Application of 2D Resistivity Modelling to Delineate Lamproites in Parts of North‑Eastern Dharwar Craton

Geophysical methods have extensively been used in exploration of Lamproite bodies. Lamproites are significant source rocks of primary diamond deposits other than Kimberlites. The Eastern Dharwar Craton is unique in the way that it hosts numerous Precambrian Lamproites confined to the crescent-shaped Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Cuddapah Basin and its north-western and north-eastern margins. In the present study electrical method was used as a tool for delineation of Lamproite bodies in contrast with country rocks in Gundrapally, Vattikode and Marepally regions in parts of the North Eastern Dharwar Craton in Telangana State, India. The electrical profiling method was conducted in different direction to identify the variation of the lithology of the area due to the anisotropic nature and smaller size of the 2-D intrusive bodies adopting the Wenner electrode configuration. The electrical properties of the Lamproites tended to change with their composition due to weathering and the presence of Olivine and K-Al rich composition. The electrical response on the Lamproite pipes is shows a decrease in resistivity concerning the country-rock in the area.

Lithium isotopes in kimberlites, lamproites and lamprophyres as tracers of source components and processes related to supercontinent cycles

Our pilot study reveals potential fingerprints of Li isotopes recorded in the Mesoproterozoic (∼1.4-1.1 Ga) kimberlites, lamproites and lamprophyres from the Eastern Dharwar Craton and Paleocene (62 Ma) orangeite from the Bastar Craton in India. The new data are interpreted in the context of available Li isotope composition of lamproitic to lamprophyric rocks occurring in Variscan (Bohemian Massif) and Alpine-Himalayan (SW Tibet) orogenic belts formed in response to Gondwana-Pangea amalgamation and break-up. As a result of supercontinents development, kimberlites from the Eastern Dharwar Craton and ‘orangeite’ from the Bastar Craton show clear presence of a component with a heavy Li isotope signature (δ7Li up to 9.7‰) similar to an ancient altered oceanic crust, whereas the Eastern Dharwar Craton lamproites (2.3-6.3‰) and lamprophyres (3.3-6.7‰) show Li isotope signatures indicative of a dominant contribution from heterogeneous lithospheric mantle. Variscan lamprophyric to lamproitic rocks and post-collisional mantle-derived (ultra)potassic volcanic rocks from SW Tibet, i.e., rocks from the orogenic belts outside the cratonic areas, are characterized by a clear Li isotope shift towards isotopically lighter component (δ7Li as low as -9.5‰) comparable with the involvement of an evolved continental crust and high-pressure metamorphic rocks in their orogenic mantle source. Such components with isotopically light Li are strikingly missing in the source of cratonic kimberlites, lamproites and lamprophyres.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5495097