Neoproterozoic Crustal Evolution of Northwestern Indian Shield: Implications on Break up and Assembly of Supercontinents

Abstract

The Neoproterozoic geological history in western Rajasthan, northwest Indian Shield began with the intrusion of anorogenic bodies of diorites at ca. 1000 Ma. Recently available single zircon dates indicate possible continuity of the “Grenville belt” beyond Eastern Ghats through the Satpura Orogenic Belt into the Aravalli Mountains. Closely following this tectono-thermal event at the Meso-Neoproterozoic boundary, some narrow basins opened west of the Aravalli Mountains. The basin closing related to the tectonic inversion and associated magmatism at ca. 835 Ma completed the cratonisation process of the Precambrian Aravalli crust. Subsequent geological events witnessed over a wide region to the southwest of the Aravalli Mountains, were in the form of “plume-related” magmatism of the Malani Group, which comprises bimodal volcanics (dominantly felsic and minor mafic), minor sediments, and peraluminous and peralkaline granitoids. An unconformity indicating a hiatus is noticed at the base of the Malani Group. The final phase of the Neoproterozoic cratonic history is associated with thick platformal deposits of the Marwar Supergroup. The Marwar basins show a clear sedimentological affiliation with the sub-Himalayan basin of “Saline Series” in Pakistan. The beginning of the Neoproterozoic history in the northwestern Indian Shield is correlated with the events related to the possible break up of the Rodinia Supercontinent. Much of the later phases of the Neoproterozoic geological events witnessed in the Indian Shield are traditionally described as the “Pan-African”. However, the geological events recorded in the northwestern part of Indian Shield are neither strictly coeval nor are tectonically correlatable with the ‘orogeny and fabric-forming contemporary events’ of the East African Orogeny (EAO), which is undoubtedly the type terrane of the Pan-African Tectono-thermal Belt. The evolution of the northwestern Indian Shield during the Neoproterozoic does not appear to be related in any way with the Pan-African events observed in EAO. Further, the most talked about ‘Pan-African’ dates at ca. 500±50 Ma, are manifestations of anorogenic thermal event, which possibly marks an aborted attempt to fragment the ‘Greater Gondwana’ during the early Palaeozoic.