Neoarchean crustal growth by accretionary processes: Evidence from combined zircon–titanite U–Pb isotope studies on granitoid rocks around the Hutti greenstone belt, eastern Dharwar Craton, India

•Indistinguishable zircon and titanite U–Pb ages date intrusion of granitoid rocks.•Granitoid rocks formed as discrete batholiths between 2570 and 2550 Ma ago.•Granitoid rocks younger than supracrustal rocks but coeval with gold mineralization.•Late Archean crustal growth dominated by plate tectonics in the Dharwar craton.

The Neoarchean Hutti greenstone belt hosts mesothermal gold deposits and is surrounded by granitoid rocks on all sides. Combined U–Pb dating of zircon and titanite from the granitoid rocks constrains their emplacement history and subsequent geologic evolution. The Golapalli and Yelagatti granodiorites occurring to the north of the Hutti greenstone belt were emplaced at 2569 ± 17 Ma. The Yelagatti granodiorite yielded a younger titanite age of 2530 ± 6 Ma which indicates that it was affected by a post-crystallization thermal event that exceeded the titanite closure temperature. The western granodiorites from Kardikal have identical titanite and zircon ages of 2557 ± 6 Ma and 2559 ± 19 Ma, respectively. The eastern Kavital granodiorites yielded titanite ages of 2547 ± 6 Ma and 2544 ± 24 Ma which are identical to the published U–Pb zircon SHRIMP ages. These ages imply that the granitoid rocks surrounding the Hutti greenstone belt were formed as discrete batholiths within a short span of ca. 40 Ma between 2570 Ma and 2530 Ma ago. They were juxtaposed by horizontal tectonic forces against the supracrustal rocks that had formed in oceanic settings at the end of the Archean. The first phase of gold mineralization coincided with the last phase of granodiorite intrusion in the Hutti area. A metamorphic overprint occurred at ca. 2300 Ma ago that reset the Rb–Sr isotope system in biotites and possibly caused hydrothermal activity and enrichment of Au in the ore lodes. The eastern Dharwar Craton consists of quartz monzodiorite–granodiorite–granite suites of rocks that are younger than the greenstone belts that are older than ∼2650 Ma reported from earlier studies. The granitoid magmatism took place between 2650 and 2510 Ma ago indicating accretionary growth of the eastern Dharwar Craton.