Geology and Geochemistry of Spinifex-Textured Peridotitic Komatiite from Mayasandra Schist Belt, Karnataka

Spinifex-textured peridotitic komatiite occurs on the southeastern margin of Mayasandra schist belt near Nagamangala in Karnataka. Preservation of spinifex-texture made up of pseudomorphically altered phenocrysts of olivine and less commonly clinopyroxene set in a groundrnass of skeletal augite and devitrified glass in the komatiite, is essentially perfect in spite of alteration, deformation and metamorphism. Petrography shows dissimilar shapes and dimensions of the crystals, with more than one pattern of crystal arrangement in the texturally layered komatiite, clearly indicating that conditions and rates of crystallization were not uniform throughout the cooling unit. Compositional variations in terms of major and trace elements appear to be broadly consistent with fractionation of olivine followed by clinopyroxene. The high contents of MgO, Ni, Cr and extremely low percentages of TiO₂, Na₂O, K₂O in the spinifex-textured ultramafic komatHte compare favourably with similar rock types reported from Canada, S. Africa and Australia.