Multiple rifting and alkaline magmatism in southern India during Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic

- Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.53-2.47Ga) and late Neoproterozoic (608 Ma) alkaline magmatism
- Magma sources from mantle and crustal melting
- Multiple rifting and alkaline magmatism in the Madurai Block

The Southern Granulite Terrane (SGT) in India preserves the history of tectonothermal events ranging from Paleoarchean to latest Neoproterozoic-Cambrian. Here we investigate alkaline magmatism possibly associated with rifting events in Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic based on petrological, geochemical and zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic studies on the alkaline complexes of Korangani (KGAC) and Kambamettu (KAC) in the Madurai Block of SGT. The mica pyroxenite which represents the first intrusive phase at KGAC crystallized from a mildly alkaline hydrous magma derived from a metasomatized mantle. The younger shoshonitic syenite was emplaced at 2533 ± 16 Ma, carries mafic microgranular enclaves, and shows trace-elements ratios consistent with magma mixing trend, and zircon εHf(t) values display mixed positive and negative values − 2.6 to 3.6 suggesting the mixing of adakite-like felsic crustal melt and non-adakitic mantle derived melt. In KAC, four distinct magmatic intrusions are identified: i) quartz-monzonite (emplaced at 2498 ± 16 Ma), an ultrapotassic adakitic rock derived from a carbonated alkali-rich lower crustal source with negative zircons εHf(t) values in zircon (− 8.0 to − 0.8); Y/Nb (> 1.2) and Th/Ce (0.03-0.8) ratios; lower Ni (< 30 ppm) and Cr (< 14 ppm) contents; ii) phlogopite-rich pyroxenite, crystallized from an alkali-rich basaltic parental magma derived from carbonate metasomatized mantle; iii) mantle derived high Ba-Sr carbonatite (emplaced at 2470 ± 15 Ma); and iv) shoshonitic peralkaline syenite rock (emplaced at 608 ± 6 Ma) with strong adakitic signature, low MgO (< 1 wt.%), Ni (12-5 ppm) and Cr (49-35 ppm) contents and negative zircon εHf(t) values (− 30.3 to − 27.3) and trough of Zr-Hf in spidergrams suggesting a carbonated alkali-rich garnet-bearing crustal source.The geochemical features and petrogenetic considerations of the felsic shoshonitic-ultrapotassic adakite-like rocks (syenite, quartz monzonite), mica-pyroxenites and carbonatite reveal rift-related extensional tectonic settings with magma sources involving both mantle and crustal components during Paleoproterozoic. The late Neoproterozoic shoshonitic adakite-like syenite from KAC also formed in a rift-related setting. In both cases, intracontinental rifting associated with post-collisional extension is proposed.

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