Greeenstone Belts of South India

GREENSTONE BELTS AND GRANULITES OF
SOUTH INDIA
GREEENSTONE BELTS OF SOUTH
INDIA
• It is characterised by volcanic -dominated, sediment-impoverised and gold rich
greenstone belts, in contrast of WDC
• The greenstone belts are engulfed all sides by younger granatoids
• Most of the greenstone belts are corelatable with that of the Chitradurga belt of WDC
• The greenstone belts of EDC form linear arrays and are called superbelts or composite
belts-extends underneath the CuddapahBasin .
IMPORTANT GREENSTONE SUPERBELTS
OF EDC
• Ramagiri –penekacheria- sirigeri Greenstone belt
• Hundgund Greenstone Belt
• Kolar-Kadiri-Jonnagiri-Huttisuperbelt
• Kolar Greenstone Belt
• Kadiri Greenstone Belt
• Jonnagiri Greenstone Belt
• Hutti Greenstone Belt
• Veligallu-Raichur-Gadwalsuperbelt
• Veligallu Greenstone Belt
• Raichur Greenstone Belt
• Gadwal Greenstone Belt
Ramagiri –penekacheria- sirigeri
Greenstone belt
• Ramagiri greenstone belt is studied in central part near Ramagiri and
Penekacherla because of gold mineralization.
• The regional stratigrahy consist of three main units, lower, middle, and
upper.The regional stratigrahy consist of three main units, lower, middle,
and upper.
• The lower unit in the south-west consist of three mafic-ultra mafic rock,
layered basic intrusion, quartzite, calc silicate rocks, siliceous schist and BIF.
• Middle unit consist of pillowed matabasalt ,chlorite-sericite schist and BIF
• The upper unit consist of Greywackes,BIF,mafic –felsic volcanic and
pyroclastics.
Hungund Greenstone belt
• Hungund belt also known as Kushtagi belt
• Separated from the Ramagiri–sirigeri belt by a narrow zone of
granitoids along the Tungabhadra River
• The belt is dominated by metabasalt along the margins and a
metasedimentary unit the middle.Felsic volcanic underlie the
metasediment , which are mainly greywacke,phyllite with
polymictconglomerate,BIF and ferrodolomite bands.
Hutti Greenstone Belt
• Rich in gold mineralisation called as HuttiMaski belt
• with southern extension to Siruguppaa Cover an area of about 670
km 2 consist of basic volcanic suite, minor BIF in basic acidic volcanics,
greywackes and polymict, granite-clast conglomerate
• The Hutti-Maski belt has a NNW-SSE trend with a sharp hook shaped
bend in the north towards SE.
Kadiri Greenstone belt
• The narrow linear Kadiri Greenstone belt forms in the northern
extensions of Kolar green stone belt , with a small gap of granitoid in
between ,and disappears under the Cuddapah basin in the north
• The belt consist mainly of acid volcanic (rhyolite,quartz-feldspar
porphyry and tuffaceous quartz –sericite schist)with ,granite
clast,conglomerate,graywackes and BIF.
Jonnagiri Greenstone belt
• It is spindle shaped belt,situated north of Gooty..The belt is composed
mostly of pillowed and amygdular basic volcanics basic ultrabasic sills,
felsic volcanic, oxide and sulphidefacies .
Gadwal Greenstone belt
• This belt extending up to Narayanpet also called Narayanpet

belt .It is also madeof pillowed to massive metabasalt, feldsic
volcanic ,volcanoclastic,BIF
Veligallu Greenstone belt
• This belt split in to two parallel arms by the intervening intrusive
granite, and continues in the right up to boundary of the Cuddapah
basin.
• Consist essentially of metabasaltic amphibolites with pillow and
amygdales,minor ultramafic schist and BIF, feldsic volcanic and
polymict conglomerate .
Raichur Greenstone Belt

• Raichur Greenstone Belt Also called Dedurg belt .it consist of tholeiitic
metabasalt with subordinate felsic volcanic and chert. .
Minor Greenstone Belts
Manglur belt
It occurs to the north of Hutti and Raichur belts and consist of thoeiitic
basalt and feldsic volcanic, along with granite, and conglomerate.
Pedddavuru Belt
It is small U shaped schist belt situated in the northern fringe of the
Cuddapah basin, it consist of tholeiitic dacite volcanic and BIF
Medavaram belt
It consist of ofmetabasalt and BIF
Tsundapalle belt
It situated to the east of Velligallu belt in the south of Cuddapah basin
occurs as two parallel bands, and consist of metabasaltic amphibolites,
gabbroic sills and acid volcanic.
Penumuru belt
Occuring near chittoor in the south consist of amphibolites, sillimanite-
quartz schist and minor ultramafics
GRANULITES OF SOUTH INDIA
INTRODUCTION
• The Southern granulite terrain (SGT), the wedge-shaped

southern termination of Peninsular India.
• It includes several crustal blocks and intervening collisional

sutures/shears which developed through multiple organic
cycles during Mesoarchean to late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian.
• The Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT) is known as Pandyan
Mobile Belt, the name is given by Ramakrishnan.
• He divided the enlarged Pandyan Mobile Belt into 3 zones.

They are :
Northen marginal Zone (NMZ)
Central Zone (CZ) and
Southern Zone (SZ).
• The northen marginal zone lies just north of the E-W trending
Moyar-Bhavani Shear Zone.
• The Central zone is located between Moyar-Bhavani Shear

Zone and Palghat-Cavuery Shear Zone.
• The area lying to the south of the Palghat-Cauvery Shear

Zone is the Southern Zone.
• The term Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT) arises from the
recognition that the region south of the Dharwar Craton is
dominantly composed of granulite facies rocks.
• SGT ranks as one of the most widely studied geological

terranes in the world with several world-class examples of
rock types and geological processes.
GEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE GRANULITE BLOCKS
• Southern Granulite Terrain is dissected by Proterozoic shear zones that

separate granulite rocks into four regions or blocks. They are:
1.Madras Block
2.Nilgiri Block
3.Madurai Block
4.Trivandrum Block
• The SGT is bordered on the north by the Dharwar Craton and
by ocean on the other three sides.
• The major crustal blocks in the SGT include the Coorg,

Salem, Nilgiri, Madras, Madurai, Trivandrum, and Nagercoil.
• The north of Coorg Block is welded to the Dharwar Craton along the
Mercara suture, and to the south with Nilgiri Block along the Moyar
suture.
• The Madras block is bordered on the west by the Nallamalai suture.
• The Madurai and Trivandrum Blocks to the south are separated by the
Achankovil zone.
• The Nagercoil block at the tip of the peninsula is a fragmental crustal

block.
LITHOLOGY
• Charnockite (orthopyroxene-bearing anhydrous granulite),
the type area of which is located in the Pallavaram Hills of
the Madras block, is the dominant rock type in most of the
crustal blocks of the SGT (except the Trivandrum block).
• The next major type of rock is TTG (tonalite-trondhjemite-

granodiorite) gneisses and their migmatized variant, forming
the basements rock in some of the older crustal blocks.
• Intrusive granitoids of both Archean and Proterozoic ages
occur in some of the blocks.
• Supracrustal rocks including metasediments of different

metamorphic facies occur largely within Trivandrum block,
also termed as the Kerala Khondalite Belt.
• The suture zones and their flanks are dominated by

amphibolites or their higher grade equivalents, mafic
and ultramafic units, and banded iron formations.
• Within the Palghat-Cauvery Shear Zone, around Salem town,
large exposure of ultramafic rocks occur.
• Among the rock types in the SGT that have attracted global
attention are the charnockites and Mg-Al rich ultrahigh-
temperature (UHT) granulites.
STRUCTURAL SET UP OF SGT
• The multiple deformations experienced by the Archean-

Proterozoic rocks have affected them differently in different
sectors.
• According to the Geological Survey of India, the granulite

terrain is characterized by isoclinal and Asymmetrical F1
folds with NNE-SSW axial planes, observed in both 2.6-2.5
Ga old charnockites and supracrustal.
• The superposed F2 folds with WNW-ESE trend affected
migmatites, granulites and 2450 Ma old granites.
CONCLUSION
• The Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT) is known as Pandyan Mobile
Belt
• It has a diverse assemblage of Precambrian lithologies.
• The SGT will continue to remain in focus not only for case studies
related to lithology and structure, but also for integrated tectonic
models in understanding the formation and evolution of continental
crust, crustmantle dynamics, as well as global correlations and
connections.

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GREENSTONE BELTS AND GRANULITES OF

• The greenstone belts are engulfed all sides by younger granatoids

Gadwal Greenstone belt

• This belt extending up to Narayanpet also called Narayanpet

Raichur Greenstone Belt

• The Southern granulite terrain (SGT), the wedge-shaped

• It includes several crustal blocks and intervening collisional

• He divided the enlarged Pandyan Mobile Belt into 3 zones.

• The Central zone is located between Moyar-Bhavani Shear

• The area lying to the south of the Palghat-Cauvery Shear

• SGT ranks as one of the most widely studied geological

• Southern Granulite Terrain is dissected by Proterozoic shear zones that

• The major crustal blocks in the SGT include the Coorg,

• The Madras block is bordered on the west by the Nallamalai suture.

• The Nagercoil block at the tip of the peninsula is a fragmental crustal

• The next major type of rock is TTG (tonalite-trondhjemite-

• Supracrustal rocks including metasediments of different

• The suture zones and their flanks are dominated by

• The multiple deformations experienced by the Archean-

• According to the Geological Survey of India, the granulite

• It has a diverse assemblage of Precambrian lithologies.

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