S - Mitra - Singhbhum Craton PDF

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JOURNAL GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY OF INDIA
SAUMITRA MISRA
Vol.67, March 2006, pp.356-378
Precambrian Chronostratigraphic Growth of Singhbhum-Orissa

Craton, Eastern Indian Shield: An Alternative Model
SAUMITRA MISRA
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur - 721 302
Email: saumitra_misra@yahoo.co.uk
Abstract: The Precambrian granite-greenstone terrain of eastern Indian shield includes Singhbhum-Orissa craton;
Singhbhum Mobile Belt supracrustals (Singhbhum Group) along its northern, eastern and western margins; and
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex towards further north. Recent isotopic ages along with other geological considerations
show that these three crustal units perhaps constitute a single cratonic block, which grew in sequence from ~3.55 to
1.00 Ga. The center of crustal growth gradually migrated with younging from the present south to north. Prior to the
onset of this crustal growth, there was a still older crust in this region at ~3.60 Ga, the remnants of which are preserved
only as detrital zircons at present. However, the Singhbhum-Orissa craton represented the nucleus of the presently
existing cratonic block, which had formed between ~3.55 and 3.12 Ga through two successive supracrustal-granite
cycles, well separated by an erosional unconformity. The first cycle included Older Metamorphic Group supracrustals,
Older Metamorphic Tonalite Gneiss and Singhbhum Granite; phase-I, Singhbhum Granite; phases II, Chakradharpur
Granite Gneiss and Nilgiri Granite that grew in sequence from ~3.55 to 3.30 Ga. The second cycle included Iron Ore
Group supracrustals followed by emplacement of Bonai Granite and Singhbhum Granite; phase III, and had an evolutionary
history ranging from ~3.30 to 3.16 Ga or up to ~3.12 Ga. The supracrustal-granite cycles began with formation of
supracrustal sequences in anorogenic setting, followed successively by major folding during following orogeny and
final emplacement of orogenic granites into these deformed supracrustals. The emplacement of anorogenic Mayurbhanj
Granite pluton with Mayurbhanj Gabbro along the northeastern margin of the craton at ~3.09 Ga marked the stabilization
of Singhbhum-Orissa craton. Emplacement of Singhbhum Granite; phase II, Singhbhum Granite; phase III and Mayurbhanj
Gabbro recorded metamorphism on the older rock units of Singhbhum-Orissa craton. In the late Meso- to Neoarchaean
period Singhbhum-Orissa craton grew along its northern, western and eastern margins by formation of a supracrustal
sequence of syn-rift nature including mostly clastic sediments and minor basic and acid volcanics, which followed
upward by major basic volcanisms. These supracrustals included Singhbhum Group, which unconformably overlay the
Singhbhum Granite; phase-III and equivalent granite basements and was subjected to two major phases of folding,
before being overlain by undeformed Simlipal volcano-sedimentary basin occurring at the eastern part of the craton. The
evolution of Singhbhum Group and Simlipal basin took place between ~3.12 and 3.09 Ga, before being intruded by
anorogenic Mayurbhanj Granite (~3.09 Ga) and was followed by the formation of overlying riftogenic Dalma Group
and adjacent Dhanjori Group of basic volcanics and some minor acid plutonics at the marginal part of the craton at
~2.80 Ga and their subsequent major metamorphism at ~2.50 Ga. A critical review of present available geological and
radiometric age data suggests that Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex was evolved from a supracrustal precursor, some of
them were formed at least before ~2.3 Ga. The Singhbhum Group supracrustals and adjacent Chotanagpur Gneissic
Complex perhaps had evolved from a common sedimentary precursor along with volcanics, which were deposited in a
marine basin that existed at the present north of Singhbhum-Orissa craton during late Mesoarchaean period. The syn-rift
sedimentary assemblage of the Singhbhum Group was deposited along the margin of Singhbhum-Orissa craton, whereas
the post-rift stable shelf sedimentary precursor of the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex was deposited towards further
north. In the Neoarchaean period between ~ >3.09 Ga and ~2.5 Ga the nature of deformation along the marginal part of
Singhbhum-Orissa craton was extensional type. In the following Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic period, the protolith of
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex grew in sequence between ~ > 2.3 and 1.0 Ga through two time-separated supracrustalgranite cycles where the first and second cycles ended at ~1.60 and 1.00 Ga respectively. Radiometric ages suggest that
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex along with Singhbhum Group experienced major magmato-metamorphic activities during
Palaeo- and Mesoproterozoic periods at ~2.5 or >2.3 Ga, 1.6 Ga, 1.0 Ga and 0.9 Ga. During this period SinghbhumThis paper is dedicated to the memory of Late Prof. Ajit Kumar Saha, who spent a major part of his life in understanding the evolution
of the Singhbhum-Orissa Craton, Eastern India.
0016-7622/2006-67-3-356/$ 1.00 GEOL. SOC. INDIA
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.67, MARCH 2006
PRECAMBRIAN CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC GROWTH OF SINGHBHUM-ORISSA CRATON, EASTERN INDIAN SHIELD
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Orissa craton recorded basic volcanism (Jagannathpur and possibly Malangtoli Volcanics) at ~2.25 Ga, followed by
deposition of clastic sediments (Kolhan Group) and finally emplacement of mafic dykes and sills (Newer Dolerite) in
three successive sequences at ~2.0 Ga, 1.6 Ga and 1.0 Ga, where all these phenomena took place under anorogenic
setting. The Singhbhum Shear Zone, which marked a tectonic boundary between Singhbhum-Orissa craton and Singhbhum
Mobile Belt to north, was reactivated several times during geological past, the oldest being at ~3.09 Ga, followed by
emplacement of Soda Granite pluton along this shear zone at ~2.22 Ga, copper mineralization at ~1.77 Ga, shearing at
~ 1.67-1.63 Ga, uranium mineralisation at ~1.58- 1.48 Ga and the final phase of shearing at ~1.0 Ga.
Keywords: Precambrian chronostratigraphic evolution, Singhbhum Mobile Belt, Singhbhum Shear Zone, Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex, Singhbhum-Orissa craton.
INTRODUCTION
The Singhbhum-Orissa craton (Fig.1) forms a triangular

crustal block between latitudes 210' and 2315' N and
longitudes 8440' and 8645' E of a surface area
~40,000 sq. km (Saha, 1994). This crustal block is broadly
bounded by Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex to the north,
Eastern Ghat Granulite Belt and the Bastar craton to the
south and west respectively (not shown in figure), and by
alluvium to the east.
The craton consists mainly of granitoids, ranging in
composition from tonalite in the oldest to alkali feldspar
granite in the youngest, with engulfed and overlying
metasedimentary and metavolcanic schists. In general, the
central part of the craton is occupied by granitoids of
relatively older ages, whereas the metasediments, basic
volcanics and younger granites occur at the margins mainly
along the north, west and east (Fig. 2).
The lithological-cum-chronostratigraphic succession of
this craton, which is widely referred to in geological
literature, has been revised more than a decade ago (Saha et
al. 1988) (Table 1). Subsequently, a number of new
radiometric ages on the different litho-units of this craton
have been generated (Bandyopadhyay et al. 2001; Ghosh et
al. 1996; Goswami et al. 1995; Misra et al. 1999, 2000;
Misra and Johnson, 2005; Sengupta et al. 1991, 1996;
Sharma et al. 1994; Vohra et al. 1991). It appears that the
existing Precambrian chronostratigraphy of this craton needs
revision in light of the newly available radiometric ages.
Certain aspects of Archaean evolution of the craton have
been summarised by Mukhopadhyay (2001). Sengupta and
Mukhopadhyay (2000) and Gupta and Basu (2000) also
attempted to revise the chronostratigraphy of the whole
Singhbhum-Orissa craton or part of it. The limitations of
their attempts were that the more recent technically improved
radiometric ages of this craton (Ghosh et al. 1996; Goswami
et al. 1995; Misra et al. 1999, 2000; Sharma et al. 1994)
were not considered in these papers. In the present paper,
therefore, a detailed revision of the Precambrian
chronostratigraphy of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton has been
made incorporating the latest reliable radiometric ages along

with new ideas. A brief discussion on possible relationship
between the Singhbhum-Orissa craton and the Chotanagpur
Fig. 1. (a) A sketch map of India shows position of SinghbhumOrissa craton (SOC) (after Naqvi and Rogers, 1987);
(b) A generalised geological map of Singhbhum-Orissa
craton (SOC) and adjacent areas (after Mukhopadhyay,
2001). The description of lithotypes in legend is from north
to south as shown in the map.
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SAUMITRA MISRA
Singhbhum Granite-II, Nilgiri and

Chakradharpur granite
Fig.2. A simplified geological map of Singhbhum-Orissa craton showing different lithounits (after Saha, 1994, Mukhopadhyay et al.
1990) and their modified ages of formation as understood from recent studies (see text for discussion). Some modification on
distribution of SBG-I in the map is made following new findings of Ghosh et al. (1996). The expected ages of formation of the
supracrustals and some other lithounits (which are not dated directly) are marked by star (*). Abbreviations of lithounit names in
alphabetical order: AG- Arkasani Granite, BG- Bonai Granite, CG- Chakradharpur Granite Gneiss, CGC- Chotanagpur Gneissic
Complex, DLV- Dalma Volcanics, DNV- Dhanjori Volcanics, GOND- Gondwana and equivalent sediments, IOG- Iron Ore
Group, JPV- Jagannathpur Volcanics, KG- Kuilapal Granite Gneiss, MBG- Mayurbhanj Granite, MG- Mayurbhanj Gabbro,
MTV- Malangtoli Volcanics, NG- Nilgiri Granite, OMG- Older Metamorphic Group, OMTG- Older Metamorphic Tonalite
Gneiss, SBG-I -Singhbhum Granite (phase I), SBG-IISinghbhum Granite (Phase II), SBG-III Singhbhum Granite (Phase III),
SG- Soda Granite, SMB- Singhbhum Mobile Belt, SPLV- Simlipal volcano-sedimentary basin, UGG- Unclassified granite/
granulites. Solid ellipses- sample locations of Misra et al. (1999), solid pentagons- sample locations of Roy et al. (2000 a,b).
FF- eastern extension of Singhbhum Shear Zone passing through Kendua.
Fig.3. A sketch map of Singhbhum-Chotanagpur area (after Sarkar,

1982) showing progressive development of younger
continental crust north of Singhbhum-Orissa nucleus during
late Mesoarchaean to Mesoproterozoic period.
Gneissic Complex has been made with reference to this

modified chronostratigraphy.
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY OF SINGHBHUM-ORISSA
CRATON AND ADJACENT AREA
A brief description of the lithological succession of the

Singhbhum-Orissa craton (Figs.1 and 2) as suggested by
Saha et al. (1988) and Saha (1994) is as follows (Table 1):
The oldest known rocks of the craton, the Older
Metamorphic Group (OMG) (Saha, 1994), include
amphibolite facies pelitic schists, quartz-magnetitecummingtonite schists, quartzites, banded calc-gneisses,
para- and ortho-amphibolites, which excluding the last lithounit were originally sedimentary rocks deposited on an
unknown base. Abundance of siliceous-aluminous sediments
with detrital zircon in the OMG suggests that these sediments
were derived from a still older granitoid source. These rocks
were deformed, intensely folded and intruded by a biotite(hornblende)-tonalite gneiss, known as the Older
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Metamorphic Tonalite Gneiss (OMTG) (Saha, 1994), which

grades in composition to granodiorite. In the type area near
Champua, the OMTG rocks contain numerous small
enclaves of ortho- and para- amphibolites and rarely biotitemuscovite schists of OMG, and are intruded by the
Singhbhum Granite, particularly near the border regions.
Observing structural unity between the OMG and OMTG,
migmatitic nature of OMG enclaves, concordant thin
injections of tonalites within the enclaves, and parallelism
of foliations of the host gneisses and the enclaves, Saha
(1994) suggested that the tonalite gneiss was emplaced
synkinematically with the deformation and metamorphism
of the OMG.
The formation of the OMG and the OMTG was
successively followed by the emplacement of the Singhbhum
Granite, phase I (SBG-I) and phase II (SBG-II), the
deposition and folding of the Iron Ore Group (IOG)
supracrustals, and the emplacement of the Singhbhum
Granite, phase III (SBG-III) (Saha, 1994). This conclusion
is based on the observation that the SBG-I and II contain
enclaves of OMG amphibolites and OMTG, but has no
enclaves of folded IOG rocks, which are only present within
the SBG-III. Among the three phases of the Singhbhum
Granite, the SBG-III is the most abundant and occurs all
around the craton. The SBG-I occurs as small patches at the
northern and eastern parts of the craton and the SBG-II is
mainly confined to the southern contacts of the OMTG. The
SBG-I and II range in composition from tonalite to
granodiorite, whereas the SBG-III is granodiorite to granite
in composition.
The IOG supracrustals (Saha, 1994) consist of low-grade
metasedimentary rocks including phyllite, tuffaceous shale,
banded hematite jasper (BHJ) with iron ore, and ferruginous
quartzite, local dolomite, felsic-, intermediate- and mafic
volcanics, and mafic sill-like intrusives. This volcanosedimentary succession appears to have been deposited in
three major basins known as the Jamda-Koira basin, PatkaGorumahisani-Badampahar basin and Palalahara-Daitari
basin situated along the western and northern, eastern and
southern margins respectively of the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton. Though there are divergent views existed on the
relative age of the Singhbhum Granite and the IOG rocks
(Acharyya, 1993; Banerjee, 1982; Banerji, 1977; Dunn,
1929; Dunn and Dey, 1942; Iyengar and Murthy, 1982;
Murty and Acharya, 1975; Sarkar and Saha, 1977; 1983),
Saha (1994) concluded that the three Iron Ore basins were
possibly interconnected and formed in the same time
between the emplacement of the SBG-II and SBG-III. (cf.
Mukhopadhyay, 2001).
The equivalent granite bodies of the Singhbhum Granite
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SAUMITRA MISRA
Table 1. Generalised chronostratigraphic succession in the Singhbhum-Orissa craton (after Saha et al. 1988)
Newer dolerite dykes and sills
Mayurbhanj Granite
Gabbro-anorthosite-ultramafics
Kolhan Group
c.1600-950 Ma
c.2100 Ma
c.2100-2200 Ma
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Unconformity - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jagannathpur Lava

Malangtoli Lava
Dhanjori-Simlipal
Lavas (c.2300 Ma)
Quartzite-conglomerate
Pelitic and arenaceous

Metasediment with mafic
sills (c. 2300-2400 Ma)
Dhanjori
Group
Singhbhum
Group
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Unconformity - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Singhbhum Granite (Phase II)

Mafic lava, tuff, acid volcanics
tuffaceous shale, banded haematite jasper
and banded haematite quartzite
with iron ores, ferruginous chert, local
dolomite and quartzitic sandstone
c. 3.1 Ga
Iron Ore
Group
Singhbhum Granite (Phase I & II)

c.3.3 Ga
Nilgiri Granite
Bonai Granite
Folding and metamorphism of OMG and OMTG

Older Metamorphic Tonalite-Gneiss (OMTG)
Older Metamorphic Group (OMG): Pelitic schist,
quartzite, para-amphibolite, ortho-amphibolite
c. 3.4-3.5 Ga
c. 3.775 Ga
are the Bonai Granite, Nilgiri Granite and Chakradharpur

Granite Gneiss, occurring at the western, southeastern and
northern margins of the Singhbhum Granite respectively.
The Bonai Granite (Sengupta et al. 1991, 1993; Saha, 1994)
is separated from the main batholith by a belt of IOG
supracrustals (Jamda-Koira horse shoe synclinorium). The
most dominant unit of this pluton is a porphyritic granitoid
intimately associated with a less abundant equigranular unit,
though field relationship of these two phases is not clear.
The porphyritic granite ranges in composition from granite
to granodiorite and rarely to tonalite, whereas the
equigranular variety is a two-mica trondhjemite. The
porphyritic granite phase shows intrusive relationship with
the IOG metalavas at the northeastern part of the pluton and
contains large xenolithic blocks of these metalavas.
Therefore, the Bonai Granite pluton is younger than the IOG
supracrustals and stratigraphically equivalent to SBG-III.
The Nilgiri Granite (Saha, 1994), forms the southeastern
part of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton and is separated from
the main Singhbhum Granite by a narrow strip (3 to 8 km
wide) of IOG phyllite and schistose epidiorite, though no
direct contact between these two granite bodies is seen. The
c. 4.0 Ga
composition of the Nilgiri Granite varies from tonalitetrondhjemite-granodiorite to granite. This pluton is intruded
by the younger Mayurbhanj Granite along its margin.
The Chakradharpur Granite Gneiss (Bandyopadhyay and
Sengupta, 1984; Sengupta et al. 1983) is an isolated body
of the Singhbhum Granite occurring within the younger
supracrustal cover, the Singhbhum Group, present along the
northern, eastern and northwestern margins of the craton
with a number of granite intrusives. This granite gneiss
consists of an older tonalite gneiss forming the basement of
the overlying Singhbhum Group and a younger pegmatitic
granodiorite-granite unit, which intruded the older gneiss
as well as enveloping supracrustals. Considering the
geochemistry, the older tonalite gneiss phase is considered
equivalent to the SBG-I or II, whereas the pegmatitic phase
is considered equivalent to the younger granite plutons (e.g.
Arkasani Granite and Mayurbhanj Granite) occurring within
the Singhbhum Group (Saha, 1994).
The curvilinear belt of Singhbhum Group (SG),
separating the Singhbhum-Orissa craton from the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex, is also known as the
Singhbhum Mobile Belt or North Singhbhum Mobile Belt
(Saha, 1994; Gupta and Basu, 2000). The SG unconformably

overlies the Singhbhum Granite and its equivalent Bonai
Granite and the older member of Chakradharpur Granite
Gneiss (Bandyopadhyay and Sengupta, 1984; Saha, 1994;
Sengupta et al. 1991). Its boundary with the SinghbhumOrissa craton is marked by a distinct curvilinear shear
zone known as the Singhbhum Shear Zone, which extends
from west of Baharagora in the east (Naha, 1960) to just
southwest of Chakradharpur, near Sonua-Lotapahar area
(Mukhopadhyay et al. 1990). However, Saha (1994)
believed that this shear zone grades into a high-angle fault
towards northwest and continues further southwest up to
the western margin of the Bonai Granite. The deep-seated
nature of this shear zone is indicated by (1) the presence of
numerous ultramafic bodies all along the southern margin
of the thrust zone and in the thrust zone itself (Saha, 1994),
and (2) regional gravity studies (Verma et al. 1984). The
SG consists of pelitic and semipelitic schists, quartzites,
para-amphibolites, felsic to intermediate tuffs, and
metamorphosed mafic sills. This supracrustal sequence was
affected by two major phases of folding followed by shearing
along the Singhbhum Shear Zone (Saha, 1994) and was
intruded by younger undeformed Mayurbhanj Granite (Saha
et al. 1977) and Tamperkola Granite (Bandyopadhyay et al.
2001) in the eastern and the western parts of the belt
respectively. The supracrustals are also intruded by three
more granite plutons, the Kuilapal Granite (Ghosh, 1963;
Gupta and Basu, 2000; Nath and Bhattacharya, 2001)
occurring in the northeastern part of the mobile belt, and
the Soda Granite (Dunn and Dey, 1942; Dasgupta et al. 1993)
and Arkasani Granite (Chattopadhyaya and Banerji, 1984),
which are associated with the Singhbhum Shear Zone.
The Singhbhum Group is overlain by a metavolcanic
sequence known as the Dalma Volcanics (Bose, 1994; Gupta
and Basu, 2000; Saha, 1994). The sequence begins with
shale-phyllite, carbon phyllite-tuff with interlayered
volcanics, which is followed upward by extensive ultramafic
volcanoclastics, conglomeratic flows and intrusives of
komatiite. This lower ultramafic horizon is followed upward
by tholeiite lava flows. The lower ultramafic and upper
tholeiite members are separated from each other by a horizon
of feebly reworked pyroclastic rocks. Inter-trappean beds
are also present within the Dalma Volcanics. Some felsic
volcanic rocks occur north of the Dalma belt as prominent
ignimbrite bodies.
Another group of supracrustals, overlying the Singhbhum
Granite and IOG rocks is the Dhanjori Group (Sarkar and
Saha, 1962, 1963, 1977; Saha, 1994). It occurs at the
northeastern part of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton adjacent
to and south of the Singhbhum Shear Zone and is considered
361
older than the Mayurbhanj Granite (Saha, 1994). There is

some confusion regarding its proper stratigraphic position
in relation to the Singhbhum Group. A group of workers
believes that the Dhanjori Group is younger than the lower
Chaibasa Formation of the Singhbhum Group, which is
overthrust on the former (Dunn and Dey, 1942; Sarkar and
Saha, 1977). The other group, on the basis of their
observations on structural younging of the successive
members of the Dhanjori Group and juxtaposing Chaibasa
Formation in the Rakha mines area, suggests that the
Dhanjori Group is older and is succeeded by the Chaibasa
Formation in the normal direction of younging (Sarkar and
Deb, 1974; Mukhopadhyay, 1976). Saha (1994), on the basis
of structural relationship between the high- and low-grade
metamorphics along the Singhbhum Shear Zone and on
geochemical similarities between the Dalma and the
Dhanjori Lavas, however, suggests that the Dhanjori Group
is nearly contemporaneous with the Dalma Volcanics and is
also younger than the Chaibasa Formation. Bose (2000) has
suggested that though these two basic volcanic rocks are
not petrochemically similar, but they are stratigraphically
equivalent. The Dhanjori Group, however, consists of
quartzite and metapelite in the lower horizon, which is
followed upward by mafic and ultramafic tuffs and
intrusives, and tholeiitic lavas in the stratigraphic younging
direction (Dunn and Dey, 1942; Gupta et al. 1985; Saha,
1994).
The large oval-shaped undeformed Simlipal volcanosedimentary basin (Iyengar and Banerjee, 1964) at the
eastern part of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton overlies the
Singhbhum Granite, Iron Ore Group (IOG), Nilgiri Granite
and Singhbhum Group and intruded by a gabbro-noriteanorthosite-ultramafic body (described as Mayurbhanj
Gabbro in the remaining text) and the Mayurbhanj Granite
(Saha, 1994). This sequence begins with a basal arkosic
orthoquartzite (locally conglomerate), followed by three
alternate bands of basic volcanics, separated by two
prominent inter-trappean orthoquartzite bands. The
volcanics mainly consist of spilitic lavas and tuffs (Iyengar
and Banerjee, 1964; Saha, 1994). At the central part of this
volcanosedimentary basin, there occurs a differentiated sill,
named as Amjori Sill.
Besides these volcanic rocks to the east, two more
undeformed basic volcanic units are also present at the
western and southwestern parts of the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton, namely the Jagannathpur and the Malangtoli Lavas
(Saha, 1994). These lavas are also described in literature as
Dangoapasi Lava (Dunn, 1940; Banerjee, 1982) and Nuakot
Volcanic rocks (Iyengar and Murthy, 1982). Both the lavas
are post-Singhbhum Granite in age and overlain by
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SAUMITRA MISRA
undeformed Kolhan Group or equivalent sediments and

show low grade metamorphism (Saha, 1994). The
Jagannathpur and Malangtoli Volcanics are mostly basaltic
andesite in composition (Bose, 2000). Saha (1994) believed
that the Simlipal, Jagannathpur and Malangtoli Volcanics
are also contemporaneous or near-contemporaneous with
the Dalma Volcanics, though Sengupta et al. (1997) included
the latter two volcanics within the Iron Ore group.
The deposition of the Kolhan Group of sediments over
the Jagannathpur Lava was suggested to have followed by
the emplacement of voluminous Mayurbhanj Gabbro,
Mayurbhanj Granite (MBG) and Newer Dolerite in sequence
(Saha et al. 1988), though stratigraphic relationship between
the Kolhan Group and the Mayurbhanj Gabbro is not clear.
The Kolhan Group (Saha, 1994), which is undeformed and
occurring at the western margin of the Singhbhum Granite,
consists of sandstone, conglomerate, argillaceous limestone
and shale. The MBG, occurring at the northeastern part of
the Singhbhum-Orissa craton, is intrusive into the
Singhbhum Granite and Singhbhum Group and is considered
younger than the associated Mayurbhanj Gabbro (Saha et
al. 1977). The MBG is a biotite-hornblende bearing syenogranite grading to alkali-feldspar granite in composition.
The occurrence of Mayurbhanj Gabbro is also reported from
the western margin of the craton between the IOG and the
Bonai Granite. The Newer Dolerite (Saha, 1994) occurs as
dykes and sills having a dominant NNE to NE and a
subsidiary NW trend, ranging in width from less than 10 cm
to over 1 km and in length from a few meters to over 20 km
with a spacing ranging from one to four per km. The dykes
and sills are mostly quartz diorite in composition having
an early Mg-rich phase and a late Fe-rich phase.
THE REVISED CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY OF
SINGHBHUM-ORISSA CRATON AND
SINGHBHUM MOBILE BELT
The modified Precambrian chronostratigraphy of the

Singhbhum-Orissa craton is presented in Table 2.
Distribution of different chronological units has been shown
on a simplified geological map of this craton in Fig.2. In
reconstructing this succession, importance is primarily given
on those radiometric ages, which are geologically significant
and robust. The U-Pb/ Pb-Pb whole-rock and zircon ages
and Sm-Nd whole rock ages are, in general, considered as
the formation ages of the igneous protoliths in question.
Some exceptions are also there because the stratigraphic
relationships between lithounits, however, are given more
importance in selecting radiometric age of formation of any
particular lithounit in question. The U-Pb and Pb-Pb ages
of zircons were determined by various methods. For U-Pb

isotopic analyses of zircons by mass spectrometers, samples
were prepared by low contamination isotope dilution
techniques (cf. Sengupta et al. 1996). The Pb-Pb ages of
zircons were determined by insitu Pb isotope analyses of
the samples using a small ion microprobe (Wiedenbeck and
Goswami, 1994). The K-Ar and Ar40-Ar39 hornblende ages
and whole-rock Rb-Sr ages are considered primarily as
metamorphic ages of the lithounits (cf. Faure, 1986).
The detrital zircons recovered from the OMG rocks,
representing the oldest litho-unit of the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton, have yielded insitu Pb-Pb minimum ages of zircons
as old as ~3.6 Ga (362838 Ma) and a cluster at ~ 3.55 Ga
(355113 Ma, 355521 Ma, 352219 Ma, 358325 Ma),
which constrain the upper age limit of deposition of the
OMG sediments (Goswami et al. 1995). These metasediments, which were deposited on an unknown base, are
suggested to have been derived from a granitoid source
(Saha, 1994). Hence, the ~3.6 Ga age also indicates the age
of this precursor granitoid, remnants of which is either not
yet discovered, or not preserved in the present geologic
record.
The OMTG, which is intrusive into the OMG rocks and
is considered to represent the oldest stable granitoid crust
in the Singhbhum-Orissa craton, has been dated by various
radiometric methods. The whole-rock Pb-Pb age obtained
for these rocks is ~ 3.38 Ga (337898 Ma), Rb-Sr age
~3.28 Ga (3280130 Ma) (Moorbath et al. 1986); and
Sm-Nd age ~3.29 Ga (328835 Ma) (Sharma et al. 1994).
The insitu Pb-Pb zircon minimum ages of the OMTG
cluster at ~3.44 Ga (345735 Ma, 34379 Ma) and
~3.24 Ga (32417 Ma) (Misra et al. 1999). The subhedral
prismatic zircons and zircons occurring as overgrowth in
the OMG metasediments are also dated by the same method,
which show that the major magmatic and metasomatic zircon
forming events in the Singhbhum-Orissa craton took
place at ~3.42 Ga (34209 Ma) and 3.24 Ga (322716 Ma,
323617 Ma, 328623 Ma, 325122 Ma) respectively
(Goswami et al. 1995; Misra et al. 1999). Therefore, the
OMTG was formed between ~3.44 and 3.42 Ga (cf.
Mukhopadhyay, 2001). This ~3.42 Ga magmato-metamorphic event is also supported by K-Ar muscovite ages of
a pegmatite body (346352 Ma, 350046 Ma) occurring
northwest of Onlajori (Fig.2) (Sarkar et al. 1969). These
rocks were also dated earlier by whole rock Sm-Nd
method to be as old as ~3.77 Ga (377589 Ma, Basu et al.
1981). This isochron is later found to be erratic (Moorbath
et al. 1986) and the corresponding age has, therefore, been
withdrawn (Sharma et al. 1994). A xenocrystic zircon (which
is encased within distinct thin zircon overgrowth) recovered

Dhanjori Volcanics- mafic and ultramafic tuffs and intrusives,
tholeiitic basalts with basal quartzite-conglomeratee
Dalma Volcanics- lower unit of highly magnesian ultrabasic lava,
followed upward by feebly reworked pyroclastics and mafic lavase
Deposition of Kolhan Group of sediments.
Eruption of Jagannathpur and Malangtoli basic lavas.
Major metamorphism along the margins of SinghbhumOrissa craton.
Dhanjori and Dalma Groups of mafic Volcanism within

Singhbhum Mobile Belt.
Felsic plutonism along southern margin of SinghbhumOrissa craton.
14
13
12
11
Small alkali feldspar granite plutons along southern margin

of Singhbhum-Orissa cratond
Tamperkola Granite- alkali feldspar granite with marginal

volcanicsa
~ 2.25 Ga7,17
Basaltic andesiteb
~ 2.80 Ga4, 17, 18
~ 2.50 Ga17, 18
ca ~< 2.25 Ga
Phyllitic shale
Argillaceous limestone
Basal sandstone-conglomeratee
~ 2.22 Ga24
Soda Granite- tonalite to granitec
Reactivation of Singhbhum Shear Zone and emplacement of

Soda Granite pluton.
~ 2.00 Ga12, 26
~1.77 Ga 8
~ 1.64-1.54 Ga20, 24, 25, 2 6, 28
Newer Dolerite: Mostly (99 %) quartz doleritee
15
Shearing along Singhbhum Shear Zone (~1.67- 1.63 Ga).
Kuilapal Granite- mostly granite to granodiorite and tonaliteh
Emplacement of first phase of Newer Dolerite dykes and sills
Formation of Kuilapal Granite Gneiss within Singhbhum

Mobile Belt (~1.64 Ga).
16
Emplacement of second phase of Newer Dolerite

(~1.60 Ga).
Copper sulphide mineralisation along Singhbhum Shear Zone.
Uranium mineralisation along Singhbhum Shear Zone

(~1.58- 1.48 Ga).
17
Metamorphism of mobile belt supracrustals (~1.54 Ga).
~1.20-1.00 Ga12, 25
Age (Ga)
Emplacement of the last and final phase of the Newer Dolerite.
26, 28
~ 1.00 Ga
Rock Types
Metamorphism of mobile belt supracrustals and shearing

along the Singhbhum Shear Zone imprinted on Arkasani
Granite.
18
19
Geological Events
Table 2. A modified chronostratigraphy of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton, eastern India

363
Evolution of Chotanagpur Gneissic

Complex took place between
~> 2.3 and 0.9 Ga1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 21, 23
(Major episodes at ~> 2.3, 1.6-1.5,
1.2-1.0 and 0.9 Ga)
Major mafic volcanism

within Singhbhum
Mobile Belt
Formation and deformation of the Singhbhum Mobile Belt

supracrustals ( Singhbhum Group).
Pelitic and arenaceous metasediments with felsic volcanics

and mafic sillse
Spilitic Lavas and tuffs with basal and interlayered quartzitee
between ca. ~ 3.12- 3.09 Ga
ca. ~ >3.09 Ga
Formation of Iron Ore Group (IOG) and its folding and

metamorphism.
Mafic lava, tuff, felsic volcanics

Tuffaceous shale, BHJ and BHQ with iron ore, local
dolomite, quartzitic sandstone and minor conglomeratee
Bonai Granite- Granite to granodiorite and rarely to two-mica

trondhjemitee, f, i
Emplacement of Bonai Granite pluton
Metamorphism of OMG, OMTG and IOG rocks
SBG-III- Granodiorite to granitee
Emplacement of Singhbhum Granite-III and possible

upper age limit of formation of the Singhbhum Shear Zone.
Thermal metamorphism recorded on OMG rocks due to

emplacement of SBG-III and Bonai Granite.
between ca.~ 3.30- 3.16 Ga

or up to 3.12 Ga
~3.24-3.206, 15, 26
~ 3.16 Ga29
~ 3.12 Ga5
~3.16-3.10 Ga26
Emplacement of SBG-I.
~ 3.38 Ga27, 29
~ 3.44 Ga 5
SBG-I- Tonalite to granodioritee
~3.33- 3.30 Ga5, 15
SBG-II- Granodioritee
Emplacement of SBG-II.
Emplacement of tonalitic rocks occurring as enclaves

within Bonai Granite plutong,i
~3.29 Ga22
19, 30
Nilgiri Granite- Tonalite to granitee
~3.30 Ga3,
Emplacement of Nilgiri Granite pluton.
Thermal metamorphism of OMG and OMTG rocks due

to emplacement of SBG-II and Nilgiri Granite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unconformity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Unconformity~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Formation of Simlipal volcano-sedimentary basin.
~3.09 Ga15
MBG-Hornblende-biotite bearing alkali feldspar granite

to syeno granitee
Mayurbhanj Gabbro- Pyroxene-rich gabbro, olivine gabbro,
norite, olivine norite, anorthosite and picritee
Contemporaneous emplacement of Mayurbhanj Gabbro along

with Mayurbhanj Granite (MBG), the oldest record of
movement along the Singhbhum Shear Zone.
Age (Ga)
~3.09 (metamorphic ages recorded as
~3.07-3.05 Ga5, 26).
Rock Types
Thermal metamorphism of OMG, OMTG, SBG-II and

SBG-III due to emplacement of Mayurbhanj Gabbro.
Geological Events
10
Table 2. Contd...
Clastic sediments
with mafic and
felsic volcanics
Second Greenstone Granite Cycle
First Greenstone
Granite Cycle
364
SAUMITRA MISRA
Deposition of Older Metamorphic Group (OMG) of

sediments over an unknown basement with intermittent
extensive mafic volcanism and plutonism.
Formation of unstable sialic crust not preserved in the

present geologic record.
Represented by sialic nature of overlying sediments and

presence of xenocrystic zircon in theme
Pelitic schist, quartz-magnetite-cummingtonite schist,

banded calc- gneiss, para- and ortho-amphibolitee
OMTG - Biotite (hornblende) tonalite gneiss grading to

granodioritee
Oldest xenocrystic zircon recovered from tonalite xenoliths
within Bonai Granite plutong, i
Rock Types
~3.55 - 3.6 Ga 6
ca. ~ 3.55 - 3.44 Ga
~3.44 Ga 27
~3.44 - 3.42 Ga6, 15
Age (Ga)
Bose, 2000; c Dasgupta et al. 1993;
Misra et al. 2000;
Saha, 1994;
Sengupta et al. 1993;
Sengupta et al. 1996;
Sengupta
International stratigraphic sub-divisions within Precambrian: Palaeoarchaean- 3.8-3.3 Ga, Mesoarchaean- 3.3-2.9 Ga, Neoarchaean- 2.9-2.5 Ga, Palaeoproterozoic- 2.5-1.6 Ga,
Mesoproterozoic- 1.6-0.9 Ga, Neoproterozoic- 0.9-0.54 Ga.
References for lithounits: a Bandyopadhyay et al. 2001;

et al. 1994; i Sengupta et al. 1991.
References for ages: 1 Acharyya, 2001; 2 Acharyya, 2003; 3 Baksi et al. 1987; 4 Bandyopadhyay et al. 2001; 5 Ghosh et al. 1996; 6 Goswami et al. 1995; 7 Johnson, 1993; 8 Johnson et al. 1993; 9 Mallik,
1993; 10 Mallik, 1998; 11 Mallik et al. 1992; 12 Mallik and Sarkar, 1994; 13 Mazumder, 1996; 14 Mazumder, 1998; 15 Misra et al. 1999; 16 Misra and Dey, 2002; 17 Misra and Johnson, 2005;
18
Misra et al. 2000; 19 Moorbath et al. 1986; 20 Rao et al. 1979; 21 Ray Burman et al. 1994; 22 Saha, 1994; 23 Saha et al. 1987; 24 Sarkar et al. 1985; 25 Sarkar and Saha, 1977; 26 Sarkar et al. 1969;
27
Sengupta et al. 1996; 28 Sengupta et al. 1994; 29 Sengupta et al. 1991; 30 Sharma et al. 1994.
Folding of OMG supracrustals and synkinematic intrusion

of tonalite known as Older Metamorphic Tonalite Gneiss
(OMTG).
Geological Events
Table 2. Contd...

365
366
SAUMITRA MISRA
from the tonalite xenolith occurring within the Bonai Granite

pluton, has yielded U-Pb TIMS zircon age at ~3.45 Ga
(34482.2 Ma, Sengupta et al. 1996), whereas host tonalite
xenolith has U-Pb TIMS zircon age as well as whole-rock
Pb-Pb age at ~3.38 Ga (3380 +6/-4 Ma, 336957 Ma,
Sengupta et al. 1991, 1996). The age of the xenocrystic
zircon, therefore, further confirms that the stable sialic crust
in the Singhbhum-Orissa craton was formed at ~3.45 Ga.
The whole-rock Rb-Sr age of the OMTG (Moorbath et
al. 1986) suggests that this lithounit has experienced an
episode of metamorphism at ~3.28 Ga. Hornblendes from
the OMG amphibolite enclaves preserved within the OMTG
and the SBG-II yielded 40Ar-39Ar plateau ages at ~ 3.31 Ga
(33144 Ma) and ~3.29 Ga (32866 Ma) respectively (Baksi
et al. 1987). Biotites from OMTG also yielded a K-Ar age
of ~3.31 Ga (331899 Ma, Sarkar et al. 1969). These ages,
therefore, confirm a metamorphic imprint on OMTG at
~3.30 Ga. The amphibolite associated with the OMG rocks
has been dated by whole rock Sm-Nd method at ~ 3.30 Ga
(330560 Ma), which was interpreted as its age of
crystallisation (Sharma et al. 1994). As the OMG rocks are
distinctly older than the OMTG (formation age ~ 3.44 to
3.42 Ga), the ~ 3.30 Ga age of the OMG amphibolite,
therefore, represents its metamorphic age. It is observed that
the whole-rock Sm-Nd isochron age at ~3.29 Ga for both
the OMG amphibolites and OMTG together (Sharma et al.
1994) also coincides with this metamorphic event. Therefore
it can be concluded that the Singhbhum-Orissa craton
experienced a major metamorphism at ~3.30 Ga.
The whole-rock Pb-Pb age of the SBG-I, is found to be
~ 3.44 Ga (344226 Ma, Ghosh et al. 1996). Therefore, the
SBG-I and the OMTG are time correlative. The insitu zircon
minimum ages and the whole rock Pb-Pb age of the SBG-II
suggest its formation age at ~ 3.33 Ga (33287 Ma) to
~3.30 Ga (329863 Ma) (Ghosh et al. 1996; Misra et al.
1999). Between the emplacement of OMTG, SBG-I and
SBG-II of the Singhbhum Batholith, there was also an event
of granite plutonism in the Singhbhum-Orissa craton. This
is represented by tonalitic xenolith within the Bonai Granite
pluton having formation age at ~3.38 Ga (3380 +6/-4 Ma,
336957 Ma, Sengupta et al. 1991, 1996). The various
granitoid units occurring within the Nilgiri Granite (i.e.
Poradiha and Salchua tonalites, Kaptipada granodioritetonalite) along the southeastern margin of the batholith,
however, have yielded whole rock Pb-Pb and Sm-Nd ages
mostly at ~3.29 Ga (3292+63/-66 Ma, 3225+102/-111 Ma,
329450 Ma, 3270100 Ma, 3290160 Ma, Saha, 1994).
Though direct field relationship of the Nilgiri Granite pluton
with the adjacent IOG is not known, radiometric ages suggest
that this granite body is age equivalent to SBG-II. The whole-
rock Sm-Nd age of the OMG amphibolite and the wholerock Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd ages of the OMTG at ~ 3.30 Ga are
therefore the reset ages resulted by thermal metasomatism
during emplacement of the SBG-II. This metamorphic event
is also suggested by a K-Ar biotite age of OMTG of 331899
Ma (Sarkar et al. 1969).
The component of SBG-III, which has intruded the
IOG rocks of Badampahar-Gorumahisani basin in the east
(Fig. 2), yields whole-rock Sm-Nd age of ~3.120.01 Ga
(Majumder et al. 1986; cf. Ghosh et al. 1996). The Bonai
Granite pluton has whole-rock Pb-Pb age of ~3.16 Ga
(3163126 Ma, Sengupta et al. 1991). Therefore, the post
IOG granites of the Singhbhum Batholith were evolved
during ~3.16 and 3.12 Ga. Some hornblende from the OMG
hornblende-plagioclase-quartz schist have yielded K-Ar ages
of ~3.16 Ga (3169180 Ma, 316963 Ma) and ~3.10 Ga
(310140 Ma) (Sarkar et al. 1969), which indicate thermal
metamorphism of the OMG rocks during emplacement of
post-IOG SBG-III. The IOG supracrustals, which were
deposited, deformed and metamorphosed between the
emplacement of SBG-II and SBG-III, therefore, have
evolved between ~ 3.30 to 3.16 Ga or possibly up to 3.12
Ga. The ~3.24 Ga (32417 Ma) event, which is recorded in
the OMG and OMTG rocks by the formation of some
euhedral and overgrowth zircons (Goswami et al. 1995;
Misra et al. 1999), was therefore related to metamorphism
of the IOG supracrustals. This episode of metamorphism is
also recorded in the K-Ar mineral ages of the OMG and
OMTG rocks. Biotite from OMTG has yielded an age of
~3.21 Ga (321696 Ma), and hornblende in the OMG
enclave within the Singhbhum Granite gives an age of ~3.20
Ga (3210175 Ma) (Sarkar et al. 1969).
The MBG and the Tamperkola Granite plutons, intrusive
into the Singhbhum Group, have in-situ Pb-Pb zircon
minimum ages of formation of ~ 3.09 Ga (30808 Ma,
30925 Ma) and 2.83 Ga (283667 Ma) respectively
(Misra, 1999; Misra et al. 1999; Bandyopadhyay et al. 2001).
Though the Pb-Pb zircon age of the MBG is very close to
the age of the SBG-III, there is no reason to believe that all
of the analyzed zircons of this pluton represent only the
xenocrystic components of the Singhbhum Granite. This is
because (i) the zircons separated from the MBG are euhedral,
prismatic and homogeneous, showing euhedral growth rims
(Misra et al. 1999), which suggests that they are magmatic
zircons crystallized from melts (cf. Nutman et al. 1991).
(ii) The MBG magma was formed at very high temperature
at ~980oC as observed from petrographic and geochemical
studies (Misra, 1999). At this temperature the MBG magma
with its high Zr content between ~300 to 900 ppm was lying
in the solubility field of zircon (in granitic magma), which
is above 930oC as observed in experiments (cf. Johannes

and Holtz, 1996) and hence the possibility of presence of
xenocrystic zircons in the MBG is also least. (iii) Between
the two analysed samples of MBG (Misra et al. 1999; Table
4) zircons of one sample (BG-64) have 206Pb proportion
(average ~89 ppm), comparable to that of the basement
Singhbhum Granite (~97 ppm), but the other sample
(BE-154) has zircon with distinctly high 206Pb (~450 ppm).
As both these samples yielded very precise insitu Pb-Pb
zircon ages close to ~3.09 Ga (30808 Ma and 30925 Ma
respectively), it is very difficult to believe that all of the
analysed zircons of different isotopic characters of the MBG
represent only the xenocrystic components of the basement
Singhbhum Granite and their ages represent the xenocrystic
ages. Therefore, the age of MBG of ~3.09 Ga represents its
formation age. Hence the ages of the basement SBG-III and
intrusive MBG suggest that the Singhbhum Group is likely
to have formed and folded between ~ 3.12 to 3.09 Ga
i.e. over a period of ~ 30 Ma and the overlying undeformed
Simlipal volcano-sedimentary basin has formed after the
folding of the Singhbhum Group, but before ~3.09 Ga.
It was considered by early workers that the voluminous
Mayurbhanj Gabbro was older than the MBG (Saha et al.
1977). Petrological re-investigation has shown that the
crystallisation of the Mayurbhanj Gabbro and the MBG was
contemporaneous (Misra et al. 2002). The emplacement of
the gabbroid magma into the shallower level of the crust
caused partial melting of the Singhbhum Granite to generate
the MBG magma. This event was followed by simultaneous
crystallisation of these two felsic-mafic magmas in close
spatial association under anorogenic setting. Therefore,
the time of crystallisation of gabbroid magma may also be
considered at ~3.09 Ga. The SBG-II also has yielded a
whole-rock Rb-Sr age of ~ 3.04 Ga (3044310 Ma) and
the SBG-III has a whole-rock Pb-Pb age of ~3.05 Ga
(305037 Ma) (Ghosh et al. 1996). The K-Ar mineral ages
of muscovite from the OMG metapelite at ~3.07 Ga
(3070300 Ma), hornblende from the OMG hornblende
schist at ~3.06 Ga (3060105 Ma), and biotite from the
OMTG at ~3.07 Ga (307460 Ma) (Sarkar et al. 1969) also
have recorded similar ages. It appears that these ages
at ~3.07 to 3.05 Ga are reset ages that resulted by thermal
metamorphism, which occurred during intrusion of the
voluminous Mayurbhanj Gabbro into the shallower level of
the crust at ~ 3.09 Ga.
It may be noted that the MBG also has whole-rock RbSr dates ranging between ~2.37 to 2.08 Ga (208470 Ma,
Iyengar et al. 1981; 2366126 Ma, Vohra et al. 1991). As
Pb-Pb zircon age represents more reliable formation age of
a granite pluton, these whole-rock Rb-Sr ages, therefore,
367
have some other significance (cf. Faure, 1986). The present

author believes that the whole-rock Rb-Sr dates of the MBG
should not be considered as its age of formation, because
this pluton shows field, petrographic and geochemical
evidences of anorogenic liquid-liquid type magma mixing
with the associated Mayurbhanj Gabbro, which had
contaminated the parental Rb-Sr isotopic character of this
pluton, thus giving errochron ages (Misra et al. 2002; also
cf. Misra, 2000; Pandit et al. 2001).
The MBG pluton is segmented into an eastern and a
western half by a NNE-SSW fault, which passes through
Kendua (Saha et al. 1977) (Fig. 2). Naha (1960) suggested
that this fault zone is the southern extension of the
Singhbhum Shear Zone and has an average dip of ~58o
towards east (Misra, 1999). The eastern half of the pluton,
also known as Romapahari Granite, mostly consists of a
coarse ferrohastingsite-biotite granite representing the
second phase of the MBG and is lying within this shear
zone (Naha, 1960; Saha et al. 1977). This granite shows
distinct effect of mylonitisation where narrow, lenticular,
high strain zones alternate with low-strain zones and the
mylonitisation foliation had trend of NNW-SSE (Vohra
et al. 1991). This highly sheared coarse granite phase was
locally injected in mesoscopic and microscopic scales by
mostly concordant veins and apophyses of an biotite
aplogranite phase, which is very weakly foliated and shows
no evidence of shearing (Saha et al. 1977; Misra, 1993).
This phase represents the third phase of the MBG pluton
(Saha et al. 1977). Therefore, field evidences indicate that
the second phase of MBG pluton was pre-shearing in age,
while its third phase was emplaced after shearing. These
second and third phases of the MBG have insitu Pb-Pb
zircon minimum ages of 30808 Ma and 30925 Ma
respectively (Misra et al. 1999). Therefore, the Singhbhum
Shear Zone, which has affected only the second phase of
MBG but not its third phase, has definitely been reactivated
during this period at ~3.09 Ga, which in turn becomes the
oldest record of movement along this shear zone.
The Dhanjori Volcanics (Fig.2), are found to have
whole rock Pb-Pb and Sm-Nd dates of 285817 Ma and
2787270 Ma respectively (Misra and Johnson, 2005).
Though one of these ages is associated with higher error,
the two ages converge towards a common age of ~2.80 Ga.
As the whole-rock Pb-Pb and Sm-Nd ages yield formation
age of mafic igneous rocks (cf. Faure, 1986), the present
age of ~2.80 Ga of the Dhanjori Volcanics, therefore,
indicates its formation age. Saha et al. (1977) on the basis
of their field observation though suggested that the Dhanjori
Volcanics are stratigraphically older than the MBG, there is
no report of intrusion of the MBG into this basic volcanics.
368
SAUMITRA MISRA
The present radiometric ages, however, suggest that the

Dhanjori Volcanics (~2.8 Ga) are definitely younger than
the MBG (~3.09 Ga).
The 2.80 Ga event also witnessed other acid plutonism
along the margin of the Singhbhum Orissa craton. The
Tamperkola Granite, situated along the western margin of
the craton NW of the Bonai Granite (Fig. 1), yields an insitu Pb-Pb zircon minimum age of ~ 2.81 Ga (280912 Ma,
282267 Ma, Bandyopadhyay et al. 2001). There are also
some small plutons observed along the southern margin of
the craton south of Daitari in contact with the Eastern
Ghat Granulite Belt to the south (Fig. 2), which yielded
insitu Pb-Pb zircon minimum age of ~ 2.80 Ga (28034
Ma, 28113 Ma, Misra et al. 2000).
The Dalma Volcanics, which overlie the Singhbhum
Group (Bose, 1994; Gupta and Basu, 2000; Saha, 1994)
show whole-rock Rb-Sr age of ~2.50-2.40 Ga (2396
110 Ma, Misra and Johnson, 2005). It can be considered as
its metamorphic age. The ~2.50 Ga metamorphism has also
been reported from the southern margin of the SinghbhumOrissa craton. Insitu Pb-Pb dating on zircon overgrowths
(24817 Ma) from 2.80 Ga old small granitoid plutons,
occurring along the southern boundary of the SinghbhumOrissa craton, also confirms the ~ 2.50 Ga old metamorphic/
metasomatic event (Misra et al. 2000). The effect of this
metamorphism on the Singhbhum-Orissa craton is not clearly
known. Some K-Ar biotite ages of Singhbhum Granite
samples, collected mostly from around Gorumahisani
(Fig. 2), vary between ~2.71 Ga and ~2.33 Ga (2714
58 Ma, 268290 Ma, 264850 Ma and 233549 Ma,
Sarkar et al. 1969) may be the possible record of this
metamorphic event.
Though we have an idea on the formation age of the
Dhanjori Volcanics, we do not have the same for the Dalma
Volcanics. The whole-rock Rb-Sr metamorphic age of the
Dalma Volcanics constrains its upper age limit of formation
at ~2.50 Ga. As this volcanic unit overlies the Singhbhum
Group, it should be younger than ~3.09 Ga and thus has a
formation age between ~3.09 and 2.50 Ga. The Dalma
Volcanics are believed to be equivalent or older than the
Dhanjori Group of rocks in stratigraphic sequence (Bose,
1994; Saha, 1994). Therefore, the probable formation age
of the Dalma Volcanics can be considered as ~2.80 Ga.
Roy et al. (2002a) have dated an isolated basaltic to
gabbroic rock body occurring within the Dhanjori
metasediments north of the main Dhanjori Volcanics
(Fig.2), which has yielded a whole-rock Sm-Nd age of
~2.07 Ga (2072106 Ma). They also have dated another
isolated gabbro-pyroxenite body intrusive into the
Singhbhum Group just north of the main pile of Dalma
Volcanics (Fig. 2) which yields a whole-rock Rb-Sr age of

~1.62 Ga (161938 Ma, Roy et al. 2002b). Though these
ages are claimed by the authors as the ages of formation of
the Dhanjori and Dalma Volcanics respectively, the
stratigraphy of these isolated igneous bodies and their
relation to the proper Dhanjori and Dalma Volcanics are
not discussed in their papers. As the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton also has recorded a stratigraphically younger
major mafic igneous activity, known as Newer Dolerite
sills and dykes, a clear geological knowledge on these
isolated igneous bodies are essential before accepting
these ages as the formation ages of the Dhanjori and
Dalma Volcanics.
The next phases of tectono-magmatic activity within the
Singhbhum-Orissa craton and adjacent Singhbhum
Mobile Belt took place mostly at ~ 2.2, ~ 1.6 and ~ 1.0 Ga
(Table 2). The ~2.22 Ga event within the Singhbhum Mobile
Belt records the formation and emplacement of the Soda
Granite pluton along the Singhbhum Shear Zone (221654
Ma, Sarkar et al. 1985; whole-rock Pb-Pb age) followed by
copper mineralisation at ~1.77 Ga (176682 Ma, Johnson
et al. 1993; whole-rock Pb-Pb age). The events at ~1.60 Ga
within the Singhbhum Mobile Belt are manifold. These are
(i) the ~ 1.67-1.63 Ga event of shearing along the Singhbhum
Shear Zone which was imprinted on the Soda Granite pluton
(167711 Ma, 16333 Ma, Sarkar et al. 1985, whole-rock
Rb-Sr age); (ii) the emplacement of the Kuilapal Granite
within the mobile belt at ~ 1.64 Ga (163838 Ma, Sengupta
et al. 1994, whole-rock Rb-Sr age); (iii) uranium
mineralisation along the Singhbhum Shear Zone at ~1.581.48 Ga (1583 Ma, 147814 Ma, Rao et al. 1979; Pb-Pb
uraninite age), and (iv) metamorphism of the Singhbhum
Group at ~ 1.54 Ga (154646 Ma, Sarkar et al. 1969, K-Ar
hornblende age from amphibolite dyke; 154720 Ma, Sarkar
et al. 1969, whole-rock K-Ar age of epidiorites from
Dhanjori Volcanics). The final activity within the mobile
belt was an intense metamorphism between ~1.18 and
0.84 Ga (117731 Ma, 116322 Ma, 109126 Ma,
105720 Ma, 105019 Ma, 100741 Ma, 94236 Ma,
85225 Ma, 84618 Ma and 83831 Ma, Sarkar et al. 1969;
K-Ar ages of muscovites and biotites from schists), when
the Singhbhum Shear Zone shows its final reactivation at ~
1.00 Ga which is recorded by the sharing of the Arkasani
Granite (105284 Ma, Sengupta et al. 1994; whole-rock
Rb-Sr age).
In the Palaeo- and Mesoproterozoic period, when the
Singhbhum Mobile Belt experienced deformation and
metamorphism, the Singhbhum-Orissa craton recorded
only a mafic magmatism followed by clastic sedimentation
and emplacement of the Newer Dolerite in three successive
sequences. The Jagannathpur Lava, occurring at the western

part of the craton yields a whole-rock Pb-Pb age of
~2.25 Ga (225081 Ma, Misra and Johnson, 2005), which
may also be considered as the formation age of the
Malangtoli Lavas. The overlying Kolhan Group, therefore,
has younger age of ~ <2.25 Ga. The available K-Ar dates of
the Newer Dolerite have shown that their emplacement
took place at ~ 2.0, ~ 1.6 and ~ 1.2 -1.0 Ga respectively
(214439 Ma, 210538 Ma, 206838 Ma, 200435 Ma,
196040 Ma, 154016 Ma, 1456 Ma, 1290 Ma, 1220 Ma,
1080 Ma, 1069 Ma; Mallik and Sarkar, 1994; Sarkar et al.
1969). As the Newer Dolerites are unmetamorphosed
and least altered except near the Singhbhum Shear Zone
(Saha, 1994), their K-Ar ages can be considered as their
formation ages (cf. Faure, 1986). The whole-rock Sm-Nd
age of ~2.07 Ga of the isolated basaltic to gabbroic rocks
occurring within the Dhanjori Group metasediments north
of Dhanjori Volcanic rocks (Fig. 2) (Roy et al. 2002a) and
the whole-rock Rb-Sr age of ~1.62 Ga of another isolated
gabbro-pyroxenite body intrusive into the Singhbhum Group
just north of the Dalma Volcanic rocks (Fig. 2) (Roy et al.
2002b) provide further support to this conclusion. The
whole-rock K-Ar age of 162930 Ma of the Jagannathpur
Volcanics (Sarkar et al. 1969) is the possible record of
thermal metamorphism related with the emplacement of the
second phase of the Newer Dolerite at ~1.6 Ga.
DISCUSSION
New Observations on Singhbhum-Orissa Craton
There is a view that the IOG of GorumahisaniBadampahar Belt in the east and Palalahara-Daitari Belt to
the south and southwest are older than the SBG, while the
Jamda-Koira basin in the west is younger (Acharya, 1984;
Banerji, 1974; Dasgupta et al. 1997; Iyengar and Alwar,
1965). Saha (1994, p.83) in his review has clearly argued
that there is no reason in believing the IOGs from eastern
and western Singhbum as time separated units, because in
the Chaibasa- Saraikela sector (Fig. 2) the IOG of western
belt is also intruded by the Singhbhum Granite (Saha,
1994). In the Deo river section near Jagannathpur
(Fig. 2), the IOG rocks of the western basin are intruded by
SBG-III (Saha and Ray, 1984), which yields a disturbed
whole-rock Rb-Sr five point isochron age of 3145282 Ma
(Paul et al. 1991). This age is very close to the age of
~3.120.01 Ga of the SBG-III from GorumahisaniBadampahar basin in the east, where this granite body also
has intruded the IOG supracrustals (Majumder et al. 1986;
cf. Ghosh et al. 1996).
Present consideration of Jagannathpur and Malangtoli
369
Lavas within the west Singhbhum IOG belt (Sengupta et al.

1997) also needs revision. Saha (1964, 1994) showed
that these flat-lying gently warped lavas overlie the highly
folded IOG supracrustal rocks. Present radiometric dating
also shows that the Jagannathpur and possibly Malangtoli
Lavas (~2.25 Ga) are much younger in age than the IOG
(~3.30 to 3.16 Ga).
Sinha et al. (1997) have suggested that the IOG and the
Dhanjori Group are coeval. Both of the supracrustals overlie
the Singhbhum Granite with an erosional unconformity and
are overlain by the Singhbhum Group. The basis of their
work is the occurrence of a uraninite and pyrite bearing
quartz pebble conglomerate at the base of the IOG and the
Dhanjori Group. The assumption of Sinha et al. (1997) is
possibly that the uraninite and pyrite bearing quartz pebble
conglomerate is a marker horizon and it can be used in
revising the stratigraphy of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton.
If we accept this stratigraphic modification, it has to be
assumed that the intrusive field relationships of the SBGIII into the IOG supracrustals (cf. Saha, 1994) were incorrect.
The conclusion of Sinha et al. (1997) has originated from
their observations on the Dhanjori Group around Mosabani
area (Fig. 2) and more studies are needed to prove the
uniqueness of the uraninite and pyrite bearing quartz pebble
conglomerate bed as marker horizon in the stratigraphy of
the Singhbhum-Orissa craton. The present compilation of
radiometric ages (Table 2), however, shows that the Dhanjori
supracrustals (~ 2.80 Ga) are younger than the IOG (~3.303.16 Ga or up to 3.12 Ga) and the Singhbhum Group (~3.12
to 3.09 Ga).
There appears to be two successive major supracrustalgranite cycles in the Palaeo- and Mesoarchaean evolution
of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton (Table 2). The first cycle
began with the formation of the OMG supracrustals on an
unknown base, which were subjected to major compressional
folding and related metamorphism with time and followed
by emplacement of the OMTG together with SBG-I,
SBG-II, Chakradharpur Granite Gneiss and Nilgiri Granite
in sequence. The following second cycle began with the
formation of the IOG supracrustal sequence over SBG-II
basement with an erosional unconformity, followed by major
compressional folding and associated metamorphism and
finally by emplacement of the Bonai Granite pluton and
SBG-III.
The metamorphics of the OMG (Saha, 1994; see early
discussion) suggests that they were derived from a shalesandstone-limestone-basic volcanics/ intrusive association.
Similarly the protolith composition of the IOG was shalesandstone-BHJ-carbonate-acid and basic volcanics/
intrusives. These lithological associations of the OMG and
370
SAUMITRA MISRA
IOG suggest that they were formed under anorogenic synrift or following post-rift stable shelf environments in
Archaean respectively (cf. Eriksson and Fedo, 1994). Major
foldings observed on these supracrustal sequences (cf. Saha,
1994) suggest these volcano-sedimentary associations
experienced intense crustal shortening in the succeeding
orogeny, followed by emplacement of voluminous granitoid
plutons indicating closing of each cycle. Following
evidences suggest that these intrusive granites are orogenic
in nature (cf. Saha, 1994): (a) Field evidences suggest that
the OMTG was emplaced syn-tectonically with the major
folding of the OMG rocks, and (b) Plots of the phases of
Singhbhum Granite in Yb (ppm) vs. Ta (ppm) diagram, and
Nilgiri Granite in Y (ppm) vs. Nb (ppm) and (Y+ Nb) (ppm)
vs. Rb (ppm) diagrams (Pearce et al. 1984) suggest that they
are chemically similar to volcanic arc granites, which are
considered to have formed in orogenic tectonic setting. The
mineralogical, petrological, geochemical and Sr-isotopic
compositions of these granite bodies (Table 3) also suggest
that they are orogenic granites belonging either to M- or Isubgroups. Therefore, the Palaeo- to Mesoarchaean
supracrustal-granite cycles of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton
also represent anorogenic-orogenic cycles, where their
evolution began in anorogenic condition and closed in
following orogenic environment. The first supracrustalgranite cycle evolved between ~3.55 and 3.30 Ga, over a
time period of ~250 Ma, whereas the following second cycle
evolved between ~3.30 and 3.12 Ga, over ~180 Ma.
Radiometric ages suggest that the emplacement of the SBGII and SBG-III during the closing period of the first and
second supracrustal-granite cycle respectively caused
thermal metamorphism, which has been recorded on some
of the older rock units.
In the late Meso- to Neoarchaean period the growth of
the Singhbhum-Orissa craton was marked by formation of
a supracrustal sequence of syn-rift nature including mainly
clastic sediments along with minor felsic and mafic volcanics
along the northern, western and eastern margins of the craton
(Bose, 1994) and it was followed by major mafic volcanisms
(Misra and Johnson, 2005). These supracrustals include the
Singhbhum Group, which unconformably overlies the SBGIII basement (~3.12 Ga) and are subjected to two major
phases of folding. It is succeeded by the formation of
overlying undeformed Simlipal volcano-sedimentary basin
along the eastern margin of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton.
The evolution of the supracrustal and the overlying volcanosedimentary basin were completed prior to ~3.09 Ga when
the anorogenic MBG and Mayurbhanj Gabbro were
emplaced into them (Saha, 1994). This phase was followed
by a major mafic volcanism including the riftogenic Dalma
Group (Bose, 1994)) and the Dhanjori Group at ~ 2.80 Ga,

followed by their major metamorphism at ~2.50 Ga. Present
review shows that these ~2.80 Ga old major mafic
volcanisms, their contemporaneous minor acid plutonism,
and their major metamorphism at ~2.50 Ga were confined
only along the marginal part of the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton.
It may be noted that though the Mayurbhanj Granite is
intrusive into the Singhbhum Group, its evolution has no
relation with the major folding of these supracrustals. The
pluton has evolved under anorogenic setting unlike other
orogenic granites of the two older supracrustal-granite
cycles of the craton as discussed earlier (Table 3) and is
only related to the stabilization of the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton (Misra et al. 2002; Saha, 1994). Therefore, the
Singhbhum Group and the MBG do not together constitute
a supracrustal-granite cycle.
Relationship between Singhbhum-Orissa Craton, Singhbhum
Mobile Belt Supracrustals and Chotanagpur Gneissic
Complex?
The relationship between the Singhbhum Mobile Belt

supracrustals (Singhbhum Group) and the Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex (Acharyya, 2001; Sarkar, 1988, 2000)
(Figs. 1, 2, 3) is not yet fully resolved. Along the northern
margin of the Singhbhum Mobile Belt there is another
ductile shear zone known as the Northern Shear Zone (NSZ),
which extends from Porapahar in the east to Tamar in the
west for a distance of ~100 km (Bhattacharyya, 1989; Saha,
1994) (Fig. 2). Though this shear zone runs along the contact
of the supracrustal belt and the Chotanagpur Gnessic
Complex in the east, it is well within the supracrustal belt in
the central and western parts and is situated ~4-8 km away
from the contact with the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex.
Therefore, this shear zone post-dated the evolution of the
Singhbhum Mobile Belt and hardly gives any information
on the inter-relationship between the Singhbhum Group and
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex.
To explain the inter-relationship between the SinghbhumOrissa craton, Singhbhum Group and the Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex four different tectonic models, e.g. Intraplate subduction model (Sarkar and Saha, 1977, 1983);
Micro-continental collision model (Sarkar, 1982); Back-arc
marginal setting model (Bose and Chakrabarti, 1981; Bose
et al. 1989; Bose, 1994); and finally Intracratonic extension,
rifting and ensialic orogenesis model (Gupta et al. 1980,
Mukhopadhyay, 1984; Sarkar et al. 1992), were so far
proposed, but none of these models is adequately supported
by data (cf. Sarkar, 2000). Two different views on the interrelationship between the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex
6.761
1.731
3.831
3.001
0.2201
N.A.
6.751
3.351
5.001
3.551
0.1011
0.7012
Na2O+K2O
(wt%)
Na2O/K2O
MnO+MgO+
CaO (wt%)
FeOt /MgO
Rb/Sr
Initial Sr
isotope ratio
0.7111
0.3421
4.001
2.511
1.421
7.791
72.541
0.70080.70701
0.54 (0.6)1
4.26 (2.3)1*
3.09 (1.1)1
2.0 (1.04)1
6.40 (1.4)1
72.57 (2.8)1
N.A.
0.11 (0.05)4
2.69 (1.6)4
2.25 (0.9)4
5.29 (3.3)4
7.29 (0.9)4
72.57 (2.0)4
Oligoclase3
0.70325
0.43 (0.2)5,6
4.96 (5.1)5,6
1.6 (0.5)5,6
1.45 (0.9)5,6
7.17 (0.9)5,6
73.61 (1.5)5,6
Oligoclase1
Biotite with
muscovite5
Tonalite to
granodiorite5
Bonai
<0.7049, 10
0.0678
2.148
7.168
2.358
6.048
63.618
Oligoclase
to andesine7
Biotite
hornblende
pyroxene7
Tonalite to
granodiorite7
M-type
Usually<0.70610
0.7031- 0.709411
0.3118
2.238
4.698
0.928
6.538
69.178
Oligoclase7
Biotite
hornblende
Epidote7
Granodiorite
grading from
tonalite to
monzogranite
I-type
> 0.70610
1.788
2.328
3.518
0.618
6.378
70.278
Oligoclase7
Biotite+
Muscovite
more
aluminous
minerals7
Monzogranite7
S-type
0.703-0.720 10, 13
3.808
11.268
1.008
0.888
8.788
73.88 8
Albite7
Late appearance of
biotite hornblende,
alkali amphibole
and sodic pyroxene
in peralkaline
members 9, 12
Mostly alkalifeldspar granite to

syeno granite7
A-type
Anorogenic granites
Saha, 1994; 2 Moorbath et al. 1986; 3 Bandyopadhyay and Sengupta, 1984; 4 Sengupta et al. 1983; 5 Sengupta et al. 1991; 6 Sengupta et al. 1993; 7 Maniar and Piccoli, 1989; 8 Misra and Sarkar,
1991; 9 Pitcher, 1983; 10 Johannes and Holtz, 1996; 11 Faure, 1986; 12 Whalen et al. 1987; 13 Lower initial Sr isotopic ratios are not parental composition but possibly resulted due to co-existing
acid-basic magma mixing, Misra, 2001.
0.700141
0.1731
2.991
2.921
1.291
7.751
72.041
Albite1
Amphibole
(altered)3
Tonalite
CKP-I
Orogenic granites
A-type granites are considered equivalent to Rift Related Granitoids and Continental Epeirogenic Uplift Granitoids of Manniar and Piccoli, 1989.
M-type, I-type and S-type granites are considered equivalent to Island Arc Granitoids, Continental Arc Granitoids and Continnetal Collision Granitoids of Maniar and Piccoli (1989) respectively.
N. A.- Not available
* Average computed values excluding three very high values 29, 45 and 55.
The values for chemical parameters are in average, the numbers in parentheses with averages are standard deviations computed in present study, number of samples considered for computation: Nilgiri
Granite= 17, ref. 1; Chakradharpur Gneiss, phase I= 25, ref. 4; Bonai Granite= 37, ref. 5, 6.
70.961
67.571
SiO2 (wt%)
Oligoclase1
Oligoclase1
Oligoclase1
Oligoclase1
Biotite1
Plagioclase
Composition
Biotite1
Biotite+
hornblende1
Nilgiri
Biotite1
SBG-III
Biotite
hornblende1
Important
accessory
mineral(s)
SBG-II
Tonalitegranodiorite
to granite1
SBG-I
Granodiorite grading to ademallitic

granite, rarely grades to trondhjemite1
Tonalite to
granodiorite1
Composition
OMTG
Different granitoid bodies of Singhbhum-Orissa nucleus
Table 3. Comparison of some petrochemical parameters of the OMTG, SBG-I, II, III, Nilgiri, Chakradharpur, phase-I (CKP-I) and Bonai Granites with those of orogenic granites
(M-, I-and S-type) and Anorogenic granites (A-type)
371
372
SAUMITRA MISRA
and the Singhbhum Group are emerging at present. Most of

the workers believe that the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex
is younger than the Singhbhum Group and some granitic
members of the former intruded the mobile belt rocks (cf.
Saha, 1994). A few workers (Bhattacharyya et al. 1990;
Bhattacharyya and Ghosal, 1992), on basis of structural
similarity between these two crustal bodies, however, suggest
that the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex constitutes the
basement for the supracrustals of Singhbhum Group. This
gneissic complex is probably equivalent in age to the
Singhbhum Granite, but was affected by later metamorphism
and magmatism, which reset its ages to younger values.
However, some important observations, which may be
helpful in understanding the inter-relationship between these
two crustal bodies, are as follows:
(a) Observing the common occurrence of metasedimentary enclaves within the gneissic basement
all over the craton, Sarkar (1988) suggested that
the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex (~>2.3- 1.0 Ga,
Table 2) was evolved from a thick sequence of argillites,
arenites, and impure carbonate sediments with mafic
igneous rocks through repeated metamorphism,
migmatisation and profused granitic activity. Observing
the similarity of major oxides of the gneisses and the
sedimentary rocks, Ghose (1983) also favoured
derivation of this gneissic basement largely from
semipelitic rocks with admixture of greywacke.
Occurrences of aluminosilicates like garnet, muscovite,
sillimanite, cordierite and staurolite as accessory
minerals within the basement gneisses (Ghose, 1983)
also confirm this conclusion (cf. Chappell and White,
1974).
(b) The supracrustals of the Singhbhum Mobile Belt
were deposited over a continental basement (Verma et
al. 1984) under syn-rift setting (Bose, 1994). A detailed
study on the stratigraphy of the Chotanagpur Gneissic
Complex (Singh, 2001) shows that the oldest enclave
suite within the gneissic basement consists of granulite
facies metapelites and mafic igneous rocks, metapelitic
schists, quartzite, BIF and equivalent iron bearing
rocks, calc-silicates and metabasic rocks. These
metamorphics should have derived from a sandstonesiltstone-iron formation-limestone bearing sedimentary
precursor with mafic igneous rocks, which formed in
post-rift stable shelf setting (cf. Eriksson and Fedo,
1994).
(c) Observations on boundary relation between the
Singhbhum Group and Chotanagpur Gneissic
Complex show that there is neither any sharp
lithological boundary, nor any stratigraphic break, but
a continuation of structural deformation and metamorphism across the boundary of the two terrains
(Bhattacharyya et al. 1990).
(d) The available radiometric ages of the Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex obtained by various methods (UPb zircon, Pb-isotopes, U-Pb and Pb-Pb columbitetantalite, whole-rock Rb-Sr and K-Ar) show that
important magmato-metamorphic events in this
crustal block took place at ~ >2.3 Ga (> 2300 Ma),
~1.6-1.5 Ga (1717102 Ma, 16245 Ma, 159352 Ma,
158033 Ma, 152271 Ma, 15155 Ma, 148967 Ma,
143356 Ma), ~1.2-1.0 Ga (1285108 Ma, 123833 Ma,
1246-1416 Ma, 102045 Ma, 1086-893 Ma) and
~0.9 Ga (980 Ma, 970 Ma, 96050 Ma, 965, 95540
Ma, 91019 Ma, 890 Ma, 800-878 Ma) respectively
(Acharyya, 2001, 2003; Krishna et al. 2003; Mallik,
1993, 1998; Mallik et al. 1992; Mazumder, 1996, 1998;
Ray Burman et al. 1994; Saha et al. 1987), which are
mostly time-equivalents to those of the Singhbhum
Group (Table 2).
(e) A revision of Precambrian stratigraphy of the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex (Singh, 1998, 2001)
shows that there are two supracrustal -granite cycles in
the evolution of this terrain, which are distinctly
separated by erosional unconformities. The first
supracrustal-granite cycle consists of an enclave suite
including granulites, metapelitic schists and quartzites,
BIF, metamorphosed limestones, and meta-ultramafic
and mafic rocks, which are intruded by the Chatra
Granitoid and equivalent gneisses. The evolution of
this granitoid suite was followed by emplacement of
gabbro-anorthosite-norite body and aplogranitepegmatite in sequence. We have no idea when this cycle
begun, but a whole rock Rb-Sr age of the Chatra
Gneisses (Mallik et al. 1992) and an unpublished
U-Pb single zircon age of the gneisses (cf. Acharyya,
2001; 2003) suggests that this cycle have ended at
~1.6 Ga. The second cycle began with the Kodarma
Group followed by intrusives. The Kodarma Group
includes conglomerates, quartzites, calcareous
quartzites, metapelites, BIF and amphibolites. The
following intrusive phase consists of migmatites,
granite gneiss, pegmatites, amphibolites, metagabbro
and diorites. The granite intrusives into these
supracrustals sequence have whole-rock Rb-Sr age of
~ 1.2-1.0 Ga (Mallik, 1998; cf. Misra and Dey, 2002).
There is also a U-Pb lower intercept age for these
anatectic granites at ~1.0 Ga (cf. Acharyya, 2003).
These ages together suggest that the minimum age of
closing of the second cycle was at ~1.0 Ga.
On the basis of these observations following

interpretations on the possible relationship between the
Singhbhum Group and the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex
can be made:
(1) The oldest ~ >2.30 Ga age of the basement gneisses of
the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex from Dudhi area,
west of Daltanganj (Fig.3) (Mazumdar, 1998) suggest
that some of the metasedimentary enclaves within these
gneisses were formed in Archaean. Absence of any
sharp lithological boundary and stratigraphic break
between the Singhbhum Group and the Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex further suggests that they were
perhaps evolved from a common sedimentary
precursor. Sarkar and Saha (1977, 1983) suggested the
existence of a marine basin to the present north of the
Singhbhum-Orissa craton in late Mesoarchaean period.
The Singhbhum Group supracrustals were deposited
within this marine basin along the northern margin of
the Singhbhum-Orissa craton in syn-rift tectonic setting
(Sarkar and Saha, 1977, 1983; Bose, 1994).
Palaeocurrent data suggest that these sediments were
derived from a granitic source to the south (Naha and
Ghosh, 1960; Das, 1997) and the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton was the likely source of these sediments. The
post-rift stable-shelf type sedimentary precursor of the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex appeared to have
deposited towards further north, after the deposition
of the Singhbhum Group.
(2) The continuity of structural deformation and
metamorphism between these two terrains suggest that
the sedimentary protoliths of both the Singhbhum
Group and the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex were
deformed together. The period between ~>3.09 Ga and
~2.5 Ga was a period of extensional deformation at
least in the Singhbhum Mobile Belt area when the
underformed Simlipal volcano-sedimentary basin
(~>3.09 Ga) and the Dalma Volcanics (~2.8 Ga) of
riftogenic nature were formed over the Singhbhum
Group. The radiometric ages suggest that the protolith
of the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex along with the
Singhbhum Group were deformed together between
~2.5 Ga and 0.9 Ga, where the peak events of magmatometamorphic activities took place at ~2.50 Ga,
1.6-1.5 Ga, 1.0 Ga and 0.9 Ga. The Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex evolved through at least two
supracrustal-granite cycles which were ended at
~1.6 Ga and ~1.0 Ga respectively. The present eastwest major structural trends of both the Singhbhum
Group (Saha, 1994) and Chotanagpur Gneissic
373
Complex (cf. Sarkar, 2000) suggest that the major

compressive force was north-south in direction.
(3) The nature of evolution of the Singhbhum-Orissa
craton in Proterozoic after ~2.50 Ga was different to
that of the compressive deformation of the Singhbhum
Group and Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex to north. It
was mainly anorogenic type, when undeformed
Jagannathpur and Malangtoli Lavas erupted along the
southwestern part of the craton at ~2.25 Ga, which were
nearly time-equivalent to the Soda Granite (~2.22 Ga)
pluton occurring along the Singhbhum Shear Zone. It
was followed by deposition of the undeformed Kolhan
Group of sediments and emplacement of Newer
Dolerite in three successive sequences at ~2.0 Ga,
~1.60 Ga and ~1.00 Ga.
CONCLUSIONS
(i) The evolution of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton is not

older than ~ 3.60 Ga, when some granitoid crusts are
thought to present in this area, the remnants of
which are preserved only as detrital zircons within the
OMG metasediments at present. The first stable sialic
crust, i.e. OMTG and SBG-I, appeared in this area
in ~3.44 Ga.
(ii) It appears that the Singhbhum-Orissa craton, the
Singhbhum Mobile Belt (Singhbhum Group) present
to north, and the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex at
further north perhaps together constitute a single
crustal block in the east Indian shield, which grew in
sequence between ~3.55 and 1.00 Ga, i.e. over a period
of ~2500 Ma. The Singhbhum-Orissa craton, forming
the nucleus of this crustal block, grew from ~3.63.12 Ga, followed by the Singhbhum Mobile Belt
supracrustals between ~3.12 and 2.50 Ga, and the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex mostly between
~ >2.3 Ga to 1.00 Ga. Therefore, the center of crustal
growth in Singhbhum-Chotanagpur area gradually
migrated from the Singhbhum-Orissa craton
northwards from Palaeoarchaean to Mesoproterozoic
period.
(iii) The Singhbhum-Orissa craton evolved through two
successive supracrustal-granite cycles, which were
well separated in time. The first cycle includes in
sequence the OMG supracrustals, OMTG and SBGI, SBG-II, Chakradharpur Granite Gneiss-phase I and
Nilgiri Granite and evolved between ~3.55 Ga and
~3.30 Ga, i.e. over a period of ~250 Ma. The following
second cycle includes the IOG, Bonai Granite and
SBG-III in chronological order, and evolved over
374
SAUMITRA MISRA
~140 or 180 Ma between ~3.30 Ga and ~3.16 Ga or

up to ~3.12 Ga. The evolution of each supracrustalgranite cycles began in anorogenic setting, when the
supracrustal sequence was developed. Each sequence
was folded and intruded by granites in the following
orogenic period. Therefore, these cycles are
anorogenic-orogenic type in nature. The stabilization
of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton was indicated by
emplacement of anorogenic MBG together with
Mayurbhanj Gabbro at ~3.09 Ga along the
northeastern margin of the craton within the
Singhbhum Group. The emplacement of the SBG-II
and SBG-III at the closing periods of the first and
second supracrustal-granite cycles respectively, and
that of the following Mayurbhanj Gabbro caused
thermal metamorphism, which has been recorded on
some of the older rock units.
(iv) In the late Mesoarchaean to Neoarchaean period the
crustal growth of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton took
place along its northern, western and eastern margins
where clastic sediments with minor mafic and felsic
volcanics of the Singhbhum Group were deposited
under syn-rift setting and subsequently folded. It was
followed by formation of undeformed Simlipal
volcano-sedimentary basin over the Singhbhum
Group. The Singhbhum Group and the Simlipal basin
were formed together between ~3.12 to 3.09 Ga. The
growth of these supracrustals were followed by major
mafic volcanism, the riftogenic Dalma Group and the
Dhanjori Group, along with emplacement of some
minor acid plutons at the marginal part of the
Singhbhum-Orissa craton at ~2.80 Ga and their
subsequent major metamorphism at ~2.50 Ga.
(v) During Proterozoic, the crustal growth around the
Singhbhum-Orissa craton was shifted towards further
north when the Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex grew
between ~> 2.3-1.0 Ga. The gneissic complex was
evolved from a sedimentary precursor with
interlayered mafic igneous rocks. The evidence of ~
>2.3 Ga old tectono-magmatic activity from the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex suggests that at least
some of the supracrustal precursors within this gneissic
body should have formed in Archaean. Absence of
sharp lithological boundary or any stratigraphic break
between the Singhbhum Group supracrustals and the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex suggests that these
two cratonic parts were evolved perhaps from a
common sedimentary precursor along with volcanics,
which were deposited in a marine basin situated along

the present northern margin of the craton. The
Singhbhum Group evolved from a syn-rift supracrustal
assemblage formed along the margin of the
Singhbhum-Orissa craton, whereas the Chotanagpur
Gneissic Complex had a post rift stable-shelf
sedimentary precursor deposited towards further north
away from the craton margin.
(vi) The Chotanagpur Gnessic Complex grew in Palaeoto Mesoproterozoic period through two supracrustalgranite cycles in sequences, which were well separated
by pronounced erosional unconformity. The first cycle
was ended at ~1.6 Ga, whereas the second cycle closed
at ~1.0 Ga. During this period the precursors of the
Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex and the Singhbhum
Group were deformed together along east-west major
structural trend, where peak events of tectonomagmatic activity took place at ~2.5 Ga, ~1.6-1.5 Ga,
~1.0 Ga and ~0.9 Ga.
(vii) The Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic history of the
Singhbhum-Orissa craton, however, was anorogenic
in nature and marked by some mafic volcanism
(Jagannathpur and Malangtoli Lavas) at ~ 2.25 Ga,
followed by deposition of sediments (Kolhan Group)
and emplacement of some mafic dykes and sills
(Newer Dolerite) in three successive phases at ~ 2.0
Ga, ~ 1.5 Ga and ~ 1.0 Ga.
(viii) The Singhbhum Shear Zone, making the boundary
between the Singhbhum-Orissa craton and the
Singhbhum Mobile Belt, had been reactivated several
times in the geological past. The oldest record of
movement along this shear zone took place at ~ 3.09
Ga, followed by emplacement of Soda Granite pluton
along this shear zone at ~ 2.22 Ga, copper
mineralisation at ~ 1.77 Ga, renewed shearing at
~ 1.67-1.63 Ga, uranium mineralisation at ~1.581.48 Ga, and final phase of shearing at ~ 1.0 Ga.
Acknowledgements: I am indebted to Anindya Mukherjee
for his active help during the progress of this research
work. I am grateful to H.C. Dasgupta, M. Ramakrishnan and
an anonymous reviewer for their valuable suggestions on
the earlier version of this manuscript and P. Dasgupta
(Presidency College, Calcutta) for his helpful discussions
on sedimentology. A. Basu Sarbadhikari helped me in
computer graphics. I wish to acknowledge CSIR (HRDG),
New Delhi, for providing me a Senior Research
Associateship (Grant no. B-10220) during this work.
375
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356

Precambrian Chronostratigraphic Growth of Singhbhum-Orissa

PRECAMBRIAN CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC GROWTH OF SINGHBHUM-ORISSA CRATON, EASTERN INDIAN SHIELD

The Singhbhum-Orissa craton (Fig.1) forms a triangular

made incorporating the latest reliable radiometric ages along

Singhbhum Granite-II, Nilgiri and

PRECAMBRIAN CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC GROWTH OF SINGHBHUM-ORISSA CRATON, EASTERN INDIAN SHIELD

Fig.3. A sketch map of Singhbhum-Chotanagpur area (after Sarkar,

Gneissic Complex has been made with reference to this

A brief description of the lithological succession of the

Metamorphic Tonalite Gneiss (OMTG) (Saha, 1994), which

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Unconformity - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jagannathpur Lava

Pelitic and arenaceous

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Unconformity - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Singhbhum Granite (Phase II)

Singhbhum Granite (Phase I & II)

Folding and metamorphism of OMG and OMTG

are the Bonai Granite, Nilgiri Granite and Chakradharpur

PRECAMBRIAN CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHIC GROWTH OF SINGHBHUM-ORISSA CRATON, EASTERN INDIAN SHIELD

(Saha, 1994; Gupta and Basu, 2000). The SG unconformably

older than the Mayurbhanj Granite (Saha, 1994). There is

undeformed Kolhan Group or equivalent sediments and

The modified Precambrian chronostratigraphy of the

of zircons were determined by various methods. For U-Pb

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.67, MARCH 2006

Deposition of Kolhan Group of sediments.

Eruption of Jagannathpur and Malangtoli basic lavas.

Major metamorphism along the margins of SinghbhumOrissa craton.

Dhanjori and Dalma Groups of mafic Volcanism within

Felsic plutonism along southern margin of SinghbhumOrissa craton.

Small alkali feldspar granite plutons along southern margin

Tamperkola Granite- alkali feldspar granite with marginal

~ 2.80 Ga4, 17, 18

Soda Granite- tonalite to granitec

Reactivation of Singhbhum Shear Zone and emplacement of

~ 1.64-1.54 Ga20, 24, 25, 2 6, 28

Newer Dolerite: Mostly (99 %) quartz doleritee

Shearing along Singhbhum Shear Zone (~1.67- 1.63 Ga).

Kuilapal Granite- mostly granite to granodiorite and tonaliteh

Emplacement of first phase of Newer Dolerite dykes and sills

Formation of Kuilapal Granite Gneiss within Singhbhum

Emplacement of second phase of Newer Dolerite

Copper sulphide mineralisation along Singhbhum Shear Zone.

Uranium mineralisation along Singhbhum Shear Zone

Metamorphism of mobile belt supracrustals (~1.54 Ga).

Emplacement of the last and final phase of the Newer Dolerite.

Metamorphism of mobile belt supracrustals and shearing

Table 2. A modified chronostratigraphy of the Singhbhum-Orissa craton, eastern India

Evolution of Chotanagpur Gneissic

Major mafic volcanism

Formation and deformation of the Singhbhum Mobile Belt

Pelitic and arenaceous metasediments with felsic volcanics

Spilitic Lavas and tuffs with basal and interlayered quartzitee

between ca. ~ 3.12- 3.09 Ga

Formation of Iron Ore Group (IOG) and its folding and

Mafic lava, tuff, felsic volcanics

Bonai Granite- Granite to granodiorite and rarely to two-mica

Emplacement of Bonai Granite pluton

Metamorphism of OMG, OMTG and IOG rocks

SBG-III- Granodiorite to granitee

Emplacement of Singhbhum Granite-III and possible

Thermal metamorphism recorded on OMG rocks due to

between ca.~ 3.30- 3.16 Ga

~ Unconformity ~~~~~~~~~~~~