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Mineral Compositions in the Deccan Igneous Rocks of India: An Overview

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Topics in Igneous Petrology

Abstract

An overview of the mineral chemical variations observed in the Deccan Trap igneous rocks of western India indicates a very wide and continuous compositional range for olivine (Fo92–Fo11), pyroxene (augite to ferroaugite and pigeonite with rare orthopyroxene in the tholeiitic rocks; diopside to salite with no low-Ca clinopyroxene in slightly more alkaline basalts), spinel (from aluminous to chromiferous and to Ti-magnetite), ilmenite (Mg- to Mn-rich), feldspar (from An83 to albite and anorthoclase to K-rich sanidine), and minor phases (biotite, amphibole, pseudobrookite, etc.). These compositions reflect a large variation in temperature and chemical composition of the host rocks (from about 1,200–1,300°C in picritic basalts to 850–800°C in the rhyolites or in the groundmass of basalts). The range of mineral compositions indicates parental magmas with varying degrees of silica saturation (mildly alkaline to tholeiitic), and very similar (low-pressure) crystallization environment for all the tholeiitic magmas throughout the Deccan, regardless of their widely different geochemical and isotopic compositions.

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Acknowledgments

This work is our humble tribute to Prof. Mihir Bose. His work on the Deccan rocks was greatly influential during the development of the Ph.D. thesis of the first author. We gratefully thank Carlo Garbarino, Marcello Serracino and Roberto de’ Gennaro for their essential technical and scientific support for the microprobe work over several years, first at Cagliari and then at Rome and Napoli, and for their good humour and kindness that made the tedious work enjoyable. We also thank all the people involved or interested in our Deccan Trap work over the years, in particular L. Beccaluva, P. Brotzu, A. Khateeb, P. Javeri, J.J. Mahoney, B. Sethna, H. Sheth and the late Keith Cox. We apologize if major papers dealing with a substantial data set on mineral chemistry of the Deccan Traps were not taken into account. The comments of three anonymous reviewers were very helpful in improving contents and style of an earlier version of this manuscript, and so was the further reading of a very kind Ed Stephens. Funds for this project were provided by “Fondi per la Ricerca Dipartimentale 2008” to Leone Melluso.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Mezzocannone 8, 80134, Napoli, Italy

    Leone Melluso

  2. Department of Geology, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, 400001, India

    Sam F. Sethna

  3. Tata Colony, Tardeo, Mumbai, 400034, India

    Sam F. Sethna

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  1. Leone Melluso
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Correspondence to Leone Melluso .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geology, University of Calcutta, Ballygunge Circular Rd. 35, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Jyotisankar Ray

  2. Dept. Earth Sciences, Florida Center for Analytical, Florida International University, Miami, 33199, Florida, USA

    Gautam Sen

  3. , Department of Geology, University of Calcutta, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Biswajit Ghosh

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Melluso, L., Sethna, S.F. (2011). Mineral Compositions in the Deccan Igneous Rocks of India: An Overview. In: Ray, J., Sen, G., Ghosh, B. (eds) Topics in Igneous Petrology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9600-5_7

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