Abstract The Thala Hills area occupies a key position in Gondwanaland reconstructions near the India–Sri Lanka–Antarctica junction. We present U–Pb zircon isotopic age determinations from SHRIMP II obtained on four granite gneiss samples. Three high-temperature tectonomagmatic episodes may be distinguished in the study area at c . 980–970, c . 780–720 and c . 545–530 Ma. The c . 980–970 Ma event corresponds to the Rayner Structural Episode that affected East Antarctica, including the Sør Rondane Mountains to the west and Kemp Land to the east. The c . 780–720 Ma episode included two events at approximately 780 Ma (high-grade anatexis) and 720 Ma (syntectonic granitoid emplacement), and was roughly coeval with tectonomagmatic events in Dronning Maud Land of East Antarctica, as well as in other Gondwanaland regions, such as Madagascar, Sri Lanka and eastern Africa. The c . 780–720 Ma episode may be correlated with the East African Orogeny. These correlations argue for a similar geological evolution and conjugate position for Dronning Maud Land and Enderby Land despite a postulated Cambrian Lützow–Holm Bay suture separating them. The Cambrian ( c . 545–530 Ma) episode was manifested by high-grade anatexis that confirms previously identified late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian tectonothermal activities in the study area. Supplementary material: Trace element compositions of zircons and whole-rock chemical compositions obtained by previous studies are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3738332

Abstract The 600–660 Ma East African Orogen (EAO) granulites of the Mozambique Belt were correlated and extended into a coast marginal area of East Antarctica through the NNW–SSW-trending granulite-bearing Schirmacher Oasis. Tracing similarities in lithological association, granulite-facies metamorphism and geochronological data, the 640 Ma EAO was extended by another 110 km south of Schirmacher into the Humboldt Mountains in central Dronning Maud Land (cDML). Based on younger anorogenic magmatism east and west of the Humboldt Mountains, a 10–20 km-wide linear corridor of the EAO from the Schirmacher to the Humboldt Mountains was proposed. There are eight nunataks between Schirmacher and the Humboldt Mountains projected above the ice sheet. These nunataks are strategically placed because they represent the small (4–10 km 2 ), isolated rock exposures in approximately 5000 km 2 of ice-covered area. Baalsrudfjellet is one of these nunataks that is located at the easternmost margin of the proposed EAO corridor and represents a significant outcrop to validate the presence of the EAO between Schirmacher and the Humboldt Mountains. This study brings out a two-stage metamorphic evolution ( c . 660–680 Ma and c . 580 Ma) with melt generation associated with the younger event. Geochronological constraints by monazite chemical dating from metapelites confirm and validate the continuation of the EAO in-between the Schirmacher Oasis and the Humboldt Mountains. Supplementary material: Monazite analyses, computed ages and age errors of three grains from the high- and low-melt metapelite are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3738362

Abstract The study focuses on whole-rock major and trace element chemistry, as well as radiogenic isotope data from the Straumsnutane Formation lavas in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The data are compared with those from the Espungabera Formation lavas of central Mozambique, published data from the Borgmassivet intrusions in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica and other intrusions in southern Africa which are correlated with the approximately 1100 Ma Umkondo Igneous Province. Petrographical studies indicate that the Straumsnutane lavas are dominated by plagioclase, clinopyroxene, amphibole and Fe–Ti oxides. Secondary mineral assemblages include chlorite, pumpellyite, white mica and epidote, indicating that the Straumsnutane lavas have been metamorphosed under low-grade greenschist-facies conditions followed by retrograde prehnite–pumpellyite-facies conditions. The chemical data for the Straumsnutane Formation lavas are dominantly tholeiitic and basaltic andesitic in composition, and indicate that they are of continental origin. Trace element ratio values for the Straumsnutane lavas suggest that fractional crystallization and/or crustal contamination have been significant processes in the magma evolution. Low to high 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic ratios (0.682–0.720) are evident from the Straumsnutane lavas suggesting varying degrees of hydrothermal alteration/low-grade metamorphism. The calculated 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values and the negative ɛ Nd values at 1100 Ma suggest contamination by older continental crust during the genesis of the Straumsnutane Formation lavas. Isotopic modelling shows that the Straumsnutane lavas may have been formed from the mixing of a mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like source with approximately 4% of older crust similar to the Messica Granite Gneiss of central Mozambique. Comparison of the geochemical data and petrography of the Straumsnutane lavas with those of the Espungabera Formation lavas of central Mozambique shows that they are similar. Additional comparisons show that the Straumsnutane lavas are geochemically similar to rock units of the Umkondo Igneous Province in southern Africa. It is therefore concluded that the Straumsnutane Formation lavas also formed part of the Umkondo Igneous Province.

Abstract The Eastern Ghats Belt (India) bears testimony to the assembly and dispersal of both the Columbia and Rodinia supercontinents, and possibly the formation of East Gondwana. The belt itself is a collage of different lithotectonic and isotopic domains, and therefore the petrological evolution of each domain is to be considered separately prior to the formation of the belt. In this paper, we present an updated review on the petrological and tectonic evolution of the different domains along with geochronological constraints. We develop tectonic models to show how different lithotectonic domains fit into supercontinent cycles in the Proterozoic period.

Abstract We present detailed and high-precision geochronological data on granulites occurring along the western boundary of the Eastern Ghats Belt, India. Age data on systematically sampled rocks coupled with geochemical observation have a potential to unravel the overprinted tectonothermal events operated during Precambrian time. Zircon U–Pb SHRIMP and monazite electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) U–Th–total Pb analyses, chemical zoning, microtextural investigation, and pressure–temperature calculations were carried out on samples of four different rock types. Inherited zircons from migmatitic quartzofeldspathic gneiss and mafic granulite yielded ages of approximately 2900–2350 Ma, representing an older crustal component. The age of granulite metamorphism recorded from charnockite and pelitic granulite ranges between approximately 950 and 930 Ma (from zircon and monazite). A possible decompression event from this area that occurred during Rodinia break-up is recorded from the Y-rich zones of monazite closely associated with porphyroblastic garnet in pelitic granulite and dates from approximately 800 to 750 Ma. Zircon grains of charnockite also yield a similar age. The youngest age of approximately 525–510 Ma documented from the monazite grains of migmatitic quartzofeldspathic gneiss and pelitic granulite, along with a spot age from zircon of migmatitic quartzofeldspathic gneiss, testifies to the final assembly of East Antarctica with cratonic India as a part of East Gondwana.

Abstract A suite of Mg–Al granulites from two new localities in the Eastern Ghats Province are investigated to put constraints on: (a) the thermal and baric evolution of these rocks; (b) the timing of high-grade metamorphisms (chemical dating of monazite); (c) the tectonic setting where the high-grade metamorphisms occurred; and (d) a possible link between India and East Antarctica during the formation of the Rodinia supercontinent. Supporting the proposition of polymetamorphism over single metamorphism, our study documents at least two distinct phases of high-grade metamorphism that occurred in two contrasting tectonic settings. Reconstructed pristine spinel composition from oxide aggregates, the Al content of coronitic orthopyroxene over sapphirine and spinel, and the constraints of the FeO–MgO–Al 2 O 3 –SiO 2 (FMAS) topology in the FMAS system document temperatures in excess of 1070°C at 8–9 kbar pressure (>1100°C GPa −1 ). This study shows that such an extreme metamorphic condition was reached along a counter-clockwise P – T trajectory presumably in an extensional setting at approximately 1.2 Ga. The eventual collision of India and East Antarctica reworked the near-isobarically cooled assemblages of the first event, and triggered exhumation of the former lower crust to the upper-crustal depth along a steeply decompressive trajectory during the formation of the Rodinia supercontinent ( c . 0.95–0.90 Ga). Supplementary material: Representative electron microprobe analyses of monazite in wt%, calculated apparent ages and ± 2σ error are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3771044

Abstract India and East Antarctica collided during assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent at around 1 Ga. Granulites related to this orogeny are exposed in the Eastern Ghats Province (EGP) in India, and these are believed to have been contiguous with granulites of the Rayner Province in East Antarctica at that time. In the Indian segment, we describe a shear zone between the EGP and the Rengali Province to its north along which strongly foliated bands of garnetiferous quartzofeldspathic gneisses, khondalites and charnockites are intercalated. The foliation is consistently east–west trending and subvertical, with downdip intersection lineations. Maximum asymmetry in horizontal sections and textural analysis using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis confirm that the transport vector during shearing was horizontal. The shear zone is interpreted as a dextral strike-slip fault that operated under greenschist-facies conditions, juxtaposing 1 Ga EGP granulites with 2.8 Ga cratonic granulites to the north. The corresponding region in East Antarctica is represented by the Rauer Group, where intercalations between 2.8 and 1.0 Ga, vertically orientated lithologies, are observed alongside 0.5 Ga shear zones. These features in the Rauer Group can be correlated with those in the Rengali Province, further supporting existing palaeogeographical reconstructions of Gondwana.

Abstract Understanding the evolution of the Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex (CGGC) of the East Indian Shield is crucial to decipher the role of the Indian Shield in the formation of the Rodinia supercontinent. The area around Deoghar–Dumka exposes a suite of granulite-facies orthogneisses (variably retrogressed to amphibole–biotite gneiss) that enclose remnants of Palaeoproterozoic metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks. Results from mineral chemistry, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA ICP-MS) U–Pb dating of zircon and limited bulk-rock compositions of the studied rocks suggest that the magmatic protoliths of the felsic orthogneisses had A-type chemistry, and that these were emplaced at approximately 1450 Ma presumably in a continental rift setting. Intense deformation and metamorphism of the felsic rock culminated at approximately 9 kbar and 850°C along an apparent geothermal gradient of 26°C km −1 . These peak metamorphic conditions were successively followed by initially a steeply decompressive and then a weakly decompressive retrograde pressure–temperature path. The shape of the retrograde pressure–temperature path and the estimated geothermal gradient at the metamorphic peak are interpreted to be the products of continent–continent collision; U–Pb dates of metamorphic zircon overgrowths suggest an age of approximately 943 Ma for the collisional event. This study demonstrates that ‘Grenville-age’ orogenesis thoroughly reworked the approximately 1450 myr-old basement of the CGGC during the formation of the Rodinia supercontinent.

Abstract The Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) marks the suture zone where the North and South Indian cratonic blocks amalgamated to form the Greater Indian Landmass (GIL). It consists of three broad domains from west to east: the central CITZ occupying the central region of mainland India juxtaposed between two mobile belts, namely the Sausar Mobile Belt (SMB) in the south and the Mahakoshal Mobile Belt (MMB) in the north; the Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex (CGGC) lying east of the main CITZ; and the easternmost Shillong Plateau Gneissic Complex (SPGC). The studied granites are from the Bathani Volcano Sedimentary sequence (BVSs) from the northern margin of the CGGC. These are high-K, calc-alkaline, I-type granites related to arc magmatism and are interpreted to have formed by partial melting of an igneous source at upper-crustal depths. The granitic magma underwent extensive fractional crystallization of plagioclase, biotite, K-feldspar and ilmenite during emplacement. The U–Pb (ID-TIMS) zircon emplacement age is c . 1.7–1.6 Ga for these granites. This episode of magmatism can be correlated to the global event of the Nuna supercontinent assembly also reported from the MMB of the central CITZ. We infer that the BVSs is the eastern continuation of the MMB of the central CITZ.

Abstract Felsic magmatism in the South Khasi Hills of the Meghalaya Plateau, NE India, referred herein as the South Khasi granitoids (SKG: 519.5 ± 9.7 Ma), invariably contains rounded to elongate, fine- to medium-grained, mafic to porphyritic microgranular enclaves (ME: 515 ± 13 Ma) showing sharp to crenulate contacts with the host SKG. Compositions of plagioclase, amphibole and biotite in the ME are slightly distinct or similar to those of the host SKG, which appear re-equilibrated through diffusion mechanisms during partial liquid (semi-solid) conditions prior to the complete solidification of the mafic–felsic interacting system maximum at shallow continental crustal depths of approximately 9.5 km ( c . 250 MPa) under oxidizing conditions. Although the ME are chemically modified, both the ME and SKG exhibit a wide chemical variation as high-K 2 O metaluminous (I-type) granitoids. Linear to near-linear variations of chemical elements against SiO 2 may suggest the origin of the ME as the result of the mixing of crystal-charged mafic and felsic magmas in various proportions. However, the data scatter and ill-defined chemical variations can be attributed to chaotic chemical mixing, diffusion and, to some extent, mechanical sorting of the crystals. The identical trace element patterns of the ME and the respective SKG have strengthened the idea of chemical re-equilibration at varying levels between them through diffusion during synchronous mixing–fractionation and mingling. Mean zircon 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages from the ME (515 ± 13 Ma) and SKG (519.5 ± 9.7 Ma) underline the co-existence of Cambrian mafic and felsic magmas formed during the later stages of the assembly of East Gondwanaland as an integral part of the Pan-Indian–African–Brasiliano orogenic cycle. The ME in SKG thus represent mingled, undercooled, heterogeneous hybrid magma globules formed by linear to chaotic mixing that was synchronous with fractionation of coeval crystal-charged mafic (enclave) and felsic (SKG) magmas, which experienced differential degrees of chemical exchange through diffusion with the surrounding felsic host in an open magma system.

Abstract The Shrinagar–Ajmer section of the South Delhi Fold Belt exposes a package of medium-grade metasedimentary rocks intruded by synkinematic granite, and the entire package was thrust on top of the basement gneisses occurring further east. The metamorphic history is best developed in the staurolite schist that shows an overall increase in modal abundance of staurolite towards the east. Textural analyses, garnet zoning profiles, thermobarometric data and phase equilibria analyses show an increase in metamorphic pressure and temperature, reaching peak conditions of 592 ± 12°C and 7.7 ± 0.11 kbar. In situ monazite dating of a staurolite schist sample yields a pooled age of 980 ± 22 Ma, which is assumed to be close to the age of the peak metamorphism. The Shrinagar granite was possibly emplaced close to the orogeny occurring at approximately 980 Ma and deformed by later events. The style and timing of metamorphism in the Shrinagar–Ajmer section match with the granulite-facies reworking of the basement rocks of the Aravalli–Delhi Mobile Belt. We envisage that the Grenvillian-age orogeny with its characteristic collisional style involved deep- to mid-crustal sections of the Aravalli–Delhi Mobile Belt. Our results further indicate that the Greater Indian Landmass was assembled during the formation of the supercontinent Rodinia. Supplementary material: Electron microprobe data of the garnet used for chemical zoning in Figure 5 are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3738335

Abstract Recent studies indicate the Delhi Orogeny to be a Grenvillian-age collision event in the NW Indian Shield. West of the southern part of the South Delhi Fold Belt, aeromagnetic anomalies show a high-angle relationship with the Delhi Fold Belt trend. We examined an argillaceous–calcareous metamorphosed sequence exposed within and adjacent to this aeromagnetic anomaly. This sequence, deposited over a granitic basement, is reported as the Sirohi Group. The basement granite is dated to be 892 ± 10 Ma (Erinpura age) and this was partially reset at 815 ± 43 Ma. The metapelites preserve a low- to medium-grade metamorphic assemblage (peak temperature of c . 460°C) and the metamorphism took place at 822 ± 29 Ma, which was partially reset at 723 ± 65 Ma. The partial resetting can be ascribed to the Malani eruption. Control of accessory minerals on the garnet trace element chemistry is evident in the Y distribution of the two analysed garnets. It is contended that the Rodinia break-up, marked by Malani Igneous Suite, was preceded by an orogenic event (the Sirohi Orogeny) which marked the culminating mountain-building event in the cratonization of the NW Indian Shield.

Abstract In this short paper, we outline the potential links between India and the East Antarctica region from Enderby Land to Princess Elizabeth Land using the Mesozoic East Gondwana configuration as a starting point. Palaeomagnetic data indicate that East Gondwana did not exist prior to the Ediacaran–Cambrian. Early Neoproterozoic (1050–950 Ma) deformation in East Antarctica and along the Eastern Ghats Province in India marks the initial contact between the two regions. Volcanism in the Kerguelen hotspot led to final break-up of India and East Antarctica in the Cretaceous. Although connections between the Archaean and Proterozoic provinces of India and East Antarctica have been proposed, the current record of large igneous provinces (or dyke swarms), palaeomagnetic data and geochronology do not show a consistently good match between the two regions.

The Proterozoic aeon involved at least three major continental readjustments. India and Antarctica appear in most models of supercontinent reconstructions, but their relative position has been the subject of debate. High-resolution petrological and geochronological data, especially from the Proterozoic mobile belts, provide the principal means of resolving this issue. The ice-covered nature of Antarctica allows only limited access to the rocks, and then only in coastal tracts, so detailed studies in more accessible Proterozoic terrains in India assume added significance. This volume, a follow-up to the XII International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Science, Goa (a SCAR symposium), provides new data from selected locations in east Antarctica (Enderby Land and Dronning Maud Land) and from India, including the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt (EGMB), Chota Nagpur Gneissic Complex, the Khasi Hills and the Aravalli–Delhi Mobile Belt. The presented geochronological data, constrained by petrological studies, are expected to provide new insights, especially into the EGMB–east Antarctica connection and the rate of continental readjustments in the post-Rodinia break-up.

Abstract Between 1300 and 500 Ma the Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia aggregated (1300–950 Ma), broke up (850–600 Ma) and a new supercontinent, Pannotia–Gondwana, formed (680–550 Ma). Only c. 11% of the preserved continental crust was produced during this 800Ma time interval and most of this crust formed as arcs, chiefly continental margin arcs. At least 50% of juvenile continental crust produced between 750 and 550 Ma is in the Arabian–Nubian Shield and in other terranes that formed along the northern border of Amazonia and West Africa. An additional 20% occurs in Pan-African orogens within Amazonia, and c. 16% in the Adamastor and West African orogens. The growth rate of continental crust between 1350 and 500 Ma was similar or less than the average rate of continental growth during the Phanerozoic of 1 km 3 /a, and this low rate characterizes both formation and breakup stages of the supercontinents. The low rates of continental growth during the Neoproterozoic may be due to the absence of a superplume event associated with either Rodinia or Pannotia–Gondwana. If supercontinent breakup is required to produce a superplume event, perhaps by initiating catastrophic collapse of lithospheric slabs at the 660 km seismic discontinuity, the absence of a Meso-proterozoic–Neoproterozoic superplume event may mean that a Palaeoproterozoic supercontinent did not fully breakup prior to aggregation of Rodinia.

Abstract During Proterozoic time, growth of the continents took place by the addition of mantlederived, juvenile material to pre-existing continental blocks. This accretion took place largely within three tectonic environments: (1) most importantly, in accretionary orogens such as the Birimian, the Baltic Shield, the Arabian–Nubian Shield and the early Altaids in Central Asia-these orogens grew largely by the accretion of island arcs, oceanic plateaus, accretionary prisms and ophiolites; (2) in the juvenile parts of collisional orogens as in the Trans-Hudson and Grenville; (3) within supercontinents that underwent rifting and breakup, giving rise to continental flood basalts and mafic dyke swarms. In addition to plate tectonics, the role of plume tectonics is increasingly emphasized as a fundamental process in Earth evolution. A mantle superplume may increase the oceanic spreading rate, the subduction rate and thus the island-arc production rate. It may also be responsible for the formation of a supercontinent, thus preserving the juvenile parts of collisional orogens, and it may be instrumental in the fragmentation of a supercontinent, giving rise to juvenile continental flood basalts. The balance between these processes is still poorly understood, as are calculated growth rates of Proterozoic crust.