Compositional variations, thermometry, and probable parental magmas of Archean chromite from the Sargur greenstone belt, Western Dharwar Craton (India)

Abstract The chromite and magnesite deposits from Talur, Sindhuvalli, and Doddakanya in the layered ultramafic-mafic plutonic sequence are a part of the Archean Sargur greenstone belt within the Western Dharwar Craton of the Indian shield. The ultramafic bodies in these three areas are highly sheared and comprise of serpentinized dunite with chromitite bodies along with harzburgite and pyroxenite. Detailed electron microprobe studies reveal intense compositional variability of the chromite grains in silicate-rich chromitite (~ 50 vol% of chromite) and serpentinite (~ 2 vol% of chromite) throughout the entire ultramafic sequence. In Talur, the chromites in massive chromitites (~ 60–70 vol% of chromite) are characterized by relatively lower Mg# (0.28–0.39) compared to chromites from massive chromitites in Sindhuvalli (Mg# = 0.63–0.69). The accessory chromite in dunite from Talur shows higher Cr#, Fe2O3, TiO2, and MnO content than other localities. The range of Fo content of cumulus olivine in dunites from Talur (Fo91-92) is relatively lower than the dunite from Doddakanya (Fo92-93) and net-textured chromitite from Sindhuvalli (Fo95-96). The range of Mg# in the intercumulus clinopyroxene in Talur net-textured chromitite varies between 94 and 99, whereas, in the Sindhuvalli net-textured chromitite, the intercumulus clinopyroxene shows a lower range of Mg# (= 96–97). Chromites in massive and silicate-rich chromitites, and from dunite contain several rounded to subhedral inclusions of silicate minerals of various sizes (~ 4–20 μm). Spherical inclusions of olivine (Fo94) are present in accessory chromites of dunite (Fo87). The Mg-rich clinopyroxene inclusions have Cr2O3 content from 1.5 to 2.3 wt%. The clinopyroxene inclusions in the Talur schlieren-banded chromitite are more magnesian (Mg# = 95–98) compared to the inclusions in chromites of the Sindhuvalli net-textured chromitite (Mg# = 96–97). The euhedral phlogopite inclusions in chromites from the Sindhuvalli net-textured chromitite are Mg-rich (~ 31.09 wt% MgO) with a significant amount of K2O (~ 9.28 wt%). The chlorite inclusion in chromites from the Talur schlieren-banded chromitite is also Mg-rich (~ 39.32 wt% MgO) with Al2O3 ~ 21.01 wt% and a significant amount of Cr2O3 (~ 3.51 wt%). Clinopyroxene (along with phlogopite) inclusions always occur as independent grain testifying their primary nature and might be genetically linked with the chromite crystallization from a primary high-Mg silicate magma. Chlorite and dolomite inclusions may be related to secondary hydrothermal alteration events. The average re-equilibration temperature of the olivine-chromite pairs in the Sindhuvalli net-textured chromitite and Doddaknaya dunite of around 545 °C represents the first stage of metamorphism under reducing conditions. Subsequently, the second hydrothermal episode involved fluids evolving to an average temperature of about 327 °C calculated from the accessory chromite and olivine pairs from Talur dunite, consistent with the abundance of magnesite veins throughout the Talur mines. The computed values of Al2O3, TiO2, and FeO/MgO ratio of the melt show that the parental melt associated with the chromitites in the Sargur greenstone belt has a close resemblance with the parental melt of the chromitites in the Nuggihalli schist belt, which is low-Al komatiitic. In the tectonic discrimination diagrams, most of the primary chromite compositions from Sargur plot within the field of chromites from komatiites from the Archean greenstone belts. Parental komatiitic magma fractionated in the subvolcanic conduits within the thin lithospheric crust and formed the sill-like layered ultramafic-mafic bodies with chromite deposits. These conduits fed the overlying extrusive system that developed the ultramafic-mafic volcanic sequence of the Sargur greenstone belt in the Western Dharwar Craton.