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Ancient crustal metamorphism at low pH2O:charnockite formation at Kabbaldurga, south India

Nature volume 278, pages 511–514 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

Arrested charnockitic conversion of amphibolitic gneiss at Kabbaldurga, Karnataka State, south India, was studied mineralogically. Iron-rich pyroxenes were generated from amphibole in patches and stringers without melting. The dark colour of charnockite arises from numerous tiny veins of chlorite and manganese-bearing calcite, particularly in feldspars. The metamorphism was effected by very local, mainly grain-boundary, migration of volatiles low in H2O, and probably dominantly CO2. This was followed by vein alteration at lower temperatures from volatiles richer in H2O. The volatiles are ascribed to massive liberation from the mantle in upwelling areas, and this may have been an important process in the evolution of the deep continental crust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Mysore University, India

    A. S. Janardhan

  2. Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Illinois, 60637

    R. C. Newton & J. V. Smith

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  1. A. S. Janardhan
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  2. R. C. Newton
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  3. J. V. Smith
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Janardhan, A., Newton, R. & Smith, J. Ancient crustal metamorphism at low pH2O:charnockite formation at Kabbaldurga, south India. Nature 278, 511–514 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/278511a0

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