Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Amphibolites from the Southern Part of Gadag Greenstone Belt, Karnataka

Gadag Greenstone Belt (GGB) is the northern continuation of Chitradurga Greenstone Belt (CGB). It consists of a variety of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks. Two types of metavolcanic assemblages are found in this terrane (l) the tholeute-calc-alkaline island arc bimodal assemblage and (u) the tholeute-high-Mg basalt assemblage The tholente-calc-alkaline assemblage is exposed in the central and northern parts, whereas the tholentic-high-Mg basaltic assemblage is found in the southwestern part of the belt. Tholente-high-Mg basalts are represented by the coarse-grained amphibolites formed under lower amphibolite facies conditions REE and HFSE data along with major element compositions confirm that these coarse-grained amphibolites are tholentic basalts derived from an intraoceanic island arc setting. The REE patterns are coherent, flat to slightly LREE depleted (La/Yb_n =0.79 to 1.20, La/Sm_n =0.84-0.97, Gd/Yb_n=1.07-1.50) with no Eu anomaly. Relationship between compatible and incompatible elements suggests least effects of alteration and no crustal contamination or fractional crystallization. The mixing calculations indicate that these rocks are derived by partial melting of a depleted mantle source, with source composition in between that of the N-MORB and high-Mg basalts.