Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125

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Gondwana Research
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GR Letter

SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology of the carbonatite-hosted REE

deposit of Kamthai, Late Cretaceous polychronous Sarnu Dandali alkaline
complex, NW India: Links to plume-related metallogeny and CO2
outgassing at the K-Pg boundary
Sudipa Bhunia a, N.V. Chalapathi Rao a,⇑, B. Belyatsky b, D. Talukdar c, Rohit Pandey a, B. Lehmann d
a
Mantle Petrology Laboratory, Department of Geology, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India
b
Karpinsky Geological Institute (VSEGEI), Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia
c
Geological Survey of India, Bengaluru 560 111, India
d
Mineral Resources, Technical University of Clausthal, Adolph-Roemer-Straße 2A, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The carbonatite plug at Kamthai in the Late Cretaceous polychronous (66–89 Ma) Sarnu- Dandali alkaline
Received 18 June 2022 complex (SDAC), NW India, is India’s only known carbonatite-hosted rare- earth-element deposit. The
Revised 19 August 2022 SDAC intrudes the Neoproterozoic (
750 Ma) Malani silicic igneous suite in the Aravalli raton. The
Accepted 24 September 2022
Kamthai carbonatite is a calcio-carbonatite dominated by calcite along with barite, strontianite, quartz,
Available online 1 October 2022
Handling Editor: M. Santosh
zircon and REE-bearing minerals. Textural features suggest an open-system exchange of the magma
chamber at varying depths of crystallization. REE patterns are smooth and characterized by strong
LREE enrichment, as typical of carbonatites. SHRIMP dating of 12 spots on three magmatic zircons from
Keywords:
the carbonatite yielded a concordia age of 66.1 ± 1.4 Ma and an indistinguishable average 206Pb/238U
Carbonatite mean age of 68.4 ± 1.8 Ma. The obtained U-Pb ages unambiguously link the carbonatite emplacement
REE to the Deccan Large Igneous Province, i.e. the Réunion hotspot near the K-Pg (Cretaceous-Paleogene)
U-Pb SHRIMP dating boundary in the polychronous set-up of the SDAC. These ages are also indistinguishable from the 68.5
K-Pg mass extinction 3 ± 0.16 Ma magmatic pulse recorded from the nearby Mundwara polychronous alkaline complex and
Deccan Large Igneous Province the 69.7 ± 0.2 Ma alkaline sills from the Tethyan suture zone in Pakistan, which are regarded to be earliest
manifestations of the Réunion hotspot in the Indian sub-continent. Our results in the context of REE min-
eralization in the Kamthai deposit have also implications with respect to CO2 outgassing, induced by at
least four near-synchronous carbonatitic eruptions in NW India, and to triggering the mass extinction
near the K-Pg boundary.
Ó 2022 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Carbonatites are rare and exotic rocks consisting of > 50 %
modal primary carbonates and < 20 wt% SiO2; they have been
recorded from the Archaean to Recent, and are mostly confined
to continental extensional settings (Woolley and Bailey, 2012;
Yaxley et al., 2022). Carbonatites display a great diversity in their
mineralogy and geochemistry and are known to occur (i) in associ-
ation with alkaline silicate complexes, (ii) as isolated bodies
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: rini2705@gmail.com (S. Bhunia), nvcrao@bhu.ac.in
(N.V. Chalapathi Rao), bbelyatsky@mail.ru (B. Belyatsky), geo.debojit@gmail.com
(D. Talukdar), rhtgeo@gmail.com (R. Pandey), lehmann@min.tu-clausthal.de
(B. Lehmann).
(dykes, sills, plugs) and also as (iii) lava flows and pyroclastic blan-
kets (see Kamenetsky et al., 2022). A variety of competing models
have been proposed to account for the genesis of carbonatites, such
as immiscibility of carbonated silicate magmas (Lee and Wyllie,
1998), crystal fractionation of parental carbonated silicate magmas
(Veksler and Lenz, 2006), low-degree partial melting of carbonated
peridotite (Chmyz et al., 2019), and even derivation from the par-
tial melting of crustal carbonate rocks (Wu et al., 2022). Globally,
carbonatites and their associated alkaline rock complexes are also
known to host world-class mineral deposits of REE, P, and Nb, and
therefore their study assumes considerable commercial signifi-
cance (Smith et al., 2015; Pirajno and Yu, 2022 and references
therein).
The geological history of the north-western Indian shield, espe-
cially towards the west of the Mesoproterozoic Delhi Fold Belt, is

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.09.012
1342-937X/Ó 2022 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
S. Bhunia, N.V. Chalapathi Rao, B. Belyatsky et al. Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125

mostly constructed from sparsely available outcrops of Neopro- Neoproterozoic Malani igneous complex. Samples from the
terozoic rocks of the Marwar Supergroup, overlying the Neopro- Kamthai carbonatite plug (Fig. 2A; 25°380 3.21ʺN; 71°550 45.14ʺE)
terozoic Malani igneous suite, and end-Cretaceous Deccan are collected for petrological and geochronological studies and
volcanic rocks (Basu et al., 1993; Simonetti et al., 1998; Wang age determination by U-Pb zircon dating technique.
et al., 2017; Sheth et al., 2017; Pande et al., 2017; Wall et al.,
2018). The Late-Cretaceous Sarnu-Dandali alkaline complex
3. Methodology
(SDAC) in northwestern India is located 40 km east of Barmer town
(Fig. 1A) and it exposes a variety of igneous rocks ranging from
Petrographic investigation of the polished thin sections of sam-
alkali pyroxenite, nepheline syenite, ijolite, alkaline rhyolite,
ple no. AA/KT/1.3 was carried out using Olympus BX-51 optical
phonolite, melanephelinite, to alkaline mafic dykes and carbon-
microscope, and also by back scattered electron microscopy using
atites (Chandrasekaran et al., 1990; Srivastava et al., 1993;
Carl Zeiss EVO 18 Scanning electron microscope (SEM) at the
Simonetti et al., 1998). Radiometric dating of various rocks reveals
Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.
its polychronous nature with ages ranging from 66 to 89 Ma (Basu
Bulk-rock geochemistry of the sample was carried out at Bureau
et al., 1993; Sheth et al., 2017). However, the timing of the carbon-
Veritas Minerals, Canada, adapting lithium metaborate/tetraborate
atite emplacement from this complex remains unconstrained since
fusion technique by ICP-OES and ICP-MS instruments. The internal
no ages are available. Precise age determination of carbonatites
standards used for the analyses were GS311-1, GS910-4, DS-11,
from this complex is crucial in evaluating whether they belong to
OREAs262, BVGEO 01, and SO-19, and the precision was
5 %
putative pulses of single or different events and provide a unique
and 5–10 % for major and trace elements respectively.
opportunity to understand the carbonatite-alkaline rock genetic
The rock sample (No. AA/KT/1.3) was crushed by high-voltage
relationships in a polychronous setup.
electric impulse separation SelfragTM (Swiss) and zircons were sep-
In this paper, we report the end-Cretaceous 206Pb/238U mean
arated using hydro-separation on a Wilfley-800TM (UK) table. Three
age of 68.4 ± 1.8 Ma for zircon grains separated from the carbon-
hand-picked zircon grains were implanted in epoxy resin along
atite plug at Kamthai in the domain of the SADC (Fig. 2A) and
with reference zircon of known age and composition (Temora-2
explore the implications of the obtained age in the context of the
and 91,500 zircon standard grains) and then ground to approxi-
Deccan Trap eruption, REE mineralization, and CO2 outgassing
mately half their thickness. Optical (transmitted and reflected
leading to mass extinction at the K-Pg boundary.
light), cathodoluminescent (CL) and backscattered electron (BSE)
images reflect the internal structure and zoning of zircons, which
were further used to select sites for dating. The cathodolumines-
2. Geological setup
cence (CL) imaging was carried out on a CamScan MX2500 scan-
ning electron microscope. The microprobe was adjusted for
The Aravalli craton, northwestern India, is one of the oldest con-
maximum brightness; the working distance of 30.5 mm, the accel-
tinental nuclei with rocks > 3.3 billion years old (Wiedenbeck et al.,
erating voltage of 12 kV, and an almost completely focused current
1996). Much of the geological history of the vast swathe of this
beam of 7 nA on the Faraday cup. Both cathodoluminescence (CL)
area - especially that between the South Delhi Fold Belt and the
and SHRIMP-II (Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro Probe) analy-
Barmer basin - lacks sufficient geological information due to a
ses were carried out at the Center for Isotope Research, Karpinsky
thick pile of sand cover of the Thar desert. End-Cretaceous Deccan
All-Russian Geological Institute, (FGBU VSEGEI), St. Petersburg.
linked magmatism in the Aravalli craton is manifested by the (i)
U-Th-Pb isotope measurements were carried out on SHRIMP-II
Sarnu-Dandali alkaline complex in the west and far western part
in the mass range from 196 to 254 a.m.e. using a secondary elec-
(Basu et al., 1993; Simonetti et al., 1998; Vijayan et al., 2016;
tron multiplier in single-collector mode with a mass resolution
Sheth et al., 2017; Dongre et al., 2021; Pandey et al., 2022); (ii)
of > 5000. Instrumental conditions and data acquisition procedures
Mer-Mundwara alkaline complex in the south (Coulson, 1933;
were similar to the method described in Williams (1998) and
Vishwanathan, 1977; Chakraborti and Bose, 1978; Rathore et al.,
Rodionov et al., (2012). The intensity of the primary beam of
1996; Pande et al., 2017; Pandey et al., 2022) and (iii) Tavidar vol-
molecular negatively charged oxygen ions was 3–5 nA at a spot
canic suite to the south west (Sen et al., 2012). The Sarnu-Dandali
diameter of about 20–35 lm. The obtained data were processed
alkaline complex (
750 Ma) is intrusive into the Neoproterozoic
using the Squid program (Ludwig, 2005). The U/Pb ratios in the
Malani igneous complex and lower Cretaceous sandstone
sample were normalized relative to the standard Temora-2 zircon
(Narayan Das et al., 1978; Chandrasekaran et al., 1990; Wall
(416.8 Ma, Black et al., 2004). Lead, uranium, and thorium concen-
et al., 1993; Bhushan, 2015;Crawford and Compston, 1970; Dhar
trations were obtained using the 91,500 zircon standard with a
et al., 1996; Rathore et al., 1996, 1999; Torsvik et al., 2001;
known uranium content of 81.2 ppm (Wiedenbeck et al., 1995).
Gregory et al., 2009) The SDAC consists of a variety of alkaline
Correction for common lead was made according to the value of
rocks, such as, gabbro, lamprophyre, phonolite, ijolite, carbonatite,
the measured 204Pb isotope. An additional correction was carried
nephelinite, alkali basalt, and alkaline mafic dykes
out using the ‘‘207Pb-method” - assuming concordance of ages
(Chandrasekaran et al., 1990; Bhushan and Chandrasekaran, 206
Pb/238U - 207Pb/235U. The errors of analyses (ratios and ages)
2002; Vijayan et al., 2016). 40Ar-39Ar ages for this complex range
are given at the level of one sigma, and the errors of the calculated
from 88.9 to 86.8 Ma (for syenites, nephelinite, phonolite and rhy-
concordant ages (for the totality of analyses) and intersections
olite) and 66.3 ± 0.4 Ma (melanephelinite), in two pulses, and
with concordia are given at the level of two sigma. Plotting of
imply its overall polychronous nature (Basu et al., 1993; Sheth
the concordia curve was carried out using the IsoplotR program
et al., 2017). Some of the older alkaline pulses of this complex, with
(Vermeesch, 2018).
ages around 90 Ma, have been related to tectono-magmatic events
associated with the India-Madagascar breakup (Sheth et al., 2017).
Incidentally, the SDAC also hosts India’s only known 4. Results
carbonatite-hosted rare-earth-element deposit, near Kamthai vil-
lage, with a total resource estimate of 7.36 Mt at 1.62 % REO 4.1. Petrography
(Bhushan, 2015) (Fig. 1B). The carbonatite plug (about
250  100 m, plus various dykes) is intrusive into phonolite and The studied carbonatite samples are phaneritic, coarse- grained
ijolite of the SDAC, and they are intrusive into rhyolites of the and leucocratic as observed in hand specimen. Under the micro-
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S. Bhunia, N.V. Chalapathi Rao, B. Belyatsky et al. Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125

Fig. 1. (A) Distribution of alkaline rocks in the Deccan Large Igneous Province (after Pandey et al., 2022); (B) Geological map of the Kamthai area showing the carbonatite plug
of this study (after Chandrasekaran et al., 1990; Chandrasekaran and Chawade 1990).

118
S. Bhunia, N.V. Chalapathi Rao, B. Belyatsky et al. Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125

Fig. 2. (A) Field photograph of carbonatite plug in Kamthai area. Microphotographs of the carbonatite samples showing textural relations: (B) Calcite grains showing
cumulate and seriate texture (cross-polarized light) and (C) Sieve texture observed in some coarse calcite grains (plane polarized light). Backscattered electron (BSE) images of
(D) Quartz grains associated with REE-bearing minerals; (E) Barite occurring as intergranular and veinlet form and burbankite/carbocernaite being altered to ancylite; (F)
Strontianite in association with barite (Abbreviations: Cal- calcite, Brt- barite, Srt- strontianite, Qtz- quartz, Mg rich Cal- Mg rich calcite).

scope, calcite (including the Mg-rich variety) is the most abundant
mineral with barite, strontianite, quartz, zircon and REE- bearing
minerals constituting the rest of the phases. Calcite grains occur
as cumulates (Fig. 2B), which is clearly evident from their well
developed crystal faces and the matching boundaries. The bound-
aries between the grains are straight and regular at most places
and their size ranges from large euhedral crystals (̴ 6.5 mm) to
small anhedral ones (̴ 0.8 mm). Thus, a continuous gradation in size
range reflects a seriate texture (Fig. 2B), indicating their crystalliza-
tion at varied depths. The intercumulus space is generally not filled
by any other minerals other than calcite and thus an adcumulate
texture can be assigned, suggesting an open-system exchange
between the rock and the magma chamber. A few coarse calcite
grains show sieve texture (Fig. 2C), suggesting post-magmatic
alteration.
A variety of mineral phases, such as strontianite, barite, bur-
bankite/ carbocernaite and some unknown REE-phases, are found
to occur in clusters hosted in the groundmass of calcite and Mg-
rich calcite. The dominant REE-mineral is Sr-Ca-Ba-Na-REE carbon-
ate (carbocernaite) which forms large euhedral phenocrysts which
are extensively altered at their rims to REE-phases of the ancylite
group (Fig. 2D and E). Strontianite minerals are commonly associ-
ated with barite phases (Fig. 2F). Barite occurs both as veinlets and
also as coexisting intergranular blebs (Fig. 2D and E) along the

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S. Bhunia, N.V. Chalapathi Rao, B. Belyatsky et al.
grain boundaries of other minerals. Quartz grains are noticed as
coarse euhedral grains as well as small aggregates associated with
barite in the intercrystalline spaces (Fig. 2D).
The studied carbonatite can be classified as calcio-carbonatite
(see also Bhushan, 2015). The cumulate texture hints at gravitative
settling of calcite which was the first mineral to crystallize from a
carbonatitic melt, followed by the Mg-rich calcite. Zircon appears
to have been formed along with or immediately after calcite. Dur-
ing progressive evolution, incompatible alkali components were
retained in the melt along with the REEs. After reaching a sufficient
concentration, alkali-REE carbonates (carbocernaite/ burbankite)
crystallized as euhedral phases evidencing a Na-rich carbonatitic
melt. In the late stage, hydrothermal fluid reacted with former
alkali-REE carbonates, resulting in the removal of alkalis and for-
mation of an assemblage of less soluble REE carbonates and stron-
tianite associated with barite and quartz. The presence of quartz
testifies to the involvement of externally derived fluids. Bhushan
and Kumar (2013) noted that bastnäsite, synchysite, carbocernite,
cerianite and parasite were the major REE bearing phases in the
Kamthai carbonatite plug and invoked hydrothermal alteration at
sub-solidus temperatures to be responsible for the REE enrichment
in this deposit.
4.2. U-Pb zircon dating
As zirconium is an incompatible trace element it does not enter
other crystallizing phases and therefore its saturation is expected
in the carbonatitic melt in late stages of solidification, i.e. low
amounts of zircon in calcite cumulate rocks (as in case of the sam-
ple studied) and elevated zircon in small pockets of residual melt
which then imprint a ‘‘nugget effect” on zircon distribution. Owing
to its refractory nature, zircon is also well known to be physically
as well as chemically resistant to alteration processes (Mezger and
Krogstad, 1997). Zircon incorporates U and Th in its crystal struc-
ture and strongly rejects Pb during its crystallization. Therefore,
zircon contains mainly radiogenic Pb formed by the decay of U
after crystallization, and has very little common Pb, which makes
it an ideal geochronometer (Corfu et al., 2003).
Zircons of this study occur as disseminated euhedral, prismatic
grains. Their grain sizes vary from 0.10 to 0.22 mm; they are semi-
transparent under transmitted light (Fig. 3A). The grains generally
show sector zoning, with faint oscillatory zoning visible in the rims
of some crystals, and thus indicate their magmatic origin (Fig. 3B).
This can also be attested by their (i) sharp crystal faces, (ii) lack of
resorbed boundaries (Fig. 3C), (iii) high Th/U ratio (>0.2; Table 2)
and (iv) undisturbed U/Pb ages. Twelve spots, carefully selected
based on CL imaging, were chosen for SHRIMP dating (Fig. 3D)
which yielded a concordia age of 66.1 ± 1.4 Ma (Fig. 3E), which is
indistinguishable, within its error, from the average mean
206
Pb/238U age of 68.4 ± 1.8 Ma (Fig. 3F) (see Table 2).
The data show Pb mixing trends when plotted in a Tera-
Wasserburg diagram (Fig. 3E), but most of the spots lie near the
concordia and thus, their lower intercept age can be considered
as the crystallization age of zircon. For younger zircons, at rela-
tively low contents of parent elements (uranium and thorium),
the amount of the accumulated radiogenic component (Pb) will
be small, and the proportion of non-radiogenic (common) lead
can be significant, which leads to a shift of analytical points from
the concordia towards the non-radiogenic contaminant. Of course,
this construction is valid only in the absence of superimposed ther-
mal events on the U-Pb system of young zircons. In the event of
such an impact, then no mixing line can be built, and analytical
points form a field (or sector) on such a diagram. Under favorable
circumstances (high uranium content, and the absence of com-
mon lead), U-Pb analyses of young zircon can form a cluster lying
on the projection of the concordia curve with the age of its forma-
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Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125
tion (concordant-age zircons) as is the case of zircons from the
sample AA/KT/1.3 analyzed. The dated zircons lack distinct CL zon-
ing and their high Th/U ratio (0.58–16.35) is typical of carbonatitic
zircon (Belousova et al., 2002; Corfu et al., 2003), and consequently
the formation of zircon can be inferred to be a liquidus product of
the carbonatite melt.
4.3. Bulk-rock geochemistry
The bulk-rock geochemistry of the Kamthai carbonatite sample
of this study is presented in Table 1 and the average and range of
data published by Bhushan and Kumar (2013) are also shown. A
wide range of variation is displayed by the major and trace ele-
ments of the Kamthai carbonatite. Very high Ba, Sr and LREE con-
tents are the hall mark of the Kamthai carbonatite sample and in
fact all of them constitute ‘major elements’ in the sample. The
chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the sample of this study dis-
play a smooth and highly fractionated pattern with strong LREE
enrichment (Fig. 4). The samples analyzed in Bhushan and Kumar
(2013) and also Bhushan (2015) have a number of anomalies in
their REE pattern. However, some of these samples very high in
REEs are strongly hydrothermally altered and possibly also affected
by supergene processes. On the other hand, a smooth REE pattern
which we observe in our sample is typical of primary carbonatites
worldwide. The overall relatively low and fairly variable zirconium
content of carbonatites is a fairly well-known feature together with
the fact that carbonatites often contain zircon as an extremely
unevenly distributed phase (see Chakhmouradian 2006). There-
fore, the obtained estimate of the average zirconium content at
the level of 3.5 ppm in our sample (Table 1) is probably underesti-
mated with respect to the larger rock volume and can be expected
to be affected by the ‘‘nugget effect”.
5. Discussion and conclusions
The Deccan Large Igneous Province (DLIP) with an aerial extent
of about 500,000 km2 covers most of western and central India
(Mahoney 1988). The main phase of the Deccan Trap eruption took
place between 66.3 and 65.5 Ma (Baksi 2022 and references
therein), close to the K-Pg boundary, wherein the bulk of the vol-
ume of the lavas was erupted due to the interaction between the
Réunion plume and the Indian lithosphere (Basu et al., 2020 and
references therein). A wide variety of alkaline rocks are reported
from the DLIP which pre-date, post-date as well as are syn-
chronous with the K-Pg boundary at ca. 66 Ma (see Pandey et al.,
2022 for a recent review). The U-Pb age obtained from the zircons
of the Kamthai carbonatite plug of this study demonstrates that the
carbonatite (i) was emplaced during the second pulse, closer to the
K-Pg boundary, in the polychronous set-up of the SDAC; (ii) is
indistinguishable from the 68.53 ± 0.16 Ma magmatic pulse
recorded from the nearby carbonatite - hosting Mundwara poly-
chronous alkaline complex (Basu et al., 1993) and (iii) closer in
age to the 69.7 ± 0.2 Ma alkaline sills (Kerr et al., 2010) from
Quetta, Tethyan suture zone, in Pakistan, which are regarded to
be the earliest manifestations of the Réunion hotspot in the Indian
sub-continent. In the reconstructed path of the Indian plate since
Late Cretaceous, some of the earliest Deccan lavas and associated
alkaline rocks are confined to NW India (see Mahoney et al.,
2002; Paul et al., 2008; Sen et al., 2016). Therefore, we link the
Kamthai carbonatite pulse of the SDAC to the early Réunion hot-
spot activity. In fact, a time–space relationship between carbon-
atites and LIPs vis-a-vis mantle plumes has been well-
documented globally (Bell 2001; Ernst and Bell 2010).
Carbonatites and alkaline - carbonatite complexes globally con-
stitute the most important sources for REE and Nb and also can
S. Bhunia, N.V. Chalapathi Rao, B. Belyatsky et al. Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125

Fig. 3. Zircon grains from the carbonatite (A) under transmitted light, (B) cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging showing patchy zoning between the core and rim of the
individual grains, (C) Backscattered electron (BSE) imaging, (D) CL imaging with the circles on the images representing the spots chosen for dating. (E) U-Pb Concordia
intercept age using the Tera-Wasserburg diagram; The lower intercept of the Concordia is interpreted to be the crystallization age of zircon. (F) Weighted mean 206Pb/238U age
of the zircons from the sample studied.

host significant deposits of apatite, vermiculite, fluorite etc.
(Simandl and Paradis 2018; Wang et al., 2020). However, the pro-
cesses leading to the formation of REE deposits in carbonatites
remain unclear and several models have been proposed (see
Anenburg et al., 2022; Yaxley et al., 2022 and references therein).
It has also been suggested that the carbonatite-alkaline rock asso-
ciated mineral systems are localized by volatiles in the distal sec-
tors of a mantle plume and are derived from low degrees of
partial melting of metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric
mantle sources (Pirajno 2015). Broadly coeval (1396–1371 Ma)
and cogenetic alkaline rock - carbonatite magmatism at the world-
class Mountain Pass REE deposit, USA, is shown to have resulted
from primary partial melts of a heterogeneous, long-lived, and
repeatedly tapped metasomatized mantle reservoir (Watts et al.,
2022). Likewise, episodic metasomatism, on longer time scales
(1580–398 Ma), is shown to be a significant contributor for redis-
tribution and mobilization of REE in the world’s richest REE deposit
at Bayan Obo, China (Smith et al., 2015). Interestingly, the
65 Ma

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Table 1
Bulk-rock geochemistry of the carbonatite sample from Kamthai (under this study) compared with the available data base (Bhushan and Kumar, 2013) from the same plug. *
n = 15 samples (Bhushan and Kumar, 2013).

Elemental concentration (wt%/ ppm) AA/KT/1.3 Range in Kamthai Carbonatite (Bhushan and Kumar, 2013) Average (n = 28)
(this study)
SiO2 0.10 1.6–28.8 7.9
Al2O3 0.02 0.3–9.4 2.5
RFe2O3 1.06 2.6–15.1 5.6
MnO 2.09 1.0–5.8 2.2
MgO 0.40 0.2–2.3 1.1
CaO 45.3 19.5–42.8 34
Na2O 0.80 0.04–5.5 0.7
K2O <0.01 0.2–4.4 1.0
TiO2 <0.01 <0.05–2.9 0.4
P2O5 <0.01 0.05–2.5 0.8
LOI 41.0 15.2–36.7 30.6
BaO 1.88 0.55–3.02* 1.79
SrO 5.20 0.22–6.17* 3.19
Total 97.88
Trace Average (n = 215)
Be <1 <0.5–6.1 1.6
Sc 5 <0.5–132 7.0
Co 0.3 1–77.4 15
Ga <0.5 1.6–662 108.5
Rb <0.1 2.7–331 76.7
Y 171 14.8–603 122.2
Zr 4.5 3.3–252.1 32.3
Nb 0.4 3.3–1662.5 192.1
Mo 0.6 1.4–434.1 59.5
Ag <0.1 <0.5–2.4 0.8
Cd 2.5 <0.1–30 4.7
Sb <0.1 <0.5–4.3 1.7
Cs <0.1 <0.1–6.8 0.1
Hf 0.3 <0.1–10 2.3
Ta 0.3 <0.1–9.3 2.03
W 0.5 <0.5–32.6 1.71
Tl <0.1 <0.1–582 6.3
Pb 83.5 <0.1–7939.6 2090
Bi <0.1 <0.1–94.8 3.3
Th 23.6 4.7–1030 94.3
U <0.1 0.4–78.3 12.7
REE
La 7414 219.9–73348 12,884
Ce 8904 211.6–81958 15,862
Pr 673 25.2–5310 1234
Nd 1686 69.3–13800 3059
Sm 127.5 9.1–821 195.7
Eu 28.9 2.4–213 42.9
Gd 90.5 0.8–1060 127
Tb 7.8 1.6–490 53.9
Dy 36 3.4–141 41.9
Ho 6.4 0.6–19.9 5.1
Er 17 1.9–66.2 21.6
Tm 2.4 0.3–7.7 1.6
Yb 15.7 1.3–43.5 10.5
Lu 2.3 0.2–5.7 1.6

Table 2
U, Th, Pb concentrations, isotope ratios and model ages (Ma) of the zircon grains from the Kamthai carbonatite under study. (1) and (2) represent the ratios corrected for the share
of common lead.

Sample Concentration ratios Ages Total

232 206 206 206 238 207
Grain + Spot [U] [Th] Th/ Pb* Pb/ ±r Pb/ ±r U/ ±r Pb/ ±r
238 238 238 206 206
ppm ppm U ppm U U Pb % Pb %
(1) (2)
1.1 6 29 5.04 0.0721 89.6 6.5 67.8 6.5 71.4 7.3 0.241 15
1.2 17 219 13.32 0.189 82.7 3.0 73.3 3 77.5 3.7 0.137 8.7
1.3 29 278 9.76 0.273 69.4 2.2 63.7 2.2 92.4 3.2 0.1126 8.6
1.4 18 87 5.02 0.236 97.9 3.4 71.9 3.4 65.4 3.5 0.259 7.3
2.1 26 205 8.26 0.256 74.3 2.4 69.6 2.5 86.3 3.3 0.0969 9.6
2.2 41 23 0.58 0.442 80.6 2.1 69.8 2.3 79.5 2.7 0.155 8.4
2.3 26 359 14.33 0.253 73.0 2.4 68.2 2.4 87.8 3.3 0.0995 9.4
3.1 2 9 5.34 0.0401 180 16 92.0 16 35.4 8.9 0.44 14
3.2 17 264 16.35 0.164 73.1 3.1 64.5 3.1 87.6 4.2 0.142 12
3.3 13 109 8.84 0.147 86.1 4.2 68.1 4.1 74.4 4.9 0.214 10
3.4 15 124 8.69 0.250 126.3 5.7 76,0 5.9 50.6 4.6 0.366 8
3.5 10 29 3.07 0.105 79.9 4.5 64.4 4.4 80.2 5.7 0.202 12

122
S. Bhunia, N.V. Chalapathi Rao, B. Belyatsky et al.
Fig. 4. Chondrite-normalized (after Sun and McDonough, 1989) REE pattern for the carbonatite sample of this study compared with the field of Kamthai carbonatite samples
published by Bhushan (2015).
Amba Dongar carbonatite - alkaline complex in DLIP hosts a fluo-
rite, and not REE, deposit. The polychronous nature of the SDAC
assumes significance in this aspect and the controls of REE miner-
alization need to be thoroughly examined in the future from this
perspective.
Carbon outgassing from LIPs has been invoked as an important
mechanism to drive major climate shifts throughout Earth’s his-
tory (Nava et al., 2021). Importantly, carbonatitic-alkaline rock
complexes, as well as kimberlites, are well known to inject signif-
icant amounts of CO2 and SO2, within a short time span, as ‘ver-
neshots’ into the atmosphere and together with the flood basalts
can contribute towards mass extinctions (Ray and Pande 1999;
Phipps-Morgan et al., 2004; Chalapathi Rao et al., 2014). In this
regard, it is significant to note that at least four carbonatite-
alkaline complexes or some of their magmatic pulses from the Dec-
can LIP (Fig. 1A) viz., Siriwasan-Dughda (70 ± 2 Ma; Krishna et al.,
1993), Amba Dongar (65.4 ± 2.5 Ma; Fosu et al., 2018), Mundwara
(68.53 ± 0.16 Ma; Basu et al., 1993) and Sarnu Dandali (68.4 ± 1.
8 Ma; this study) are close and/or synchronous with the K-Pg
boundary mass extinction. The CO2 and SO2 degassing from these
carbonatites and their associated alkaline rocks over a short time
span, together with the coevally erupting Deccan lavas, has the
potential to cause a catastrophic effect to lead to mass extinction.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sudipa Bhunia: Investigation, Writing – original draft. N.V.
Chalapathi Rao: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Fund-
ing acquisition, Validation, Supervision. B. Belyatsky: Data cura-
tion, Investigation, Validation. D. Talukdar: Investigation. Rohit
Pandey: Writing – review & editing, Funding. B. Lehmann:
Validation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
123
Gondwana Research 112 (2022) 116–125
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Head, Department of Geology, BHU for extend-
ing the necessary facilities. We also thank Abhinay Sharma for his
assistance during the field work. Constructive comments from
three anonymous journal reviewers and editorial suggestions by
M. Santosh are gratefully acknowledged.
Funding
NV Chalapathi Rao thanks DST-SERB, New Delhi for research
grants (project No.SR/S4/ES-554/2011 and IR/S4/ESF-18/2011
dated 12.11.2013) and Institute of Eminence Project (IoE). Rohit
Pandey thanks start-up grants by SERB (M-14-0594), UGC (M-14-
0584) and Seed Grant by IoE BHU. CSIR is also acknowledged for
awarding JRF (NET) to Sudipa Bhunia and Debojit Talukdar.
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