodes involved the massive addition of juvenile sialic magma to the earth s surface thickening pre existing crust simple numerical simulations based on tectonic petrological and geochemical observations on archaean high grade orthogneiss terranes have been used to explore the metamorphic and geochemical consequences of massive thickening of sialic crust during short lived accretion episodes the location of the main sites of magmatic addition within the crust exert a profound influence on the thermal regimes geochemical differentiation of the continental crust by partial melt and vapour phase controlled processes and the development of granulite facies mineral assemblages can be integrated with the simple numerical models finally the survival of thick archaean continental crust imples the contemporaneous stabilization of thick lithospheric substructures to the newly formed continental masses

magmatic and metamorphic history of paleoarchean tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite ttg suite from the singhbhum craton eastern india texturally controlled dating of zircon from paleoarchean tonalite trondhjemite granodiorites of the older metamorphic tonalitic gneisses and the singhbhum granite batholith phases i ii and iii from the singhbhum craton in eastern india reveals a polycyclic evolution of the archean crust the granitoid suites were emplaced in two pulses at 3 45 3 44 ga and 3 35 3 32 ga tonalites and trondhjemites of the older metamorphic tonalitic gneisses were emplaced at ca 3 45 3 44 ga together with phase iii of the singhbhum granite pluton while granites belonging to the older metamorphic tonalitic gneisses were emplaced at ca 3 35 3 32 together with phase i and phase ii of the singhbhum granite pluton both crustal units underwent an early phase of relatively high grade metamorphism at 3 30 3 28 ga followed by extensive fluid induced alteration during low grade metamorphism at 3 19 3 12 ga and 3 02 2 96 ga the two units have also been marginally affected at ca 2 52 ga and 1 06 ga by major metamorphic events in the north singhbhum mobile belt and the singhbhum shear zone at the northern margin of the craton the zircon grains in granites have inherited cores with ages of ca 3 61 ga and 3 46 3 41 ga and with well developed oscillatory growth zonation which suggests the granitic magmas were derived by partial melting of an igneous precursor or sedimentary rocks derived from an igneous source the emplacement of the expansive granitoids belonging to the older metamorphic tonalitic gneisses and the singhbhum granite was synchronous with the amphibolite facies metamorphism ca 3 32 ga of older meta igneous and metasedimentary rocks belonging to the older metamorphic group major felsic crust formation in the craton occurred in a narrow time interval between 3 46 and 3 32 ma with minor contributions of material as old as 3 6 ga the complex polycyclic evolution of the paleoarchean crust in the singhbhum craton can account for the wide range of often disparate ages obtained using whole rock isochron dating techniques with some of the isochron dates being geologically meaningful while others representing mixing lines or disturbance of the isotopic systems during metamorphism

evidence from physical geodesy for geodynamics in the caribbean area abstract geodynamic studies in the caribbean consider a great deal of geophysical and geological information geodetic data have only been applied but little physical geodesy provides different parameters of the gravity field such as geoid heights deflections of the vertical and gravity anomalies as the gravity field is a function of the mass distribution within the earth these parameters give information about mass inhomogeneities in particular also about those correlated with geodynamics this paper presents some results concerning geodynamic features in the caribbean obtained from the inversion of the gravity field into a theoretical mass distribution of the earth the effect of irregular mass distributions in the lithosphere is separated from the global gravity field and interpreted with respect to plate tectonics a clear correlation between the geometry of the caribbean plate and the lithospheric part of the gravity field can be found

feasibility and interest in earthquake early warning systems for areas of moderate seismicity case study for the pyrenees seismic risk in areas of moderate seismicity ams is a reality and destructive earthquakes may occur there this is why stakeholders and risk managers in these areas show an increasing interest in earthquake early warning systems eews and are wondering about the possibility of equipping their territories with such systems this question of feasibility has to be broached globally distinguishing technical feasibility from notions of opportunity and utility an thus it has to involve both scientific experts and stakeholders moreover it is necessary to consider each situation specifically without any preconceptions specifically concerning potential uses that can be made of early warnings in particular it is clear that when applied to ams the eews principles translate into shorter lead times than the ones expected for more seismic areas and would consequently require considering new ways of using early warnings through the experience conducted for the pyrenees france spain border as part of the sispyr project this study aims at identifying responses to the potential value of eews as real time seismic risk mitigation tools for ams as well as to offer a methodological framework to guide stakeholders in their assessment of opportunities to set up eews

40ar 39ar incremental heating study of mineral separates from the early archean east indian craton implications for the thermal history of a section of the singbhum granite batholithic complex 40ar 39ar incremental heating studies on mineral separates from three sets of rocks in the singbhum craton in eastern india have helped unravel the thermochronometric history of the terrane and explain an earlier discrepancy between sm nd 3800 ma and rb sr 3100 ma whole rock ages for the older metamorphic tonalitic gneiss omtg high precision plateau ages for hornblende separates from the older metamorphic group of rocks omg suggest that this unit is older than 3300 ma and that enclaves of both the omtg and omg within the batholithic complex cooled to 500 c at 3300 15 ma following engulfment in magma forming the singbhum granite sg results from a biotite separate from the omtg imply that slow cooling continued to a temperature of 300 c at 3160 ma study of a feldspar separate from the singbhum granite suggests final cooling uplift through the 150 c isotherm 660 ma ago we suggest that an earlier rb sr whole rock age of 3130 85 ma on the omtg did not yield the crystallisation a

the archaean nucleus of singhbhum the present state of knowledge abstract the supracrustal rocks of the older metamorphic group omg consisting of metasediments and ortho amphibolite constitute the oldest unit in the archaean nucleus of singhbhum however there are indications that still older 3 4 3 8 ga crust of both sialic and mafic composition existed in this region the omg ortho amphibolites were formed by partial melting of mantle with near chondritic composition ca 3 3 ga ago probably as a result of plume activity shortly afterwards partial melting of the underplated mafic material produced a tonalitic melt older metamorphic tonalitic gneiss omtg which intruded the omg supracrustals and the entire suite was deformed and metamorphosed to upper amphibolite facies subsequent to this melting of the omg ortho amphibolites and the lower crustal material of probable andesitic composition produced melts varying in composition from tonalite to granite and these intruded in different phases to produce plutons of singhbhum granite bonai granite and kaptipada granite which together form volumetrically the major part of the archaean nucleus the older omg and omtg occur as enclaves within these younger granitoids the time difference between the emplacements of the omtg and the early phases of younger granitic intrusion was of the order of 100 200 ma thus serial additions of juvenile material led to the formation of a stable microcontinent by 3 2 ga thermally triggered stretching in this microcontinent produced basins peripheral to the present day singhbhum granite pluton and in these basins the younger supracrustal rocks of the iron ore group iog consisting of bif associated argillaceous and subordinate arenaceous rocks and mafic lavas were laid down there is inadequate field or geochronological evidence to resolve the issue of whether the different iron ore basins were coeval or not meagre geochronological data suggest that some of the bifs are older than ca 3 1 ga post iog activity is confined to the intrusion of mafic dyke swarms and formation of intracratonic basins the ages of both being uncertain

pb diffusion in rutile diffusion of pb was measured in natural and synthetic rutile under dry 1 atmosphere conditions using mixtures of pb titanate or pb sulfide and tio2 as the sources of diffusant pb depth profiles were then measured with rutherford backscattering spectrometry rbs over the temperature range 700 1100 c the following arrhenius relation was obtained for the synthetic rutile d 3 9 10 10exp 250 12 kj mol 1 rt m2s 1 results for diffusion in natural and synthetic rutile were quite similar despite significant differences in trace element compositions mean closure temperatures calculated from the diffusion parameters are around 600 c for rutile grains of 100 m size this is about 100 c higher than rutile closure temperature determinations from past field based studies suggesting that rutile is more resistant to pb loss through volume diffusion than previously thought

dating the oldest greenstone in india a 3 51 ga precise u pb shrimp zircon age for dacitic lava of the southern iron ore group singhbhum craton abstract this article reports a precise 3506 8 2 3 ma u pb shrimp zircon age for dacitic lava in a well preserved low grade metamorphic and low strained greenstone belt succession of the southern iron ore group singhbhum craton india this age makes the succession the oldest known greenstone belt succession in india and one of the oldest low strain greenstone successions in the world after the 3 51 ga coonterunah group of the pilbara craton western australia and the moderately deformed 3 54 ga theespruit formation of the barberton greenstone belt kaapvaal craton south africa the geochemical composition of the dacitic lava and related volcanic rocks suggests that they formed in a volcanic arc setting the succession also contains a major 120 m thick oxide facies banded iron formation that distinguishes it from the slightly older successions of the pilbara and kaapvaal cratons this banded iron formation may well be one of the oldest and most well preserved and together with associated volcanics

lithostructural and chronological constraints for tectonic restoration of proterozoic accretion in the eastern indian precambrian shield abstract the central indian tectonic zone citz is a 700 km long orogenic belt in north central india that demarcates the accretion zone between the northern and southern indian crustal domains however the timing of accretion remains speculative the chottanagpur gneiss complex cgc the north singhbhum mobile belt nsmb and the singhbhum craton sc are three crustal units located at the eastern extremity of the citz the cgc dominated by blastoporphyritic granitoids intrusive into amphibolite to granulite facies gneisses is juxtaposed against the greenschist facies northern metaflysch belt in the nsmb n nsmb north of the dalma ophiolite belt dob along the northern shear zone nsz both south cgc and n nsmb exhibit correlated increase in strain and prograde metamorphism towards the nsz laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry u pb zircon and u th pb monazite chemical ages from the southern parts of the cgc lie between 1 1 and 0 9 ga monazite from n nsmb are of similar age in contrast zircon from central parts of the cgc away from the nsz preserves older concordant ages up to 2 6 ga and the 1 0 0 90 ga age population is scarcely represented south of the dob the 1 0 ga ages are absent in s nsmb instead monazites from all samples in s nsmb record a tightly constrained 1 59 1 56 ga high p metamorphic event arguably a result of northward subduction of the metaflysch belt these two terranes were in turn accreted to the cgc at 1 0 0 90 ga this accretion at the leading edge of the amalgamated sc s nsmb block led to the emplacement of expansive granitoids in the cgc apparently the polychronous citz orogen marks the gradual closure of a major ocean basin separating the crustal domains of the northern and southern indian blocks during the meso and the early neoproterozoic era

eastern indian 3800 million year old crust and early mantle differentiation samarium neodymium data for nine granitic and tonalite gneisses occurring as remnants within the singhbhum granite batholith in eastern india define an isochron of age 3775 89 x 10 6 years with an initial 143 nd 144 nd ratio of 0 50798 0 00007 this age contrasts with the rubidium strontium age of 3200 x 10 6 years for the same suite of rocks on the basis of the new samarium neodynium data field data and petrologic data a scheme of evolution is proposed for the archean crust in eastern india the isotopic data provide evidence that parts of the earth s mantle were already differentiated with respect to the chondritic samarium neodymium ratio 3800 x l0 6 years ago