Petrochemical and Petrotectonic Characterisation of Ophiolitic Volcanics from Great Nicobar Island Andaman-Sumatra Belt

Authors

  • R. Sachin
     Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Manikanteshwaram Road, Nettayam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 013
  • Subodh Verma
     Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Manikanteshwaram Road, Nettayam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 013
  • Tapan Pal
     Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Manikanteshwaram Road, Nettayam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 013

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0667-y

Abstract

In Great Nicobar island ophiolite is restricted to the eastern coast of the island and occur as small isolated out crops in the terrain of Oligocene sediments. The ophiolitic rocks are represented by pillowed basalt, massive andesite and pyroclastic andesite. These volcanics represent dismembered members of the upper part of the ophiolite. Basalt is porphyritic in nature where phenocrysts of augite and plagioclase laths are set in a fine grained glassy to chloritic matrix. Andesites consists of phenocrysts of augite, altered feldspar and minor quartz which are set in ground mass of epidote-chlorite glass. Trace element and REE pattern suggests more fertile mantle source for andesite than that of basalt. Trace element characteristics indicate that the andesites and basalts were possibly derived from the same melt where andesite represents the more fractionated product.

In Andaman Islands dismembered ophiolite with complete ophiolite stratigraphy are found only within the Eocene sediments. But the field disposition suggests that in Great Nicobar emplacement of the ophiolite continued even after the Oligocene sedimentation. The characters of the ophiolitic rocks in Great Nicobar island are similar to that of the Sunda outer arc ridge.

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Issue

Volume 90, Issue 1, July 2017 Pages (1-128)

Section

Research Articles

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Published

2017-07-01

How to Cite

Sachin, R., Verma, S., & Pal, T. (2017). Petrochemical and Petrotectonic Characterisation of Ophiolitic Volcanics from Great Nicobar Island Andaman-Sumatra Belt. Journal of Geological Society of India, 90(1), 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0667-y
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