The Wide Spread 2 Ga Dyke Activity in the Indian Shield -Evidences from Bundelkhand Mafic Dyke Swarm, Central India and Their Tectonic Implications

Abstract

The mafic dyke swarms are important feature of the Proterozoic and in parts of some stabilised cratonic areas. The early Proterozoic Bundelkhand massif of Central India is extensively intruded by suites of NW-SE and NE-SW trending mafic and ultramafic dykes. These dykes are mostly dolerites with subordinate pyroxenite, or lamproites, moreover, geochemical signatures of the two compositional types are different for the NW-SE and NE-SW trending suites. 40Ar/ 39Ar age determinations of the dolerite dykes suggest two phases of dyke activity at c.2150Ma and c.2000 Ma in this region. The dolerites are typically tholeiites and quartz normative types represented by Group I and Group II, whilst the ultramafics are komatiite or basaltic komatiite in composition and show an olivine-normative character. Rare earth element (REE) patterns show some enrichment of LREE and exhibit both positive and negative Eu anomalies. Most of the tholeiites display incompatible elements patterns indicative of an enriched mantle source, whilst those of the ultramafics indicate a depleted source. The 2 Ga event is a global event and well documented in various parts of Singhbhum, Aravalli terrane, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala regions of Indian Peninsular Shield and many parts of globe. The genesis of these dyke swarms clearly constitutes a major thermal event affecting the Earth's mantle during that period.