High-temperature dehydration melting and decompressive P-T path in a granulite complex from the Eastern Ghats, India

Abstract

The granulite complex of Paderu, in the south central sector of the Eastern Ghats belt, India, consists of closely related pelitic granulites and peraluminous granitoids which could be linked via dehydration melting in pelitic and greywacke-like precursors. The pelitic granulites, including high-Mg-Al sapphirine granulites with early deformation microstructures, also record a high-temperature decompression from ~10 to ~8 kbar at ~1,000 °C, preceding isobaric cooling from above 900 to ~600 °C at 8 kbar. Highly magnesian biotite in the pelitic granulites, the presence of spinel in some of the granitoids, and granitoids of two distinct compositions, namely granite and quartz-monzonite, all suggest dehydration melting in highly magnesian pelitic and greywacke-like precursors. Moreover, high-temperature melting in highly magnesian pelitic precursors is indicated by the migmatitic spinel-bearing layers which, besides having significant abundance of quartz and feldspar, also contain aluminous orthopyroxene and cordierite. These melting reactions, occurring above 9 kbar, may constrain the prograde arm of the P–T trajectory. This and the high-temperature decompression constitute a clockwise P–T path. This clockwise P–T path is consistent with the tectonic model in which crustal thickening and granulite metamorphism in the Eastern Ghats belt is interpreted as the result of homogeneous shortening in a compressional setting.