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Mineral Chemistry and Geothermobarometry of Amphibolite-Granulite Facies Basement Rocks Concealed Below Deccan Volcanic Covered 1993 Killari Earthquake Region, Maharashtra, India

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

A detailed mineral chemistry and geothermobarometry of the Deccan volcanic covered Neoarchean crystalline basement rocks is presented, pierced by KLR-1 borehole, drilled in the Killari region of Maharashtra, which was a site of major earthquake disaster in 1993, killing almost 10,000 people. The present study provides unequivocal evidence that the entire drilled basement is mainly made up of tonalite/granodiorite and amphibolite/granulite. They contain hornblende, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, biotites and minor orthopyroxene, apart from accessories like ilmenite, magnetite, pyrite, titanite, zoisite, clinozoisite and epidote. Compositionally, amphibole conform to ferropargasite, magnesiohastingsite, ferro-edenite and edenite. Similarly, the clinopyroxenes correspond to diopside and orthopyroxenes to clino-enstatite. Further, biotites are found to be magnesium and iron-rich, while feldspars correspond mainly to albite and orthoclase. Bulk rock chemistry and mineral chemistry of amphibole and biotites indicate calc-alkaline nature of the rock associated with high oxygen fugacity, that may have been formed in subduction zone related environments as evidenced by geochemical data and tectonic discrimination diagrams. Geothermobarometric studies carried out on amphibolite and granulite, indicate that the underlying basement was subjected to metamorphic temperatures between 540 and 860°C and pressure, 5 to 7 kb, corresponding to 15–21 km depth. Petrographically, these rocks appear deformed, retrogressed and metasomatized by halogen-rich mantle-derived CO2 and brought to the surface by continued geodynamic process of uplift and erosion, even before the onset of Deccan volcanism.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Profs. J.P. Srivastava and S.P. Singh and Drs. Kasturi Chakravarty and B.L. Narayana for their help in petrological studies and many useful discussions at various stages of the study. Comments and suggestions provided by Prof. B. Mahabaleswar, Editor, Journal of the Geological Society of India, has also been extremely helpful in improving the manuscript. To him, we extend our sincere thanks. GP is grateful to Director, National Institute of Advance Studies, Bengaluru and INSA (New Delhi) for supporting this work. This study was also supported by CSIR-Emeritus Scientist project of Dr. O. P. Pandey. Analytical support rendered by the Directors of CSIR-NGRI, CSIR-IICT, Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (Hyderabad), Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (Dehradun) and Geological Survey of India (Hyderabad), is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of India, Bandlaguda, Hyderabad, 500 068, India

    Priyanka Tripathi & Sujeet Kumar Dwivedi

  2. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, 248 001, India

    H. K. Sachan

  3. Ex-Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, AMD complex, Begumpet, Hyderabad, 500 016, India

    V. Rajagopalan

  4. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    O. P. Pandey

  5. School of Natural Science and Engineering, National Institute of Advance Studies, IISc. Campus, Bengaluru, 560 012, India

    G. Parthasarathy

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  1. Priyanka Tripathi
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Tripathi, P., Sachan, H.K., Rajagopalan, V. et al. Mineral Chemistry and Geothermobarometry of Amphibolite-Granulite Facies Basement Rocks Concealed Below Deccan Volcanic Covered 1993 Killari Earthquake Region, Maharashtra, India. J Geol Soc India 97, 1331–1339 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-021-1871-3

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