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Occurrence and origin of opaline silica in the Mesoarchean Bangur chromite deposit, Singhbhum Craton, India

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Abstract

Occurrence of opal is being reported here from the Mesoarchean Bangur chromite mines area in the Boula–Nuasahi ultramafic complex (BNUC) of Odisha, India. The opal shows colour bands in mm to cm scales. From the X-ray diffraction pattern, it is identified as a variety of opal-CT consisting dominantly of α-tridymite and α-cristobalite with very minor quartz. This is the first report of opal from BNUC area. High-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) reveals that this opaline silica is nano-crystalline and consists of silica spherules (10–20 nm) with occasional ill-defined cubic and tetragonal crystallites. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern obtained through transmission electron microscope (TEM) reveals that it is polycrystalline in nature. Multi-point analysis by electron micro-probe (EMP) indicates its composition to be ~95 wt.% SiO2. From its mode of occurrence in the field and the type of mineral inclusions in the opal, its genesis can be coined with the second phase of magmatic event (the Bangur gabbro intrusion) and the related hydrothermal alterations. We interpret that the silica has been derived from the host mafic and ultramafic rocks at a high-temperature regime (1000–500°C) during the Bangur gabbro intrusion. During this magmatic event when the host rocks were hydrothermally altered, SiO2 was released and precipitated as opal-CT.

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Research highlights

  • This is the first report of occurrence of opaline silica in form of opal-CT from Boula–Nuasahi ultramafic complex, Odisha, India.

  • This opal-CT is semicrystalline, and primarily consists of nano-crystallites (10-20 nm) of α-tridymite and α-cristobalite.

  • The silica material could have been released from the mafic–ultramafic host rocks of the area in relatively high-temperature regime (1000–500°C) due to hydrothermal activity caused by the second phase of magmatic intrusion of ‘Bangur gabbro’.

  • The opal-CT is interpreted to have formed due to rapid cooling from a siliceous sol/gel.

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Acknowledgements

This is a part of the doctoral work carried out by R Debata which is financially supported by DST, Govt. of India in the form of an INSPIRE Fellowship. The Odisha Mining Corporation has kindly permitted to collect rock and ore samples from their Bangur chromite mines. The authors are thankful to the Director, CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar for permitting to publish this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201 002, India

    Rojalin Debata

  2. CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, 751 013, India

    Rojalin Debata & Bibhuranjan Nayak

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  1. Rojalin Debata
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  2. Bibhuranjan Nayak
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Contributions

The work related to this manuscript on opaline silica has been primarily done by Rojalin Debata. Field visits and sample collection were done together by Bibhuranjan Nayak and Rojalin Debata. Sample preparation was carried out by Debata. XRD and microscopic studies including OM, FE-SEM, EPMA and TEM were done by both authors. Data analysis and interpretation were carried out by both.

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Correspondence to Bibhuranjan Nayak.

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Communicated by Joydip Mukhopadhyay

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Debata, R., Nayak, B. Occurrence and origin of opaline silica in the Mesoarchean Bangur chromite deposit, Singhbhum Craton, India. J Earth Syst Sci 130, 92 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-021-01602-5

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