Monazite and xenotime U–Th–Pb $$_{\mathrm{total}}$$ total ages from basement rocks of the (central) Shillong–Meghalaya Gneissic Complex, Northeast India

Abstract

Monazite and xenotime are the two most useful and commonly used geochronometers for deciphering ages from metamorphic rocks. The low analytical cost involved in electron probe micro-analyser chemical dating, ease of sample preparation and abundance in metamorphic rocks of wide P–T conditions make monazite and xenotime dating most widely used technique for age determination amongst metamorphic petrologists. This contribution presents age comparisons between coexisting monazite and xenotime in the basement metapelitic rocks of the central part of the Shillong–Meghalaya Gneissic Complex (SMGC). Thermobarometric estimates in the studied samples indicate granulite facies conditions of metamorphism with peak \({P{-}T}\) conditions of \(\sim \)6.5 kbar and \({\sim }750^\circ \hbox {C}\). Results indicate that xenotime in the basement rocks in the central SMGC formed in four discrete geological events while monazite either formed only in the latest Pan-African granulite grade metamorphic event or recrystallised during this event. Monazite in the studied samples yielded a single ubiquitous age of ca. 500 Ma. Xenotime in the study area, although found in only one sample, preserves four distinct ages at \(1153 \pm 29,930 \pm 36,823 \pm 41\; {\hbox {and}}\; 490 \pm 11\;\hbox {Ma}\). Preservation of Grenvillian ages in xenotime from central SMGC marks the eastward extension of Rodinia amalgamation front in the Indian Shield. The Neoproterozoic ages in xenotime from central SMGC suggest that the ca. 820 Ma high-grade metamorphism in the Eastern Indian Tectonic Zone had a wider impact in the SMGC than perceived previously.