TITLE:
Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Diabase Dykes in the Northern Part of EDC, Karnataka, India: Implication for Sulfide Metal Exploration
AUTHORS:
Bhimasandra Chikkanna Prabhakar
KEYWORDS:
Diabase Dykes, EDC, Sulfide Mineralization, Thinthini, Mineral Exploration
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Geology,
Vol.8 No.2,
February
5,
2018
ABSTRACT: Northern part of Eastern Dharwar Craton (EDC) in Karnataka is essentially a granitoid country, frequently intruded by diabase dykes of varied dimensions. Compositionally, majority of them are constituted by pyroxene and plagioclase and less frequently they are olivine-bearing types. One of the major dykes near Thinthini is intensely altered and contains sulfide mineralization brought out by episodic hydrothermal process. Geochemically they are slightly on the higher side of silica content, except the olivine bearing dykes. Their sulfur endowment is also higher. Various discrimination diagrams suggest that they are broadly tholeiitic in composition formed from the less differentiated magma derived from mantle at relatively greater depth and intruded into the granitic rocks which in turn were formed in a subduction setting. The structural deformation prior to and post dating dyke intrusion as deciphered from detailed field studies, alteration of country rocks and hydrothermal activity in the area provide a good background to explore sulfide and other associated metals and also to understand the likely extension of the known mineralized zones.