Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Lamprophyres and Associated Dykes from Elchuru, Andhra Pradesh, India

Late stage intrusives, dominantly represented by lamprophyres, form a dyke swann in the Elchuru alkaline pluton of Andhra Pradesh; the other dykes of the swann which are non-lamprophyric include microshonkinite, nepheline syenite porphyry, basanite and olivine dolerite. The Elchuru lamprophyres and their plutonic equivalents, shonkinite and foidolite, consist of clinopyroxene, biotite. alkali feldspar and nepheline. Due to variation in the amount of nepheline, these lamprophyres, cover a wide range of rock types like minette, sannaite and tjosite. A plagioclase- bearing lamprophyre, camptonite, is also present though not abundantly.

The hallmark of the Elchuru lamprophyres is their transitional geochemical character-ranging between alkaline lamprophyres(AL) and calc-alkaline lamprophyres (CAL). From the present study it is surmised that these lamprophyres have crystallised from an LILE and LREE enriched, hydrous basic alkaline (mildly potassic) magma of a deep-seated (mantle?) origin. A petrogenetic scheme is presented covering the evolution of various rock units of the Elchuru alkaline pluton in general and the late stage intrusives (lamprophyres and other associated dykes) in particular.