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An Ediacaran–Cambrian thermal imprint in Rajasthan, western India: Evidence from 40Ar–39Ar geochronology of the Sindreth volcanics

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The Sindreth Group exposed near Sirohi in southern Rajasthan, western India, is a volcanosedimentary sequence. Zircons from Sindreth rhyolite lavas and tuffs have yielded U–Pb crystallization ages of ~768–761 Ma, suggesting that the Sindreth Group is a part of the Malani magmatic event. Earlier 40Ar–39Ar studies of other Malani volcanic and plutonic rocks yielded disturbed argon release spectra, ascribed to a ~550 Ma thermal event possibly related to the Pan-African orogeny. To test and confirm this possibility, we dated two whole-rock and three feldspar separate samples of the Sindreth volcanics by the 40Ar–39Ar method. All samples yield disturbed argon release spectra suggesting radiogenic argon loss and with plateau segments at 550 Ma or 490 Ma. We interpret these as events of argon loss at 550–490 Ma related to an Ediacaran–Cambrian thermal event, possibly related to the Malagasy orogeny. The combined older and new 40Ar–39Ar results are significant in showing that whereas Ediacaran–Cambrian magmatic and metamorphic events are well known from many parts of India, they left thermal imprints in much of Trans-Aravalli Rajasthan as well. The overall evidence is consistent with a model of multiphase assembly of Gondwanaland from separate continental landmasses.

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Acknowledgements

Field work was supported by the Industrial Research and Consultancy Centre (IRCC), IIT Bombay grant 03IR014 to Sheth and a contingency grant from the University Grants Commission, Central Region Office, Bhopal, to Sharma. Sen was supported by a research fellowship from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India. Pande acknowledges grant No. IR/S4/ESF-04/2003 from the Department of Science and Technology (Govt. of India) towards the development of the IIT Bombay-DST National Facility for 40Ar–39Ar Geo-thermochronology. Sapna Shinde and L S Mombasawala are thanked for help with the argon work. The authors also thank S Balakrishnan, T K Biswal, Aswini Kumar Choudhary, Ernst Hegner, George Mathew, and Malay Mukul for discussions, and two anonymous reviewers and the Associate Editor Talat Ahmad for helpful critical reviews which improved the manuscript.

Appendix 1(a) Argon isotopic composition and apparent ages of sample Sind 03WR (Basalt whole rock) at different temperature steps. The errors in ages are without and with (bracketed) errors in J. The data are interference, decay and mass fractionation corrected. J value is 0.002791 ± 0.000015.
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Appendix 1(b). Argon isotopic composition and apparent ages of sample Sind 04WR (Rhyolite whole rock) at different temperature steps. The errors in ages are without and with (bracketed) errors in J. The data are interference, decay and mass fractionation corrected. J value is 0.002729 ± 0.000015.
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Appendix 1(c). Argon isotopic composition and apparent ages of sample Sind 04P (Rhyolite Alkali Feldspar phenocryst) at different temperature steps. The errors in ages are without and with (bracketed) errors in J. The data are interference, decay and mass fractionation corrected. J value is 0.002819 ± 0.000011.
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Appendix 1(d) Argon isotopic composition and apparent ages of sample Sind 08P (Rhyolite Alkali Feldspar phenocryst) at different temperature steps. The errors in ages are without and with (bracketed) errors in J. The data are interference, decay and mass fractionation corrected. J value is 0.002619 ± 0.000011.
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Appendix 1(e) Argon isotopic composition and apparent ages of sample Sind 11P (Feldspar Porphyry Dyke Alkali Feldspar phenocryst) at different temperature steps. The errors in ages are without and with (bracketed) errors in J. The data are interference, decay and mass fractionation corrected. J value is 0.002853 ± 0.000011.
Full size table

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, India

    ARCHISMAN SEN, KANCHAN PANDE, HETU C SHETH & SHRABONI SARKAR

  2. Government Postgraduate College, Sirohi, 374 001, Rajasthan, India

    KAMAL KANT SHARMA & HARISH MISTRY

  3. National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    A M DAYAL

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SEN, A., PANDE, K., SHETH, H.C. et al. An Ediacaran–Cambrian thermal imprint in Rajasthan, western India: Evidence from 40Ar–39Ar geochronology of the Sindreth volcanics. J Earth Syst Sci 122, 1477–1493 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-013-0359-y

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