Charnockitic magmatism in southern India H M Rajesh1∗ and M Santosh2 1Department of Geographical Sciences and Planning, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072 Queensland, Australia. 2Department of Natural Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan. ∗e-mail:
[email protected] Large charnockite massifs cover a substantial portion of the southern Indian granulite terrain. The older (late Archaean to early Proterozoic) charnockites occur in the northern part and the younger (late Proterozoic) charnockites occur in the southern part of this high-grade terrain. Among these, the older Biligirirangan hill, Shevroy hill and Nilgiri hill massifs are intermediate charnockites, with Pallavaram massif consisting dominantly of felsic charnockites. The charnockite massifs from northern Kerala and Cardamom hill show spatial association of intermediate and felsic charnock- ites, with the youngest Nagercoil massif consisting of felsic charnockites. Their igneous parentage is evident from a combination of features including field relations, mineralogy, petrography, ther- mobarometry, as well as distinct chemical features. The southern Indian charnockite massifs show similarity with high-Ba–Sr granitoids, with the tonalitic intermediate charnockites showing simi- larity with high-Ba–Sr granitoids with low K2O/Na2O ratios, and the felsic charnockites showing similarity with high-Ba–Sr granitoids with high K2O/Na2O ratios. A two-stage model is suggested for the formation of these charnockites. During the first stage there was a period of basalt under- plating, with the ponding of alkaline mafic magmas. Partial melting of this mafic lower crust formed the charnockitic magmas. Here emplacement of basalt with low water content would lead to dehy- dration melting of the lower crust forming intermediate charnockites.