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The Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Shillong Basin of the Assam-Meghalaya Gneissic Complex is exposed in parts of Northeast India. The studied metadolerites are from the volcano-sedimentary sequence of Shillong Basin from the Borjuri area in the Mikir Massif. This episode of mafic magmatism can be correlated with the Columbia supercontinent formation and bears significance to its reconstruction. The present work discusses the field, petrography and geochemical characteristics of the metadolerites, which occur in close association with the quartzites of the Shillong Group of rocks (metasedimentary rocks of the Shillong Basin). Our data show distinctive characteristics of subduction-related magmatism exhibiting high LREE/HREE, large ion lithophile element/high field strength element ratios and pronounced negative Nb anomaly. Elemental ratios such as Zr/Ba (0.21–0.46), La/Nb (1.23–2.32) and Ba/Nb (30.08–56.90) point to a fluid-enriched lithospheric mantle source in a subduction regime. Metadolerites plot in the field of ‘back-arc basin basalts’ in tectonic discrimination diagrams reinforcing a subduction zone tectonic setting. The mafic rocks correspond to a 6–10 % partial melting of a mantle source incorporating spinel+garnet lherzolite. The metamorphic P-T of the metadolerites estimated from plagioclase-hornblende geothermobarometer (7–8 kbar, 664 °C) is indicative of amphibolite facies metamorphism in a medium P-T zone. Based on the comparative analysis of field observation, petrography, geochemistry and geological ages given by previous workers, we infer that the Shillong Basin represents a back-arc rift region and is the eastern continuation of the Bathani volcano-sedimentary sequence of the Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex marking continuation of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone to the Mikir Massif.

The basement gneiss of the Shillong plateau and the overlying rocks of the Shillong basin have been dissected by a number of mafic dyke swarms represented by older Proterozoic dolerite dykes and sills named as Khasi greenstone and the younger set of Cretaceous dykes. The older dolerites dykes of Shillong basin are partly metamorphosed and have undergone low-grade metamorphism compared to the fresh unmetamorphosed Cretaceous dykes dominantly exposed in the BGC of West Garo hills region. The Khasi greenstones are tholeiitic in composition and range from basalt to basaltic andesite. Most of the metamorphosed mafic dykes indicate continental nature with some amount of overlapping oceanic tectonic setting. Palaeomagnetic study of the metadolerite dykes show a direction of magnetization of Dm=29, Im=38 (α95 = 28.84; k = 48.33; N = 2) with a palaeolatitude of 21.3° N to the Indian sub-continent that clearly support the Proterozoic dyke/dyke swarm emplacement in the region. The magnetic carrier as inferred from IRM studies is magnetite in the range of psuedosingle to multi domain (MD) states with minor contribution from hematite. Copyright 2014 Geological Society of India

Mineral relationships and their chemistry were studied in some basic magmatic rocks of Banija ophiolite complex. On the basis of mineral and structural characteristics three kind of rocks are distinguished: metadiabase I (being characterized by secondary amphibole), metadiabase II (being characterized by secondary albite) and spilite. Detailed chemistry of all mineral phases, specially of zoned clinopyroxenes and zoned amphiboles is given. The black opaque phases consist of different Fe-Ti-Mn oxides (ilmenite, Mn-ilmenite, magnetite, Ti-magnetite, ferropseudobrookite) being often at the rims replaced by Al- and Fe-rich titanite. All rocks are hydrothermally metamorphosed whereby amphibole replaced partly or completely clinopyroxene and plagioclase was altered in albite, prehnite, pumpellyite and/or sericite. Secondary chlorite occurs too. The whole rock chemistry of each studied rock corresponds to tholeiitic basalts.

The Plains Sill is a thick diabase-granophyre body that intruded the wet sediments of the Middle Proterozoic Prichard Formation of the Belt-Purcell Supergroup. The diabase is a high-iron tholeiite geochemically compatible with large-volume mantle melting in an intracratonic rift environment. Evidence of emplacement into wet sediments includes thick zones of homogenized granosediments adjacent to the sill, soft-sediment deformation at sill contacts, and sedimentary ovoid structures possibly formed by local fluidization of sediments. Utilizing sediment pore water and driven by heat from the sill, the diabase was metamorphosed during crystallization and cooling, leaving hornblende as the dominant mafic phase. Continued retrograde alteration resulted in overgrowths of secondary hornblende and variable alteration of plagioclase to epidote. A miarolitic granophyre layer, up to 150 m thick, caps the diabase and appears igneous in origin. Locally the granophyre is anomalously thick, perhaps reflecting updip migration of granophyric fluid where the Plains Sill cuts upsection through the Prichard Formation stratigraphy.

Međusobni odnosi minerala i njihova kemija proučavani su u nekim bazičnim magmatskim stijenama ofiolitnog kompleksa Banije. Na temelju mineralnih i stukturnih karakteristika razlikuju se tri vrste stijena: metadijabazi I (karakterizirani sekundarnim amfibolom), metadijabazi II (karakterizirani sekundarnim albitom) i spilit. Dana je detaljna kemija svih mineralnih faza, osobito zoniranih klinopiroksena i zoniranih amfibola. Crne opâke faze sastoje se od različitih Fe-Ti-Mn oksida (ilmenit, Mn-ilmenit, magnetit, Ti-magnetit, Fe-pseudobrukit) koje su često na rubovima potisnute Al- i Fe-bogatim titanitom. Sve su stijene hidrotermalno metamorfozirane pri čemu je amfibol djelomično ili potpuno potisnuo klinopiroksen, a plagioklas je izmijenjen u albit, prehnit, pumpeliit i/ili sericit. Pojavljuje se također i sekundarni klorit. Ukupna kemijska analiza svake proučavane stijene odgovara toleitskom bazaltu.