P-wave velocity in granulites from South India: implications for the continental crust

Abstract

P-wave velocities ( V p ) were measured in 160 high-grade metamorphic rocks from the South Indian granulite terrain (SGT). The wide variations observed in the V p of charnockites and gneisses could be due to the complex prograde and retrograde metamorphic histories of the two major rock types of the SGT. The velocity-density relation showed distinct trends for charnockites and gneisses. Initial stages of retrograde metamorphism in charnockites significantly affected their magnetic properties, however, its effect on velocity and density is not diagnostic. Contrasting physical properties on either side of the Palghat-Cauvery (P-C) shear zone lends support for the contention that the P-C shear zone is a major paleosuture. The laboratory mean V p of the rocks from the northern SGT are comparable with the mid-crustal DSS velocity in the adjacent granite greenstone terrain (GGT), suggesting that the GGT is possibly underlain by a felsic granulite basement. The physical properties of the high-grade metamorphic rocks from SGT are significantly lower than that of the lower crust. The physical properties and tectonic considerations show that the granulites of South India may not be of lower crustal origin and hence not representative of the lower crust, as generally thought. A simplified two-layer crustal model with a predominantly felsic granulite upper crust and a mafic granulite lower crust, is suggested for the SGT.