Palaeo-mesoproterozoic sedimentation and tectonics of the Singhbhum Craton, eastern India and implications for global and craton-specific geological events

Abstract

The Singhbhum Craton in eastern India preserves a depositional record from the Palaeo-Mesoarchaean to the Mesoproterozoic. Herein, we have summarized the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic supracrustal record of the Singhbhum Craton, discussed tectonosedimentary processes and discriminated Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic global and craton-specific events. The late Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic supracrustal record of the Singhbhum Craton is limited. It includes evidence for high continental freeboard conditions during 2.6–2.1 Ga in the form of terrestrial deposits (alluvial fan–fluvial) of the Dhanjori Formation. This was followed by a major transgression and a transition to the relatively deeper-water shelf to shallow intertidal environments recorded by the Chaibasa Formation. A long hiatus ensued before deposition of the Dhalbhum Formation and conformably overlying Dalma and Chandil formations, suggesting continued high continental freeboard during 2.2–1.6 Ga. In significant contrast to the craton-specific Dhanjori Formation volcanism, the 1.7–1.6 Ga plume-related Dalma volcanism was probably part of a global tectonothermal event.