Tectonic Significance of Ultramafic and Associated Rocks Near Tal in the Bijawar Belt, Sidhi District, Madhya Pradesh

Serpentinised ultramafic bodies of peridotite-dunite composition occur as solid state intrusions in the Bijawar volcano-sedimentary sequence around Tal in Sidhi district, Madhya Pradesh. The associated basic volcanics and gabbros are predominantly tholeiitic in composition, although a slight enrichment in Na is recognised locally. However, apart from their juxtaposition, there is no petrological or chemical evidence to suggest that the uhramafic and gabbroic rocks were derived from a common magma. The ultramafics represent olivine-pyroxene cumulates, crystallised at depth and subsequently emplaced as crystalline mush (? diapiric intrusion) during the pre- to early-kinematic stage of basin development. This suggests the possible role of a mantle-derived magma to initiate basin depression. Near the cratonic margin of the basin, shelf sediments (orthoquartzite, carbonate-pelletal chert etc.) were deposited over the gneissic basement while the distal facies was mainly a turbidite. The rocks underwent polyphase deformation and low-grade greenschist facies metamorphism. The closing stage of Bijawar was marked by the emplacement of post-tectonic granite and occasional gabbroic diorite near the peripheral zones of the belt.