Precambrian mafic magmatism of Shillong plateau, Meghalaya and their evolutionary history

• Published in: Journal of the Geological Society of India 2009, Vol.73 (1), p.143-152
• Main Authors: Mallikharjuna Rao, J., Poornachandra Rao, G. V. S., Sarma, K. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Basalt; Cretaceous; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fractionation; Geochemistry; Geology; Geophysics; Hydrogeology; Magma; Metamorphism; Paleolatitude; Paleomagnetism; Petrochemicals; Petrology; Plate tectonics; Precambrian; Seismology
• ISSN: 0016-7622; 0974-6889
• DOI: 10.1007/s12594-009-0009-9

The Archaean gneissic basement of Shillong plateau has been traversed by number of mafic dyke swarms. At least two suites of dykes are identified in the region represented by Proterozoic Khasi greenstone related dolerites and younger Cretaceous dolerite dykes in addition to mafic alkaline dykes. The older Khasi greenstone dolerites are altered and have undergone low-grade metamorphism compared to fresh Cretaceous dykes, which are well exposed in the West Garo Hills region. All the Khasi greenstone dolerites are tholeiite in composition and range from basalt to basaltic andesite in composition and show olivine or quartz normative character. Most of the dykes show continental nature of emplacement with some overlapping oceanic tectonic setting of origin. Petrochemical study suggests that they were derived from picrites that subsequently undergone low-pressure fractionation. Palaeomagnetic study of the older Khasi greenstone related dolerites show a direction of magnetization of Dm=17, Im= +57 (α 95 = 23.34; K=31.5; N=24) with a palaeolatitude of 29.7°N to the Indian subcontinent that clearly support the Proterozoic dyke/dyke swarm emplacement in the region. The magnetic carrier as inferred from K-T studies is in multi domain (MD) size and cation deficient (CD) domain states.