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Proterozoic crustal scale shearing in the Bundelkhand massif with special reference to quartz reefs

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

Quartz reefs that constitute the most spectacular feature of the Bundelkhand massif of Central India are as yet riddled with controversy. We consider the NE-SW trending quartz reefs and the NE-SW trending brittle-ductile shear system developed outside the quartz reefs to constitute a single tectonic fabric of the massif. The study of structural features of the quartz reefs and the associated NE-SW trending shear zones coupled with the mineralogical and structural features suggests that the quartz reefs represent strike-slip dominated vertical to subvertical shear zones with dominantly sinistral sense of shear. The loci of the quartz reefs constitute the large scale fractures developed as a consequence of extensional processes in this part of Central India. These fractures were the sites for later emplacement of siliceous magmatic melt, commonly known as quartz reef that was also responsible for the mineralization of some base metals as well as pyrophyllite and diaspore. The lithotectonic system of these quartz reefs thus developed was later on subjected to strike-slip movements. A generalized model of large scale extensional tectonics during the Proterozoic times has thus been suggested for the development of the NE-SW tectonic fabric of the Bundelkhand massif.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, 226 007, India

    A. R. Bhattacharya

  2. Department of Geology, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, 284 128, India

    S. P. Singh

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  1. A. R. Bhattacharya
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  2. S. P. Singh
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Bhattacharya, A.R., Singh, S.P. Proterozoic crustal scale shearing in the Bundelkhand massif with special reference to quartz reefs. J Geol Soc India 82, 474–484 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-013-0178-4

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