GEOCHEMICAL CHANGES ACROSS THE ARCHAEAN­

PROTEROZOIC BOUNDARY - A STUDY FROM THE

UDAIPUR AREA OF ARAVALLI MOUNTAIN BELT,
RAJASTHAN, INDIA

B. Sreenivas, R. Srinivasan and A.B. Roy*

National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad 500007
*M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur 313002

ABSTRACT
The Archaean-Proterozoic boundary (APB) has been taken at -2.5
Ga. A comparative geochemical study of supracrustal rocks of the Archaean
Banded Gneissic Complex (BGC) and lower sections of the Proterozoic
Aravalli Supergroup (ASG) shows that the abundance of Cr, Ni and Sc is
lesser in both metamorphosed volcanic and detrital sedimentary rocks of
the ASG relative to those of BGC. This feature had been widely documented
from greenstone assemblages of different parts of the world. The present
study shows that it is true for pericratonic volcano-sedimentary assemblage
also. Rare earth element (REE) characteristics (Eu anomaly and GdN / YbN
ratio) which have been advocated to _be distinctive of Archaean and post­
Archaean assemblages, are not found to be as definitive. as the transition
group elements. Iron-poor, alumina-rich palaeosols developed by weathering
of the BGC before the deposition of the ASG, point to the deficiency of free
oxygen in the atmosphere during weathering. These palaeosols, in their
metamorphosed state, are represented by sericite deposits occurring at the
interface of BGC and ASG. High 1i1 3C values (up to 11.2%0 PDB) have been
recognized for the first time in carbonate carbon of -2.1 Ga Jhamarkotra
dolomites of the ASG. Earlier high 1i13C ratios had been noted in the organic
fraction of the stromatolitic carbonates of the same formation. Enrichment
of 13C in both organic and carbonate fractions is rare in sequences older than
Neoproterozoic. These findings constitute the first examples from India of
globally recognized Palaeoproterozoic 1i 13 C excursion. The 1i13 C excursion
during the Palaeoproterozoic is known to be associated with development
of free oxygen in the atmosphere all the world over.

INTRODUCTION
A crustal accretion differentiation super event which led to
the formation of major continental crust occurred -2.5 Ga. This super
event brought about significant changes in the earth's thermal his_tory
and consequently earth processes. The style of tectonics, nature of
magmatism, sedimentation, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere
witnessed major evolutionary changes across this time plane
Proceedings of the Seminar on Geology of Rajasthan - Status & Perspective (AB.Roy
Felicitation Volume), P.Kataria (Ed.), 1999, 57-86, Geology Deptt., MLSU, Udaipur.250 P.

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 Chemical compositions of rocks help in understanding the
processes. Therefore, a comparative geochemical study of Archean
and Proterozoic rocks has been undertaken in different parts of the
world to understand the evolution changes in earth processes
through the Precambrian (cf. Taylor and McLennan, 1985; Condie,
1985, 1989; Gibbs et al., 1986). However, there are very few studies
on these aspects in Indian Precambrian sequences (Srinivasan and
Naqvi, 1990; Bose, 1994; Bhushan, 1998). The Proterozoic
sequences of India are mainly of two types (a) the Paleoproterozoic
pericratonic sequences which seem to occur in Aravalli, Bastar and
Singhbhum blocks and (b) the Mesoproterozoic epicratonic
sequences of Cuddapah, Kaladgi, Vindhyan and Chattisgarh.

Among the former, the Aravalli Mountain Belt (AMB)

shows a continuous rock record from the late Archean to
Neoproterozoic and hence serves to characterize the geochemical
changes across the Archean-Proterozoic boundary (APB). Besides,
the Archean of the AMB is geochronologically better constrained
(Gopalan et al., 1990; Wieldenbeck et al., 1996; Roy and Kroner,
1996). The present work is an attempt to understand the secular
changes across the APB as revealed by the chemical compositions of
metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Archean and
Paleoproterozoci of the AMB of Rajasthan. Some comparative
studies have been earlier attempted by Ahmad and Rajamani
(1988; 1991), Ahmad and Tarney (1994), and Bhushan (1998).

GEOLOGICAL SETTING OF THE ARCHEAN AND PROTEROZOIC

ROCKS AROUND UDAIPUR

The AMB comprises dominantly of three lithostratigraphic

units: (a) the Banded Gneissic Complex (BGC), (b) Aravalli
Supergroup (ASG) and (c) Delhi Supergroup (DSG) (cf. Heron, 1953,
Roy, 1988; Sinha-Roy et al., 1998) (see Fig. 1). The BGC of Archaean
age is considered to constitute the basement for the rocks of the
Aravalli and Delhi Supergroups, which were deposited in that order.
It is generally believed that the ASG is of Palaeoproterozoic age,
whereas the DSG is Palaeo- to Mestoproterozoic in age. The BGC
consists of inclusions of supracrustal rocks such as amphibolites,
marbles, quartzites, metapelites and rarely banded iron formations
in tonalite, trondhjemite and granodiorite suite of rocks. Naha and
Halyburton (1974) found that the rocks of the ASG have been
migmatized north of Nathadwara suggesting that the BGC is an
extensively remobilized basement. It has been suggested that the
BGC-ASG interface is well preserved in the region south of
Nathadwara, while it has been erased in the northern part (Naha

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Fig. 1 Geological map of Udaipur region and the lithostratigraphic succession of
the Aravalli Supergroup (after Roy et al., 1993). 1-Basement BGC with
enclaves of marble (cross) and amphibolite (filled); 2-Delwara Formation
• metabasalt interiayered with quartzite and dolomite; 3-Jhamarkotra
Formation, carbonate rocks {bricks) and phyllite (dots); 4- Udaipur
Formation - diamictite, greywacke, carbonaceous phyllite; Formation -5-
Mochia quartzite; Formation 7--Tidi dolomite Formation with -sulfides; 6-
metapelite, 􀁫 quartzite, dolomite; 8-Debari Formation - conglomerate,
arkDse; 9-Kavita dolomite; 10-Lakhawali phyllite; 11.Jharol Formation -
phyllite; 12-Ultramafic intrusions. DSG- Delhi Supergroup. Localities: 0-
0arauli, G-Ghasiar and Baredia, 1- lsuwal, J.Jhamarkotra, JG.Jagat, K-
Karauli, M-Madar, NNagaria, NA-Naramagra, ND-Nathadwara, S-Sarara, T-
TulsiNamla, Z-Zawar.

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