Multistage magmatic and post-magmatic evolution of the Neoarchaean Closepet Batholith of Dharwar Craton in southern India - insights from the texture and chemical composition of titanite

Abstract

Titanite is often used to describe the path of igneous, metamorphic, and hydrothermal processes. Therefore, titanite can unravel the multistage magmatic and post-magmatic evolution of granitoids. In this study, we present a comprehensive study of the ca. 2.57–2.51 Ga Closepet Batholith in the Dharwar Craton of southern India using titanite. This granitoid body provides a unique opportunity as various structural levels of the batholith are continuously outcropping. The textural and geochemical studies of titanite, supported by UPb isotopic dating, allowed us to distinguish five generations of magmatic and hydrothermal titanite. Three types of magmatic titanite demonstrate stage-growth crystallization (type I) and a change from reduced, high-temperature (type II) to oxidised, low-temperature conditions (type III). Hydrothermal titanite is recorded as altered titanite with zoned to patchy textures and secondary fractures and veinlets (type IV) and titanite inclusions within biotite (type V). Hydrothermal titanite (type IV) shows depletion in rare earth elements and high-field strength elements, indicating mobilization of those elements by a fluid. UPb dating by LA-ICP-MS of magmatic titanite type I yielded ages of ca. 2.5 Ga, consistent with the timing of formation of the Closepet Batholith. The relationship between titanite textures and chemistry indicates that titanite serves as a recorder of the multistage magmatic and post-magmatic evolution of the Closepet Batholith. In addition, our study shows that hydrothermal activity affected a large area, with fluids circulating over long distances within the upper structural levels of the Closepet Batholith.