Are the Vinjamur rocks carbonatites or meta-limestones?

New whole-rock REE data for the suite of metacarbonate rocks which occur interbedded with schists at Vinjamur in the Nellore schist belt of Andhra Pradesh are reported. Low total REE contents (9-128 ppm) are inconsistent with an igneous carbonatite origin, but correspond more closely with a sedimentary limestone origin. The REE data, however, do not discriminate absolutely between a marble (meta-limestone) and meta-carbonatite origin. EPMA data for calcite, micas, amphibole, plagioclase, apatite, monazite and staurolite in the Vinjamur marbles, however, give strong and consistent evidence of their origin in terms of a metasediment rather than an igneous body.