T h e D h a r w a r craton, s o u t h e r n India, and its Late A r c h a e a n

plate t e c t o n i c setting: current interpretations and

controversies

BRIAN CHADWICK*, V N VASUDEV @and G V HEGDEt

* Earth Resources Centre, University, Exeter EX~ 4QE, UK
120/~5(A) III Block, Thyagarajanagar, Bangalore 560 028, India
t Department of Mines and Geology, Government of Karnataka, Bangalore 560 027, India

In spite of detailed geological investigations of the Dharwar craton since the 1890s, its principal
lithological units, structure and chronology remain contentious. Important new work on lithostrati-
graphy, basin development, structure, geochemistry and geochronology has led to wide-ranging
speculation on the Late Archaean plate tectonic setting. Much of the speculation is based on
uniformitarian models which contrast with a recent proposal that the evolution of the craton was
controlled by gravity-driven processes with no crustal shortening.

1. T h e D h a r w a r c r a t o n The craton can be subdivided into two principal

The Late Archaean Dharwar craton (figure 1), in the
sense of Ramakrishnan (1993), is an important part of
the collage of Archaean and Proterozoic terrains in
Peninsular India. Areas east and south of the craton
are characterized by structures, metamorphism and
igneous bodies related to the Pan-African assembly of
Gondwana, but the interior of the craton largely
escaped significant Pan-African overprinting. The
northern margin of the craton is concealed by
Proterozoic sedimentary rocks and the Deccan lavas,
whereas the east is overlain by the Meso-Neoproter-
ozoic Cuddapah basin. Late Archaean metamorphism
in much of the western part of the craton varies from
LT greenschist to amphibolite facies in contrast with
HT greenschist to amphibolite facies in the eastern
part which is related to the emplacement of volumi-
nous granite. Effects and possible causes of Late
Archaean granulite facies metamorphism in the
extreme south of the craton have been reviewed by
Hansen et al (1995), among others. This contribution
comprises a brief review of recent findings in the
Dharwar craton north of the terrain affected by
Archaean granulite facies metamorphism.
parts (figure 1) which are separated by a steep belt of
mylonites, c l - l . 5 k m wide, trending approximately
N-S or NW-SE (Chadwick et al 1989). The belt of
mylonites has been interpreted as a thrust by many
workers on the grounds of a relatively shallow,
easterly dipping reflector identified by Kaila et al
(1979), but there is no obvious curvature along the
length of its outcrop to suggest that the steep mylo-
nites are part of a listric structure. Shallow and
steeply plunging linear fabrics in the mylonites
(Chadwick et al 1989) are ambiguous in terms of the
principal displacement direction within the belt.
2. W e s t e r n p a r t o f t h e c r a t o n
2.1 Peninsular Gneiss and the Sargur Group
West of the mylonite belt the craton is characterized
by Late Archaean volcanic and sedimentary rocks
(Dharwar Supergroup; Swami Nath et al 1976) that
were deposited in the period c2900-2600 Ma (Taylor
et a11984; Nutman et a11996; Kumar et a11996) on a
sialic basement of orthogneisses and granodiorites

Keywords. Dharwar craton; Late Archaean; plate tectonics; Dharwar batholith.

Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Earth Planet. Sci.), 106, No. 4, December 1997, pp. 249-258
9 Printed in India 249
250 Brian Chadwick et al
Figure 1. Simplified geological map of the Late Archaean
Dharwar craton (ornamented) in southern Peninsular India:
DS: Dharwar Supergroup; PG: Peninsular Gneiss (basement
to the Dharwar Supergroup); H: Holenarsipur schist belt,
> c.3000Ma; m: steep belt of mylonites (see text); black: Late
Archaean volcano-sedimentary schist belts in the eastern part
of the craton (Hu: Hutti; K: Kolar; R: Ramagiri; S: Sandur);
DB: Dharwar batholith; g: Late Archaean granulite facies
metamorphism; KA: Kibbanahalli Arm (see text). Blank areas
are mostly Proterozoic and younger rocks, including
CB: Cuddapah basin; PSZ: Proterozoic shear zones; PAT:
terrain dominated by Pan-African phenomena. B: Bangalore;
C: Chitradurga; Ma: Madras; My: Mysore; T: Trivandrum.
which are known collectively as the Peninsular Gneiss.
Many workers have included the younger Archaean
plutonic rocks in the eastern part of the craton as part
of the Peninsular Gneiss following W F Smeeth who
coined the term nearly a century ago. Because of the
confusions that have arisen with its application to
rocks with a wide range of ages (see Naha et al 1993;
Srinivasan and Naha 1996, for recent examples),
Radhakrishna and Vaidyanadhan (1994) proposed
that the term be abandoned. They suggested that the
term Older Gneiss Complex be used for gneisses older
than 3000 Ma, and Younger Gneiss Complex for those
c2600 Ma. Because the younger gneisses are a high-
strain component of the Dharwar batholith which is
discussed later, we recommend that the term Penin-
sular Gneiss be retained, but restricted to gneisses
older than c2900 Ma.
The basement orthogneisses and low-strain plutonic
rocks in the western part of the craton have ages in
the range c2900-3300Ma (Beckinsale et al 1980;
Taylor et al 1984; Bhaskar Rao et al 1991; Naha et al
1993; Peucat et a11993). Whereas much of the Penin-
sular Gneiss is part of a tonalite-trondhjemite-
granodiorite suite whose precursors had short periods
of crustal residence (Bhaskar Rao ct al 1983; Monrad
1983; Stroh et al 1983; Jayaram et al 1983; among
others), its tectonic evolution prior to c2900Ma is
poorly understood.
The gneisses include tracts of older volcanic and
sedimentary rocks and stratiform gabbro-anorthosite
complexes (Sargur Group; Swami Nath et al 1976).
SHRIMP and single grain evaporation ages of zircon
(Nutman et a11992; Ramakrishnan et a11994; Peucat
et al 1995) show that the Sargur Group has an age of
c2960-3300 Ma, and it includes detrital zircon grains
as old as 3580 Ma. It is likely that the Sargur Group
includes a number of different tracts of supracrustal
rocks of different ages. The Sargur Group includes
banded iron formations, fuchsite quartzites of detrital
origin (Chadwick et al 1986; Argast 1995), metape-
lites, basaltic amphibolites, metaperidotites and stra-
tiform gabbro-anorthosites: the depositional, volcanic
and tectonic setting remains unclear.
Deformation of the Sargur Group in the Hole-
narsipur belt (figure 1) took place in three distinct
periods (Chadwick et a11978). Bouhallier et al (1993)
argued that the structure of this belt was controlled
by diapiric emplacement of the adjacent components
of the Peninsular Gneiss in amphibolite facies condi-
tions and subsequent sinistral transcurrent shearing in
greenschist facies conditions. The diapiric emplace-
ment appears to have taken place prior to c2900 Ma,
whereas the sinistral shearing appears to be Late
Archaean. Chardon et al (1996) extended the diapiric
model to structures in the Peninsular Gneiss and
Sargur rocks which underlie the Dharwar Supergroup
in the Kibbanahalli Arm (figure 1) west of the Chitra-
durga schist belt. They noted that orthogneisses are
generally located in domes, whereas Sargur supra-
crustal rocks are mainly found in intervening basins.
This distribution contrasts with the common inter-
sheeting of the gneisses and Sargur rocks elsewhere in
the western part of the craton, the intersheeting
having been due principally to intrusion of the
supracrustal rocks by precursors of the gneisses. The
intersheeted relationship suggests that a significant
sub-horizontal regime of plutonic intrusion and
deformation characterized much of the Peninsular
Gneiss before the generation of upright structures
like those described by Bouhallier et al (1993) and
Chardon et al (1996).
2.2 Dha~war Supergroup
Although the unconformable relationship between the
Dharwar Supergroup and its basement of Peninsular
Gneiss is disputed by some workers (Naha et al 1993;
Srinivasan and Naha 1996), the field evidence south of
 The D h a r w a r craton in southern India
Bababudan, north of Sigegudda, west of the Chitra-
durga belt and on the west and east of the
Kibbanahalli Arm points overwhelmingly to an uncon-
formable relationship which shows that deposition of
the Dharwar Supergroup did not begin until cooling,
uplift and peneplanation of the basement had taken
place after c3000Ma (Swami Nath et al 1976). The
age of the Dharwar Supergroup is constrained to the
period c2900-2600 Ma on the grounds of the age of its
basement, intrusion of the Chitradurga Granite
(2605 • 18 Ma; Taylor et a11984) and a Pb/Pb meta-
morphic recrystallization age of 2639 • 32 Ma of lime-
stones from various parts of the Dharwar stratigraphy
(Russell et al 1996). SHRIMP zircon age data from
acid volcanic rocks at a relatively high stratigraphic
level indicate melt crystallization at 2614•
(Nutman et al 1996), whereas well constrained arrays
of Sm-Nd data interpreted as isochrons by Kumar
et al (1996) show that some of the oldest basic
volcanic rocks in the supergroup are 2911 •
old and other volcanic suites low in the stratigraphic
sequence are 2848 i 70Ma and 2747 • 15Ma old.
Isotopic whole rock ages of 2565 + 28Ma (Pb/Pb;
Taylor et a11984) and 2520 • 62 Ma (Rb-Sr; Bhaskar
Rao et al 1992) for volcanic rocks high in the
stratigraphy and other younger ages for rocks else-
where in the stratigraphy (2240 • 50 Ma, Bhaskar Rao
et al 1992; 2439• Srinivasan et al 1992;
2480 • 31 Ma, Naha et al 1993) appear to be effects
of unspecified metamorphic disturbance.
Facies distributions and well-preserved primary
depositional and volcanic structures in the Dharwar
Supergroup in the central part of the western half of
the craton show that it was deposited in mixed-mode
basins whose evolution was probably controlled by
transpression (Chadwick et al 1989, 1992). Future
detailed stratigraphic studies combined with precise
isotopic dating are likely to reveal that the supergroup
formed in a series of independent basins.
Chadwick et al (1992) proposed that the Dharwar
Supergroup accumulated in three stages. The first was
characterized by crustal extension which led to prolific
eruption of basalts, emplacement of sub-volcanic
gabbros, and deposition of shallow marine sands,
carbonaceous muds, volcaniclastic sediments and
banded iron formations (with major economic depos-
its of iron in the Kudremukh area). Koma~iites are a
very minor component in the Dharwar Supergroup
compared with supracrustal belts of similar age in
other continents. The basal quartz-pebble conglomer-
ate at the unconformity with the Peninsular Gneiss
basement has been interpreted as fluvial by Srinivasan
and Ojakangas (1986) and Farreddudin et al (1988),
but shallow marine by Chadwick et al (1985a). The
presence of an unambiguous sialic basement to the
Dharwar Supergroup is inconsistent with proposals by
Naqvi et al (1988), among others, that parts of the
supergroup had a simatic basement.
251
The second stage of basin development saw the
accumulation of alluvial and shallow marine fans,
debris flows, quartz arenites, greywackes and local
stromatolitic limestones, with sporadic basic and
acid volcanism. The coarse polymict conglomerates
in the alluvial fans and debris flows include not
only crowded clasts of Dharwar metabasalt, gabbro,
banded iron formation and quartzite, but also
orthogneisses which show that areas of basement
were elevated and eroded during basin development.
The final stage was marked by deposition of a
widespread, but relatively thin, banded iron formation
which was followed by thick fine-grained greywackes
with intercalations of chert and volcanic rocks.
The mixed-mode basin development and volcanic
facies (Bhaskar Rao and Drury 1982; Drury 1983)
suggest an incipient back-arc or an active continental
margin, with similarities in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic
setting of New Zealand and the western United States
(Chadwick et al 1992).
Interpretation of the Late Archaean structure of the
Dharwar Supergroup and its sialic base~nent is
controversial (Mukhopadhyay 1986). Naqvi (1973)
and Naha and Chatterjee (1982) took the view that
banded iron formations host early, large-scale isoclinal
folds that are refolded by younger structures. Drury
and Holt (1980) and Drury et al (1984) took a wider
view in the sense that they believed that the Dharwar
Supergroup is characterized by early E-W recumbent
folds and thrusts propagated from the south which
were refolded by movements in wide N-S or NW-SE
shear zones. However, their claims of large-scale
recumbent folds" are not supported by stratigraphic
data. In contrast, Chadwick et al (1981a, 1985b, 1988,
1989, 1992) interpreted the Dharwar schist belts in
terms of one principal phase of deformation with
superimposed younger folds related to transcurrent
sinistral displacements. Moreover, Mukhopadhyay
and Ghosh (1983); Mukhopadhyay and Baral (1985)
and Naha et al (1995) believed that the principal
structures are the result of two distinct periods of
deformation which gave rise to broadly parallel
upright folds or refolded recumbent folds.
i a h a et al (1986) and Naha et al (1990) made a
more controversial claim that the ductile migmatitic
structures in the Peninsular Gneiss of the basement
were contemporaneous with folds in the Dharwar
Supergroup: they referred to this relationship as a
"unity of structures". However, their view is at
variance with the fact that the low-grade Dharwar
Supergroup rests unconformably on folds that were
generated during high-grade migmatitic events in
the orthogneisses of its basement. They argued that
the basement was extensively remobilized during
deformation of the Dharwar Supergroup and the
unconformities were 'blurred' (Naha et al 1991). The
alleged blurring is inconsistent with the sharp uncon-
formities mapped by Chadwick et al (1981b, 1985a);
252 B r i a n Chadwick et al
Viswanatha et al (1982) and Venkata Dasu et al
(1991). The problem at the heart of the concept of
unity of structures is compounded by the fact that,
following W F Smeeth, the definition of Peninsular
Gneiss used by Naha et al (1990), and more recently
by Srinivasan and Naha (1996), embraces orthogneis-
ses (> c2900 Ma) which are basement to the Dharwar
Supergroup in the western part of the craton and
others which are high-strain components of the youn-
get Dharwar batholith (< c2750Ma) that comprises
the eastern part of the craton (Chadwick et al 1996).
Recent work by Chadwick et al (1989, 1992) has
revealed that the deformation in the Dharwar Super-
group can be explained in terms of NE-SW crustal
shortening which led to ductile folding and localized
thrusting verging SW. In contrast, the gneissic base-
meat deformed in a less pervasive way in myriad shear
zones and narrow zones of mylonite. These shear
zones and belts of mylonite are not parts of post-
Dharwar lineaments as claimed by Srinivasan and
Naha (1996). The NE-SW shortening was accompa-
nied and outlasted by sinistral displacements on N-S
and NW-SE wrench faults. The common occurrence of
carbonate in the basement shear zones suggests C Q -
rich fluids played a prominent role in the deformation.
Emplacement of the Chitradurga Granite (c2600 Ma;
Taylor et al 1984) into the Dharwar Supergroup and
its basement gneisses appears to have taken place
during a late stage of the deformation in the west of
the craton. Two other bosses of comparable Late
Archaean granite intrude the basement gneisses
further south (Rogers 1988).
An alternative view of the structure of the western
part of the Dharwar craton has emerged from the
interpretation of the Kibbanahalli Arm (figure 1) by
Chardon et al (1996). They reported that the basal
rocks in the complex synclinal structure of the
Kibbanahalli Arm constitute a dScollement with kine-
matic indicators indicating convergence of slip direc-
tions towards the syncline axis. They proposed that
this convergence could only be explained by sagduc-
tion (after Goodwin and Smith 1980), i.e. an effect of
vertical movements consequent on gravitational
instability driven by deep-seated thermal variations.
Chardon and his co-workers maintained that vertical
movements related to gravitational instability were
predominant in the development of the Dharwar
craton and they rejected uniformitarian models based
on crustal shortening and orogenic collapse. There
are, however, difficulties with a non-uniformitarian
explanation for the relative elevation of the numerous
segments of basement in the western part of the
craton, for example in the tract of the Dharwar
Supergroup between Bababudan and Ranibennur
(Chadwick et al 1992). We favour a uniformitarian
mechanism, namely, elevation of basement segments
as a consequence of NE-SW shortening and transpres-
sion related to strike-slip movements in the plethora
of steep, N-S shear zones which ramify through
the western part of the craton (see, for example,
Chadwick ct al figure 3, 1988; Bouhallier et al figure 9,
1993).
3. E a s t e r n p a r t o f t h e c r a t o n
(Dharwar batholith)
East of the steep belt of mylonites the Dharwar craton
is distinctly different. It is dominated by voluminous
granites, granodiorites and their high-strain gneissic
equivalents, c2750-2550 Ma (Balakrishnan ct al 1990;
Friend and Nutman 1991; Krogstad et al 1991, 1995;
Peucat et al 1989, 1993; Subba Rao et al 1992;
Zacharaiah et a11995; Nutman et a11996). They host
a series of linear and irregular schist belts with sedi-
mentary and volcanic rocks that have many lithologi-
cal aspects in common with the Dharwar Supergroup
in the west. Limited isotopic ages indicate that
volcanism took place in the period c2750-2650 Ma
(Balakrishnan ct al 1990; Zacharaiah et. al 1995;
Nutman et al 1996). P b / P b data show that meta-
morphic recrystallization of the limestones in the
Sandur schist belt took place 2475 + 65 Ma ago: the #1
value of 8.50 contrasts with that of 7.79 of the lime-
stones in western Karnataka (Russell et al 1996). The
difference in the timing of the metamorphic crystal-
lization in western and eastern Karnataka suggests
that regional heating related to granite emplacement
in the east of the craton outlasted metamorphic effects
in the west. The difference in #1 values suggests a
more evolved sdu~ce for lead in the east of the craton
compared with the west, but the nature of the sources
is enigmatic.
Whereas there are lithological and chronological
similarities between the Late Archaean volcanic and
sedimentary rocks in the western and eastern parts of
the craton, no precise correlations have been made so
far. Moreover, there are no reports to date of extensive
areas of orthogneisses as old as the c2900-3300Ma
Peninsular Gneiss basement which underlies the
Dharwar Supergroup in the west.
3.1 Late A r c h a e a n schist belts
Critical new work by Matin and Mukhopadhyay
(1987) and Mukhopadhyay and Matin (1993) in the
Sandur schist belt, a major tract with the largest
stratigraphic sequence of Late Archaean volcanic and
sedimentary rocks in the eastern part of the craton,
raised serious questions about previous interpreta-
tions of the stratigraphy and structure. Subsequently,
Chadwick et al (1996) showed that its lithostratigra-
phy youngs consistently from SW to NE and is c35 km
thick. They attributed this thickness to thrust stack-
ing, although thrusts are not well exposed and have
been inferred mostly from gross regional relationships.
 The D h a r w a r craton in southern India
Claims by Manikyamba and Naqvi (1996) that the
western part of the Sandur schist belt has been
overridden by its eastern part are not substantiated
by their field data. Geochemical and isotopic age
data from amphibolites in the Ramagiri schist belt
(Zacharaiah et al 1995, 1996) suggest that thrust
thickening may have occurred in other schist belts in
the east of the craton. Large-scale, steeply plunging,
upright, synclinal sheath folds with deep cusps
between steep wedges or elongate domes of granite
are also an important component of the structure of
the Sandur schist belt (Chadwick et a11996). Parts of
these folds were excised during the NE-SW thrusting.
Our unpublished field data also suggest that the Hutti
schist belt north of Sandur has a steep cuspate
structure.
The irregular outcrop patterns of the Sandur and
Hutti belts contrast with most of the other belts,
including Kushtagi, Ramagiri, Kadiri and Kolar, which
have a linear N-S outcrop with steep dips and widths of
only a few kms. Recognition of the lithostratigraphy in
these linear belts is difficult because of poor exposure,
intense deformation and lack of unambiguous way up
criteria. The Hutti, Ramagiri and Kolar belts host
economic deposits of gold in steep shear zones.
Most of the schist belts include greywaekes (with
economic deposits of manganese in the Sandur belt),
polymiet conglomerates (with clasts of banded ferru-
ginous chert, metabasalt and granite: some of the
boulders of granite in the conglomerates in the Kolar
belt are up to 1.5 m in size), banded iron formations
(with major economic deposits of iron in the Sandur
belt), and rare orthoquartzites (Sandur, Hutti and
Ramagiri belts) and stromatolitic limestones (Sandur
belt): the orthoquartzites and limestones indicate
shallow marine conditions. The sedimentary rocks
are interbedded with locally voluminous pillow-
structured metabasalts, gabbros and ultramafic
schists. Acid volcanic rocks are widespread but
volumetrically subordinate. Acid volcanic rocks,
polymiet conglomerates and sheets of mylonitized
granite in the Kolar belt were described together as
the Champion Gneiss by early workers: this unfortu-
nate misnomer was applied by Smeeth (1915) to many
other parts of the Late Archaean volcanic and sedi-
mentary rocks of the Dharwar craton. The volcano-
sedimentary association in the Sandur schist belt
accumulated in mainly shallow marine environments
in a setting comparable with that of mixed-mode
basins, i.e., with variable intra- and extra-basinal
uplift and subsidence (Chadwick et al 1996). The
chemical composition of the volcanic rocks is consis-
tent with an intra-are setting (Hanuma Prasad et al
1997). We proposed that the other schist belts are also
relics of other intra-arc basins (Chadwick et al 1996),
a view supported by Krogstad et al (1995) with their
new interpretation of an arc setting for the volcanic
rocks of the Kolar belt in contrast with their previous
253
opinion that the belt comprised two distinct oceanic
suites (Krogstad et al 1989).
3.2 The Dharwar batholith
The voluminous plutonic rocks which surround and
intrude the schist belts in the eastern part of the
craton are dominated by granites s.s., granodiorites,
monzonites and diorites of the calc-alkaline suite.
Most were emplaced as steep wedges or elongate
domes trending N-S or NW-SE: one of the larger
plutons of granodiorite is up to 20 km wide and at
least 100 km long. In addition to late swarms of pale
pink granite dykes trending NW-SE that cut plutons
of granite s.l. and granodiorite, we have found that
mafic dykes of the appinite suite (in the sense of
Pitcher 1993) are also locally abundant. Many of the
appinite dykes are podded or folded, but their mixed
melt compositions and discordances with magmatic
and tectonic fabrics in their host rocks are clearly
evident.
Similar orientations of tectonic fabrics in the schist
belts and the magmatic and tectonic fabrics in the
plutonic rocks indicate that many were emplaced
syntectonically, but some granites are post-tectonic,
e.g. the Joga granite in the north of the Sandur schist
belt (Chadwick et al 1996). Steep, magmatic planar
fabrics and relatively shallow mineral lineations and
elongation of mafic enclaves are parallel to C fabrics
(Cisaillement, after Berth~ et al 1979) and mineral
lineations in persistent N-S or NW-SE belts of
mylonites within the plutonie rocks: S - C fabrics and
feldspar a-textures indicate predominantly sinistral
displacements. These relationships are in accordance
with progressive emplacement of steep wedges of
plutonic rocks during regional sinistral transpression.
The generally steep, sheet or wedge form of the
plutonic rocks contrasts sharply with the predomi-
nance of shallow reflectors in the seismic profile
recorded by Kaila et al (1979), but the reason for the
contrast is unclear.
The scale, distribution and composition of the
plethora of Late Archaean plutonic rocks in the
eastern part of the Dharwar craton led Chadwick et al
(1996) to propose that they be described as the
Dharwar batholith (figure 1). The batholith has a
western transition zone dominated by anatectic
granites (e2500Ma; Friend and Nutman 1991) that
were derived from Peninsular Gneiss, c2900 Ma. The
transition zone passes eastwards into mainly juvenile
granites and granodiorites (Krogstad et a11991, 1995;
Peucat et al 1989, 1993; Bhaskar Rao et al 1992).
Accretion of the batholith took place as a series of
anatectic and juvenile additions in the form of steep
wedges and sheets, but much of the chronology of
pluton emplacement is unclear. Detailed field and
isotopic age studies are necessary to resolve the
outstanding issues of the accretion chronology.
254 Brian Chadwick et al
3.3 The Closepet Granite - A m i s n o m e r
Many maps of the Dharwar craton show a narrow
linear belt of granites called the Closepet Granite
which is alleged to form the boundary between the
western and eastern halves. The term was introduced
by W F Smeeth early in this century (see Smeeth
1915), but it has never been defined unambiguously.
The Closepet Granite is a misnomer because it
contains a wide range of plutonic rocks, including
anatectic and juvenile components and their high-
strain equivalents. Its boundaries on many maps,
especially in its alleged northern part, do not coincide
with those between different polyphase varieties of
granites. On the grounds of these inconsistencies,
we have recommended that the term be abandoned
(Chadwick et al 1996). We are not in favour of the
term Closepet batholith (Allen et al 1986; Jayananda
et al 1995) because it is ill-defined and the plutonic
rocks in the linear belt do not warrant special
distinction from the myriad other components of the
Dharwar batholith.
4. Late A r c h a e a n plate tectonic setting
o f the D h a r w a r craton
Various plate tectonic models have been proposed for
the craton. Among the earliest was the thickening
model of Drury et al (1984) which involved northerly
subduction and stacking of swathes of supracrustal
rocks and basement slices verging to the south in the
high-grade area in the south of the craton. Con-
temporaneous effects in the north of the craton were
believed to include N-verging nappes and backthrusts.
Later NS shear zones were interpreted as effects of
irregularities in the accreting slices. Although this
thickening model explains the granulite facies meta-
morphism in the south of the craton, it is inconsistent
not only with the regional structure, but also the site
of batholith accretion in the east of the craton.
Krogstad et al (1989) also linked the high-grade
metamorphism in the southeast of the craton with
collision of continental lithospheric plates and shear-
ing along a suture zone marked by the Kolar schist
belt which was believed to include intervening oceanic
material on the grounds of the geochemistry of the
amphibolites. Krogstad et al (1995) presented addi-
tional isotopic and geochemical data to substantiate
their claim that the Kolar schist belt includes a N-S
suture. Their latest view is that the suture separates
gneisses generated c2630-2550 Ma ago in a continen-
tal magmatic arc to the west from gneisses that for-
med c2530 Ma ago in an evolved island arc to the east.
Newton (1990) suggested that the original Kolar
basin had an E-W strike before it was involved in N-S
plate convergence analogous to the model of Drury
et al (1984). Newton concluded that south to north
subduction beneath the Dharwar craton gave rise to
Andean margin and island arc magmatism. Like
Newton (1990), Srinivasan and Naha (1993) took
the view that the trend of the original basins of the
Dharwar Supergroup in the western part of the craton
was E-W. This orientation led them to speculate that
a Late Archaean volcanic arc which was related to
southerly subduction is buried beneath the Deccan
basalts. They believed that its associated intra-arc
and back-arc basins are represented by the Dharwar
Supergroup south of the Deccan basalts. This model is
consistent with the geochemistry of the metabasalts
(Bhaskar Rao and Drury 1982; Drury 1983), but it is
inconsistent with the SW vergence of folds in the
supergroup (Chadwick et al 1991) and the site of
Dharwar batholith accretion in the east of the eraton.
Chadwick et al (1996) proposed that the two-fold
division of the Dharwar craton into the western part
comprising the basins of the Dharwar Supergroup and
their sialic basement and the eastern part comprising
the Dharwar batholith and its Late Archaean schist
belts is consistent with a convergent plate ~etting. The
western part represents a continental margin (fore-
land) with marginal or back-arc basins represented by
the Dharwar Supergroup, whereas the eastern part
represents a batholith and intra-arc basins (the schist
belts) which accreted against the continental margin.
The subduction direction is unclear. The limited
evidence of thrust thickening from NE to SW in the
Sandur schist belt (Chadwick et al 1996) and the SW
vergenee of structures in the Dharwar Supergroup
north of Honnali (Chadwick et al 1991) suggest that
subduction was' broadly from west to east. On the
other hand, the back-arc or continental margin setting
of the Dharwar Supergroup suggested by the
geochemistry of its volcanic rocks (Bhaskar Rao and
Naqvi 1978; Anantha Iyer and Vasudev 1979; Drury
1983), and the spatial setting of anatectic granites in
the foreland (Chitradurga granite; Taylor et al 1988)
and the western part of the Dharwar batholith
(Friend and Nutman 1991) favour east to west
subduction. The ambiguity in the subduetion direc-
tion is complicated by transcurrent sinistral displace-
ments in the foreland and the batholith which indicate
an oblique component to the convergent system.
Published isotopic age data from the schist belts
and widely separated parts of the Dharwar batholith
suggest that granite emplacement took place in the
period c2750-2550Ma, whereas volcanic rocks were
erupted in the period c2750-2650 Ma. Although the
age data are scanty, they suggest that accretion of the
Dharwar batholith and its intra-arc basins took place
for at least c150 Ma. The prolonged thermal activity
may have been the consequence of basalt underplating
that was associated with either a mantle plume or
ridge subduction like that described, for example, by
Haeussler et al (1995). This thermal setting is in
accord with Jayananda et al (1995) who attributed
 The D h a r w a r craton in southern India
the Late Archaean granulite facies metamorphism in
the southern part of the craton to thickened crust and
higher heat flow, perhaps related to a mantle plume.
Basalt underplating related to a mantle plume or
subducted ridge is also in accord with the chemical
composition of volcanic rocks from the Sandur schist
belt reported by H a num a Prasad et al (1997).
Choukroune et al (1995) took an extreme view of the
influence of mantle plumes in the tectonic evolution of
the Dharwar craton in particular, and the Archaean in
general. Their argument was based on the predomi-
nance of vertical structures affecting large volumes of
crust and the alleged absence of evidence of major
thrusting in Archaean cratons. In well-exposed high-
grade Archaean terrains such as southern West
Greenland, for example, there is abundant evidence
of thrusts and fold nappes older than the widespread
upright structures (Chadwick and N ut m an 1979;
Nutman et al 1989; Chadwick 1990). Whereas parts
of the Peninsular Gneiss basement to the Dharwar
Supergroup in the western part of the Dharwar craton
may appear to be dominated by diapiric structures
of the type described by Bouhallier et al (1993),
Choukroune et al (1995) and Chardon et al (1996),
earlier structures like those in the comparable high-
grade gneiss terrain of Greenland may be present in
the areas of flat-lying Peninsular Gneiss in western
Karnataka, but they have not been identified because
of poor exposure.
Chardon et al (1996) have extended the non-
uniformitarian view of deformation in the Dharwar
craton at c3000 Ma to its Late Archaean tectonism.
T h ey argued that the schist belts were deformed as a
consequence of sagduction (after Goodwin and Smith
1980) which was caused by gravitational instability.
Chardon and his colleagues maintained that gravity-
driven vertical movements were predominant and
there was no contribution from tangential tectonics to
crustal thickening in the Dharwar craton. This claim
is at odds with the SW verging folds in the Dharwar
Supergroup north of the Honnali dome (Chadwick
et a11991), thrust thickening in the Sandur schist belt
(Chadwick et al 1996), and the gross structure of the
Dharwar craton which has aspects closely similar to
those of younger convergent plate settings, namely, a
continental foreland and a calc-alkaline batholith with
intra-arc basins. Recourse to a non-uniformitarian
model for the tectonic evolution of the Dharwar
craton by Chardon et al (1996) also contrasts strongly
with the wide acceptance of uniformitarian plate
tectonic regimes for comparable Archaean terrains
elsewhere, for example, the Superior and Slave
Provinces in Canada, the Yilgarn and Pilbara Blocks
in Australia, and the Barberton Mountain Land in
South Africa (see general review by Windley 1995).
The debate on uniformitarian and non-uniformitarian
models for the evolution of the Dharwar craton is set
to continue against the background of a continuing
255
need for further detailed work on lithostratigraphy,
basin analysis, structure (including seismic profiles),
geochemistry and geochronology.
Acknowledgements
Professor K Naha ventured into the Archaean geology
of southern India in the 1980s, relatively late in his
career. He will be remembered primarily for his claim,
with his principal co-worker, R. Srinivasan, that all of
the rocks in the Dharwar craton had experienced the
same chronology of Archaean deformation which was
manifested in what he called "uni t y of structures".
This claim was highly contentious although it had a
positive outcome in the sense that it prompted a closer
examination of the data. We remember Prof. Naha
with affection as a good friend and a stimulating
scientific colleague.
We gratefully acknowledge the logistical support of
the Department of Mines and Geology, Government
of Karnataka, Bangalore, and grants from the Royal
Society, London, and the University of Exeter, UK.
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