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Provenance, tectonic setting and source-area weathering of the lower Cambrian sediments of the Parahio valley in the Spiti basin, India

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Abstract

The geochemical study of siliciclastic rocks from the Lower Cambrian of Parahio Valley has been studied to describe the provenance, chemical weathering and tectonic setting. The K2O/Al2O3 ratio and positive correlation of Co (r=0.85), Ni (r=0.86), Zn (r=0.82), Rb (r=0.98) with K2O reflects that the presence of clay minerals control the abundances of these elements and suggests a warm and humid climate for this region. The chondrite normalized REE pattern of the samples is equivalent to upper continental crust, which reflects enriched LREE and flat HREE with negative Eu anomaly. The tectonic setting discriminant diagram log[K2O/Na2O] vs. SiO2; [SiO2/Al2O3] vs. log[K2O/Na2O]; [SiO2/20] – [K2O+Na2O] – [TiO2+Fe2O3+MgO] indicates transitional tectonic setting from an active continental margin to a passive margin. The discriminant function plot indicates quartzose sedimentary provenance, and to some extent, the felsic igneous provenance, derived from weathered granite, gneissic terrain and/or from pre-existing sedimentary terrain. The CIA value indicates low to moderate degree of chemical weathering and the average ICV values suggests immature sediments deposited in tectonically active settings. The A–CN–K diagram indicates that these sediments were generated from source rocks of the upper continental crust.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, for providing facilities and giving permission to publish this work. They are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful reviews. The authors also thank Dr Hakim Rai and Dr D R Rao for giving critical comments and corrections to shape the manuscript in the present form.

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  1. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, G.M.S Road, Dehra Dun, 248 001, India

    Shivani Pandey & Suraj K Parcha

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Pandey, S., Parcha, S.K. Provenance, tectonic setting and source-area weathering of the lower Cambrian sediments of the Parahio valley in the Spiti basin, India. J Earth Syst Sci 126, 27 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0803-5

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