Mesoarchean continental intraplate volcanism and sedimentation: The case of the Simlipal basin, Singhbhum Craton, eastern India

Abstract

The origin of continental intraplate basalts, their role in crust-mantle interaction, and processes of formation of the associated sedimentary rocks have remained important research problems. The poorly-studied Simlipal basin hosts a well-preserved, weakly-metamorphosed ensemble of three bands of mafic volcanic rocks intercalated with shallow marine sandstones and minor phyllites, occurring unconformably over a Paleoarchean continental basement of the Singhbhum Craton. Little is known about the age of the basin, the nature of sediment source and source weathering, petrogenesis of the volcanic rocks, and the tectonic setting of the volcano-sedimentary assemblage. To address these issues, we present whole-rock geochemical data on the Simlipal sediments and volcanic rocks, detrital zircon U-Pb ages and mineral chemical analyses. The sandstones and phyllites are characterized by high K2O/Na2O and chemical index of alteration. The source-indicating elemental ratios and REE patterns (negative Eu anomaly and flat HREE) suggest that felsic rocks, especially the granitoids resulting from shallow crustal melting, were the dominant source. The detrital zircons are mostly rounded with U-Pb ages ranging from 3.63 to 3.17 Ga. All these features suggest that the Simlipal basin formed during the Mesoarchean Era on a slowly subsiding continental platform undergoing extension, which received reworked and recycled sediments from a diverse but granitoid-dominated, intensely-weathered, mostly Paleoarchean source. The mafic volcanic rocks are low-Ti, tholeiitic basalts showing low CaO/Al2O3 and TiO2/Yb values, and flat HREE pattern indicating derivation from a spinel lherzolite mantle at shallow depth (<80 km). The presence of xenoliths of crustal rocks, quartz-normative nature, wide range of magnesium number (39–80), primitive mantle-normalized negative Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies, and high U/Nb and Th/Yb ratios reflect that the magma underwent significant fractional crystallization and crustal assimilation. The Simlipal volcanic rocks are consanguineous with the spatially close and coeval gabbro-anorthosite bodies, layered mafic–ultramafic rocks, and A-type Mayurbhanj Granite of the Singhbhum Craton, together forming an intraplate bimodal volcanic-plutonic association. We construe that the widespread Mesoarchean magmatism and sedimentation was linked to mantle upwelling possibly related to an event of lithospheric delamination and crustal extension.