Peraluminous, Metaluminous and Alkaline Granites from Parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the Dharwar Craton: A Critical Reappraisal of Existing Data

Predominant rocks in the Medak-Nizamabad segment in Andhra Pradesh are of a granodiorite-adamellite-granite (GAG) suite; the Alumina Saturation Indices or the molar Al₂O₂/(CaO + Na₂O + K₂O) of these units indicate that they arc metaluminous. This suite contains inclusions of a peraluminous tonalite-trondhjemite (IT) suite. A younger peraluminous suite of K-rich granite, granite (s.s.) and adamellite (KGA) intrudes the metaluminous GAG suite and the peraluminous IT suite; a body of alkaline granite intrudes the peraluminous granites.

The tonalite-trondhjemite protoliths of the ca. 3000 Ma old gneisses of Kamataka are peraluminous, and the granites associated with them metaluminous. The Closepet granite activity began with the emplacement of mctaluminous granites, followed by the intrusion of peraluminous granites.

Partial melting (at lower to middle crustal levels) of charnockites, mafic granulites and basic lithologies may have generated the melts of metaluminous and alkaline granites. The ca. 3000 Ma old peraluminous granites are suggested to have formed by partial melting of basic rocks such as basalt and amphibolite under water-excess condition at lower crustal levels. Metaluminous granites, greenstone lithologies and the ca. 3000 Ma old peraluminous gneisses are the precursors for the peraluminous components of the Closepet granite and the KGA suite of Andhra Pradesh. The alkaline granite of Medak-Nizamabad is post-collisional and is emplaced in a rift-free setting.