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Society of Earth Scientists Series

M. E. A. Mondal Editor

Geological
Evolution of the
Precambrian
Indian Shield
Society of Earth Scientists Series

Series editor
Satish C. Tripathi, Lucknow, India
The Society of Earth Scientists Series aims to publish selected conference
proceedings, monographs, edited topical books/text books by leading scientists
and experts in the field of geophysics, geology, atmospheric and environmental
science, meteorology and oceanography as Special Publications of The Society of
Earth Scientists. The objective is to highlight recent multidisciplinary scientific
research and to strengthen the scientific literature related to Earth Sciences.
Quality scientific contributions from all across the Globe are invited for publica-
tion under this series. Series Editor: Dr. Satish C. Tripathi

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8785

M. E. A. Mondal
Editor

Geological Evolution
of the Precambrian Indian
Shield

123
Editor
M. E. A. Mondal
Department of Geology
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh
India

ISSN 2194-9204 ISSN 2194-9212 (electronic)

Society of Earth Scientists Series
ISBN 978-3-319-89697-7 ISBN 978-3-319-89698-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89698-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018940000

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
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Series Editor Foreword

The Indian Subcontinent is largely constituted by Precambrian cratons and mobile

belts; sedimentary basins containing record of nearly 3.0 billion years of Earth’s
history and constantly remained the area of extensive research for geoscientists over
period of time. Cratons with Archean nuclei welded together by end Archean and
‘Purana basins’ developed subsequently in different pulses recorded geodynamic,
paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic signatures of Proterozoic. The evolution
of life was also first identified in these sedimentary basins. The status of knowledge
and future course of study has been evaluated time and again in past, still efforts to
understand geological evolution continued with adding new data and interpretations
to our knowledge. These new data from Indian subcontinent are useful for
understanding global scenario of evolution of Earth during Precambrian.
Understanding the need of the hour, a national conference and field workshop on
‘Precambrians of India’ was organized at the heart of Bundelkhand craton (22–24
November, 2016, Jhansi, U.P., India) by The Society of Earth Scientists jointly with
Bundelkhand University. Based on the presentations, selected scientists were
invited to contribute for this volume Geological Evolution of the Precambrian
Indian Shield edited by Prof. M. E. A. Mondal of Aligarh Muslim University. The
contributions address almost all the aspects of Precambrian geology of India. The
book is published under prestigious Society of Earth Scientists Series by Springer.
I hope the contributions will evolve new understanding about the Precambrian
times.

Satish C. Tripathi

v
Contents

Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size and Tectonic Framework . . . . . . . . 1

A. B. Roy
Evolution of the Indian Shield: A New Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Ram S. Sharma and M. E. A. Mondal
Zircon U–Pb (SHRIMP) Ages of the Jahazpur Granite and
Mangalwar Gneiss from the Deoli-Jahazpur Sector, Rajasthan,
NW India: A Preliminary Reappraisal of Stratigraphic Correlation
and Implications to Crustal Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Bidisha Dey, Kaushik Das, Nilanjan Dasgupta, Sankar Bose,
Hiroshi Hidaka and Hindol Ghatak
Redox State of Atmosphere and Ocean at the
Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic Boundary: A Case Study from the
Sausar Belt, Central India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
S. Mohanty
Mineral Chemistry, Sr–Nd Isotope Geochemistry and Petrogenesis
of the Granites of Bathani Volcano-Sedimentary Sequence from the
Northern Fringe of Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex of Eastern
India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Ashima Saikia, Bibhuti Gogoi, Mansoor Ahmad, Rajeev Kumar,
Tatiana Kaulina and Tamara Bayanova
Stratigraphic Evolution and Architecture of the Terrestrial
Succession at the Base of the Neoproterozoic Badami Group,
Karnataka, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Soumik Mukhopadhyay, Pradip Samanta, Sinchan Bhattacharya
and Subir Sarkar

vii
viii Contents

Deformation and Tectonic History of Punagarh Basin in the

Trans-Aravalli Terrane of North-Western India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Anamika Bhardwaj and Tapas Kumar Biswal
Archean TTG Magmatism in the Aravalli Craton, NW India:
Petrogenetic and Geodynamic Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Iftikhar Ahmad, M. E. A. Mondal and M. Satyanarayanan
Sulfidic Endowment in Granite-Greenstone Terrain in the Northern
Part of EDC: Possibilities of IOCG—Type Mineralizing Episodes . . . . . 205
B. C. Prabhakar and Mohamed Shareef
Deformation of Pyrite at Varying Metamorphic Grades in
Sediment-Hosted Base Metal Sulphide Deposits
of Rajasthan, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Indrani Mukherjee, Anupam Chattopadhyay and Mihir Deb
Provenance and Tectonic Setting of the Proterozoic Clastic
Rocks of the Kerur Formation, Badami Group, Mohare Area,
Karnataka, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
K. Velmurugan, J. Madhavaraju, V. Balaram, A. Ramachandran,
S. Ramasamy, E. Ramirez-Montoya and J. C. Saucedo-Samaniego
Controls on Cyclic Sedimentation Within the Neoproterozoic Sirbu
Shale, Vindhyan Basin, Central India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Pradip Samanta, Soumik Mukhopadhyay, Sunipa Mandal and Subir Sarkar
Trace, Rare-Earth Elements and C, O Isotope Systematics of
Carbonate Rocks of Proterozoic Bhima Group, Eastern Dharwar
Craton, India: Implications for the Source of Dissolved Components,
Redox Condition and Biogeochemical Cycling of Mesoproterozoic
Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Nurul Absar, Mohd Qaim Raza, Sminto Augustine, Shreyas Managave,
D. Srinivasa Sarma and S. Balakrishnan
Geochemical and Nd Isotopic Studies of the Neoarchaean-
Palaeoproterozoic Granitoids of the Aravalli Craton, NW India:
Evidence for Heterogeneous Crustal Evolution Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Md. Sayad Rahaman, M. E. A. Mondal, Iftikhar Ahmad, R. Bhutani
and A. K. Choudhary
Aseismic Tectonism-Induced Soft-Sediment Deformation in a
Tranquil Palaeogeography: Chikkshelikere Limestone Member,
Proterozoic Kaladgi Basin, Southern India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Soumik Mukhopadhyay, Adrita Choudhuri, Nivedita Chakraborty
and Subir Sarkar
Contents ix

Geochemical Constraints on the Petrogenesis of the

Metasedimentary Rocks Forming the Basement of the Shillong
Plateau, Northeast India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
M. Faruque Hussain, V. Vanthangliana and M. E. A. Mondal
Geochemistry of Mafic–Felsic Rocks of Phulad Ophiolite, in and
Around Pindwara-Mount Abu Region, South Delhi Fold Belt,
NW Indian Shield: Implications for Its Tectonic Evolution . . . . . . . . . . 401
M. Shamim Khan, Roohi Irshad and Tavheed Khan
Genesis of Epidiorites Associated with Dhalbhum Formation of
Proterozoic Singhbhum Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Vidyanand Bhagat and Vikash Kumar
Evolution of a Granite Gneiss-Migmatite Terrane in Rajasthan:
Melt Generation and Origin of Anjana Granite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
D. B. Guha, Sandip Neogi and Ausaf Raza
Petrography and Diagenetic Evolution of the Proterozoic Kaimur
Group Sandstones, Son Valley, India: Implication Towards
Reservoir Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
M. A. Quasim, Sumit K. Ghosh and A. H. M. Ahmad
Precambrian Crustal History Unraveled from the Geochemical
Studies of Post-Archean Rocks, Arunachal Pradesh, NE Lesser
Himalaya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Shaik A. Rashid, Shamshad Ahmad, Naqeebul Islam and Javid A. Ganai
Geochemistry of the Mafic Metavolcanic Rocks of
Mauranipur-Babina Greenstone Belt, Bundelkhand Craton, Central
India: Implication for Tectonic Settings During the Archaean . . . . . . . . 577
Ausaf Raza and M. E. A. Mondal
Occurrence of Tidalites in the Mesoproterozoic Subtidal-Intertidal
Flat, Lalsot Sub-basin, North Delhi Fold Belt, Rajasthan, India . . . . . . 609
Biplab Bhattacharya, Malini Chakraborty and Sunil Kumar Sharma
High-Field Strength Elements Geochemistry of Granite and
Co-genetic Pegmatites of the Kawadgaon Area, Bastar Craton,
Central India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
Yamuna Singh, G. B. Rout, A. K. Bhatt, P. S. C. Pandit, Sanjay Bagora,
P. K. Gupta, S. D. Rai and G. B. Joshi
Metamorphism, Crustal Evolution and Amalgamation of Meso- to
Neo-Archaean Greenstone-Granite Craton and Granulite-Gneiss
Terrane in Rajasthan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
D. B. Guha
x Contents

Geochemistry and Tectonic Setting of the Precambrian Mahakoshal

and Sonakhan Greenstone Belts of the Central Indian Shield . . . . . . . . 695
H. Wani and M. E. A. Mondal
Megascopic Carbonaceous Remains from Proterozoic
Basins of India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725
Mukund Sharma and Veeru Kant Singh
About the Editor

Dr. M. E. A. Mondal is Professor of Geology, Aligarh

Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P., India. Research
interests of Prof. Mondal include magmatic and tectonic
processes of Precambrian crustal evolution, hard rock
and clastic rock geochemistry. He is particularly inter-
ested in understanding the geodynamic evolution of
Indian continental lithosphere, viz. Bundelkhand craton,
Bastar craton and Aravalli craton through multidisci-
plinary approach involving field studies, petrology,
geochronology and geochemistry. He teaches igneous
and metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, geodynamics
and engineering geology at U.G. & P.G. levels. He is
recipient of National Geoscience Award-2017. He has
published 73 research papers in peer-reviewed journals
including Precambrian Research, Gondwana Research,
Lithosphere, Tectonophysics, Island Arc, Journal of
Asian Earth Sciences, Geochemical Journal, Terra
Nova, Geological Society, London, The Journal of
Geology, Geoscience Frontiers, Current Science,
Journal of the Geological Society of India and Journal
of Earth System Sciences. Total citation of his papers is
605 as on May 2018. He has completed 08 research
projects sponsored by DST & UGC, and at present
carrying out 01 research project sponsored by Ministry of
Mines, Govt. of India. He is fellow and life member of
many learned bodies and has been a member of National
Working Group for International Geological Correlation

xi
xii About the Editor

Programme (IGCP) on A-type granites and related rocks

(IGCP 510), and International Geological Correlation
Programme (IGCP) on The Changing Early Earth (IGCP
599). He is member of Science Program Committee and
Coordinator of the theme “Hadean to Archaean Earth”
of the 36th Indian Geological Congress (IGC-2020).
Introduction

The Precambrian shield of India, like that from different parts of the world, has also
a protracted checkered history of evolution with diverse processes of crust for-
mation, crust accretion, cratonization, evolution of basement and cover sequences.
Despite efforts in the recent past, there still remain serious knowledge gaps in the
geological history of the Indian shield, mainly stemming from the absence of
critical data. In some cases, where data are available, many remain uninterpreted, or
poorly interpreted or unconnected to robust geological evidence causing hindrance
to the understanding of a comprehensive evolutionary model of the Precambrian
Indian shield.
During the last two decades, there has been a great transformation in our
understanding of the Precambrian history of the Indian shield, as more and more
Indian geoscientists started delving into the Precambrian history of the Indian shield
armoured with state-of-the-art technology. As a result, a quantum jump is noticed
both in terms of quality and quantity of data that contributed tremendously towards
better understanding of the Indian shield. There has also been a paradigm shift in
our approach to look at the Precambrian shield regions over the years. There is a
growing realization that a holistic approach, incorporating huge petrological, geo-
chemical, isotopic, geochronological, structural, metallogenic, sedimentological
and paleobiological data of the rocks of the Precambrian shield area, is lacking.
This book which is a collation of papers on these diverse topics is an attempt to
fulfil this aspiration.
This book presents a collection of 27 papers on varying topics aimed to depict
the geological evolutionary history of the Precambrian shield of India. All the
papers in the book were peer-reviewed by two or more reviewers. Out of 32 papers
received, only 27 have been accepted after peer review.
In the first paper on Indian shield, Roy proposed that the pristine Indian shield
had undergone several changes during the break-up of the Gondwana superconti-
nent. He further suggested that the individual protocontinents comprising the Indian
shield have distinctive history of crustal evolution processes, pointing to the

xiii
xiv Introduction

non-viability of large-scale process responsible for the evolution of these conti-

nental nuclei. Sharma and Mondal gave a new model for the evolution of the Indian
shield. On the basis of striking similarities in geochemical signatures, temporal
evolution, lithological make-up of the Singhbhum and the Aravalli-Bundelkhand
craton, they opined that the partial melting of the amphibolites belonging to the
Older Metamorphic Group of the Singhbhum craton was responsible for the for-
mation of the Archean granitoids of the Aravalli and the Bundelkhand cratons.
They further proposed an alternative model that invokes fragmentation of a single
continental mass to give rise to individual cratons of the Indian shield.
Dey et al. reported high-precision U-Pb (SHRIMP-IIe) zircon geochronological
data from the Jahazpur granite and associated Mangalwar gneiss of Deoli-Jahazpur-
Hindoli region of the Aravalli Craton. Their work suggests emplacement age of
2538 ± 5 Ma for the Jahazpur granite, and 2520 ± 37 Ma is the timing of the
high-grade metamorphism and anatexis of the Mangalwar gneiss. This work further
suggests that the Neoarchean Jahazpur granite and Mangalwar gneiss are con-
stituents of the Banded Gneissic Complex which forms the basement of the
Hindoli-Jahazpur supracrustal sequence. Using geochemical proxies of the gneissic
rocks belonging to BGC-I, Aravalli craton, Ahmad et al. propose that partial
melting of an enriched source (such as oceanic plateau), rather than a MORB-type
oceanic floor, was responsible for the generation of the TTG magma which are now
occurring as gneisses. Rahaman et al. carried out geochemical and Nd isotopic
studies of the Neoarchaen-Paleoproterozoic granitoids from the Aravalli craton and
argued for heterogeneous crustal evolution processes to produce at least two distinct
types of granitoids: sanukitoid-type and high-K type granitoids.
Mohanty reported reducing environment of atmosphere and ocean during
Archaean-Paleoproterozoic boundary from Sausar belt of central India from the
study of a paleosol horizon. Saikia et al., on the basis of mineral chemistry, Sr-Nd
isotope data of granites of Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex, inferred that the
granites of the Chotanagpur Granite Gneiss Complex and those of the Mahakoshal
Mobile belt are correctable, and during Mesoproterozoic time, significant crust
formation took place in arc environment as a consequence of subduction of the
South Indian Block beneath the North Indian Block which is now manifested as the
Central Indian Tectonic Zone marking the suture between the two proto continental
blocks. Based on detailed mapping and structural analysis, Bhardwaj and Biswal
proposed that the Punagarh basin probably formed as a result of extension in the
Trans-Aravalli terrane by reactivation of faults in Pali lineament. Prabhakar and
Shareef made a review of six sulphide mineralized zones from the Eastern Dharwar
Craton from the point of view of their style of mineralization and their iron oxide
copper gold (IOCG) type affiliation. This work opens up new vistas for their
understanding through an integrated and holistic approach which would enable to
evaluate the metal potential including by-product values. Mukherjee et al. made an
attempt to understand the mismatch between the experimentally achieved
Introduction xv

deformation mechanisms at different temperature and pressure and observed the

brittle or ductile behaviour of pyrite in naturally deformed sulphide bodies by
studying pyritic ores in three sediment-hosted Pb-Zn sulphide deposits of Rajasthan
(Balaria-Zawar, Rajpura-Dariba and Rampura-Agucha), occurring in broadly sim-
ilar geological settings, but deformed and metamorphosed at different grades.
The work of Mukhopadhyay et al. on detailed facies, architectural element,
paleocurrent and stratigraphic architectural analysis of the Neoproterozoic Badami
Group of rocks revealed a frequently avulsive braided pattern, with flashy dis-
charges, for the paleoriver system. In another contribution, Mukhopadhyay et al.
put forward aseismic tectonics, related to long-term geoidal tilt in a strike-slip
basinal setting, to explain the shallow-depth soft-sediment deformational features
almost omnipresent within the Chikkshelikere Limestone Member of the
Proterozoic Kaladgi basin. Velmurugan et al., based on geochemical study of the
clastic rocks, propose that gneisses and granitic rocks of the Dharwar Craton and
the basement rock (schist) of the Kaladgi-Badami Basin could be the source rocks
for the Kerur Formation of the Badami Group. Samanta et al. reported cyclicity in
sedimentation system from the Neoproterozoic Sirbu Shale of the Upper Vindhyan
based on detailed sedimentological analysis. They further opine that although the
Sirbu Shale represents a sag basin, tectonics has played a key role in controlling the
sequence architecture of the formation. Absar et al. made an attempt to systemat-
ically sample the carbonate rocks from three stratigraphic horizons of Bhima Group
and conducted geochemical and C-O isotopic studies in order to understand the
source of dissolved components, redox condition and biogeochemical cycling of
Mesoproterozoic Ocean.
Quasim et al. gave a detailed diagenetic account of the Proterozoic Kaimur
Group Sandstone and proposed intermediate burial (2–3 km depth) of the sedi-
ments. They further observed that the reservoir quality of the studied sandstones is
reduced by authigenic clay minerals, cementations, and on the other hand, it is
increased by alteration and dissolution of unstable grains. Rashid et al. proposed
crustal history from the geochemical studies of post-Archaean rocks of Arunachal
Pradesh, NE Lesser Himalaya. They proposed that the Lesser Himalayan sedi-
mentary rocks are derived from the granites which might be similar to their base-
ment Proterozoic granites from the Himalaya, challenging the existing hypothesis
that sediments were derived from the granites of Bundelkhand and Aravalli regions
of the peninsular India. Bhattacharya et al. systematically documented tidalites from
the Mesoproterozoic Bayana Formation for the first time, and highlighted important
aspects of Precambrian sedimentation in the Lalsot sub-basin, North Delhi Fold
Belt, Rajasthan.
Hussain et al. made an attempt to ascertain the source composition of the
gneisses and the schists comprising the Precambriam basement complex of the
Shillong plateau. Based on the geochemical characteristics of both the rock types, it
was suggested that the precursor sediments were derived from felsic sources. Khan
et al. carried out systematic field survey to delineate a complete sequence of an
ophiolite complex, called Phulad ophiolite in South Delhi Fold belt and proposed a
fore-arc setting of this complex. Bhagat and Kumar, based on geochemical
xvi Introduction

characteristics, proposed an island arc geodynamic setting for the origin of the
epidiorite associated with the Dhalbhum Formation of the Proterozoic Singhbhum
basin. Guha et al. conducted detailed geological and geochemical investigations of
Anjana granite, Rajasthan and proposed that dehydration reactions of pelitic and
mafic precursor rocks produced the granitic melt. Guha in his another paper
reported metamorphism, crustal evolution and amalgamation of Meso- to
Neoarchaean greenstone-granite terrane in Rajasthan. He proposed amalgamation
of different greenstone sequences by simple terrane accretion model wherein the
intrusive plutonic granitic bodies acted as stitching joins. The complexly deformed
and metamorphosed high-grade granulite gneiss terranes occurring as tectonic
wedges between greenstone-granite cratons is explained by deep crustal asymptotic
ductile shear zones whereby the granulite gneisses were excavated from deeper
levels of the crust.
Raza and Mondal, on the basis of geochemical studies, suggested the occurrence
of two distinct rock associations in Bundelkhand greenstone belt: an oceanic
assemblage and a subduction-related assemblage. Singh et al. carried out geo-
chemical study of a granite and co-genetic pegmatite of the Kawadgaon area in
Bastar craton, central India and observed higher abundances of high field strength
elements in the pegmatite. Wani and Mondal carried out detailed geochemical study
of the Precambrian Mahakoshal and Sonakhan greenstone belts of the central Indian
Shield and proposed that the greenstones developed via subduction processes.
Sharma and Singh presented a review of occurrences of megascopic carbonaceous
remains from the Proterozoic Vindhyan, Chhattisgarh, Bhima, Kurnool and Deoban
Formation of Lesser Himalaya and shed light on the evolutionary history of early
life from single-celled prokaryotes to nucleated eukaryotes and multicellular life
forms.
Collation of papers in a book like this could not have been possible without
the support and cooperation of the authors and the reviewers who painstakingly
completed the review work in time. I extend my grateful thanks to the 50 reviewers
who spared their valuable time to evaluate the manuscripts. The distinguished
reviewers include: Abhijit Basu (USA), Milan Kohut (Bratislavia), S. P. Verma
(Mexico), John Armstrong-Altrin (Mexico), Soumen Mallick (USA), J. Madhavaraju
(Mexico), R. N. Hota (Bhubaneswar), Rajneesh Bhutani (Poducherry), Saibal Gupta
(Kharagpur), M. Ram Mohan (Hyderabad), Debajyoti Paul (Kanpur), Rajesh
Srivastava (Varanasi), Somnath Dasgupta (Delhi), Sukanta Dey (Dhanbad),
Abhinaba Roy (Kolkata), A. B. Roy (Kolkata), T. K. Biswal (Bombay), H. Wani
(Srinagar), N. Absar (Poducherry), Biplab Bhattacharya (Roorkee), P. P. Chakrabarty
(Delhi), Santanu Banerjee (Bombay), M. F. Hussain (Silchar), Maibam Bidyananda
(Imphal), Santosh Kumar (Nainital), H. K. Sachan (Dehra Dun), Ashima Saikia
(Delhi), Vivek Malviya (Lucknow), Sarajit Sensarma (Lucknow), Joydip
Mukhopadhyay (Kolkata), J. P. Srivastava (Delhi), R. Nagendra (Chennai), L. Saha
(Roorkee), B. C. Prabhakar (Bangaluru), D. B. Guha (Jaipur), N. C. Pant (Delhi),
U. K. Shukla (Varanasi), Sandip K. Roy (Delhi), S. K. Ghosh (Dehra Dun),
A. R. Bhattacharya (Lucknow), M. W. Y. Khan (Raipur), Pradip Samanta (Durgapur),
N. V. Chalapathi Rao (Varanasi), Mohd. Sadiq (Faridabad), Arjit Ray (Kolkata),
Introduction xvii

S. A. Rashid (Aligarh), Soumik Mukhopadhyay (Kolkata), Yamuna Singh

(Hyderabad), Surendra Kumar (Lucknow), Meera Tiwat (Dehra Dun) and Abhijit
Roy (Hyderabad).
I am hopeful that the book will be helpful to the researchers working in the field
of Precambrian Indian shield.

M. E. A. Mondal
Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size
and Tectonic Framework

A. B. Roy

Abstract The Precambrian terrane of Peninsular India is commonly referred to as

the Indian Shield. Geological evidences suggest that the pre-existing terrane which
evolved as the Indian Shield occupied a much wider area than that of Peninsular
India. Known as ‘Greater India’ the pristine Indian Shield underwent repeated
decimation during the Phanerozoic, which began with the Jurassic break-up of the
Gondwana Land. However, relying on the information from Peninsular India, it is
possible to trace out not only the history of destruction, but also the clue to divide
this Precambrian crustal block into two major tectonic blocks: the initially formed
Precambrian Continental core or Proto-India which formed due to amalgamation of
several Protocontinents. The Proto-Indian changed into Indian Shield due to the
accretion of granulite/charnockite belts, called the Suspect terranes. The six smaller
Precambrian crustal blocks which together constituted the Proto-India include
Dharwar, Bastar, Singhbhum, Rajmahal, Bundelkhand, and Aravalli. The
Protocontinents are separated from each other by Joins marked by Lineament like
the Narmada-Son, or by the Gondwana rift basins like the Godavari, Mahanadi and
the Damodar Valley. Geological history of the individual Protocontinent suggests
distinctive tectonic pattern, history of evolution and metallogenic traits implying
independent growth of each of the Precambrian crustal blocks. Further, strictly
independent growth history of the individual Protocontinents rule out operation of
any global scale process in the evolution of these fundamental crustal units anal-
ogous to the modern Plate Tectonics.

Keywords Indian shield Greater india
Protocontinents
Phanerozoic


reconstitution Suspect terranes

A. B. Roy (&)
Niloy Apartment, Flat 3/2G, 46A, R.N. Das Road, Kolkata 700031, India
e-mail: ashitbaranroy@gmail.com

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019 1

M. E. A. Mondal (ed.), Geological Evolution of the Precambrian Indian Shield,
Society of Earth Scientists Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89698-4_1
2 A. B. Roy

The Concept of Indian Shield

The term ‘Indian Shield’ very often finds place in literature although several aspects
of this Precambrian crustal block continue to be ill defined or almost unknown. By
definition, a Shield is a large area of exposed Precambrian crystalline (igneous and
metamorphic) rocks that remained tectonically stable over a considerable period of
geological time. Ideally, the Shield rocks should not have an age younger than that
the youngest Precambrian. The oldest rocks in the Shield areas are generally older
than 3.4 billion years.
Use of the term ‘Shield’ for the Precambrian crustal block of Peninsular India
having a typical triangular shape, may appear misnomer considering that the term
itself implies a shield-like shape, i.e., the shape of an armour used by ancient
warriors to protect their bodies. The shape norm is typified by the Canadian Shield
which shows a similar shaped aerial extent. Even if the triangular shaped Peninsular
India does not fulfil the shape criterion, southern crustal block of the Indian
Subcontinent that lies south of the Indo-Gangetic Alluvial Plain has preserved
records of many features which at least partially fulfil the definition of a Shield
(Fig. 1). It may be rationally suggested that Precambrian terrane of Peninsular India
once constituted a part of much larger crustal block that evolved as a Shield like the
Canadian or some other Shield areas of the world. The concept of ‘Greater India’ in
all possibility started emerging from such an understanding about nine decades ago
(Argand 1924).

Size and Shape of the Pristine Indian Shield

The pristine shape and size of the Precambrian crustal block presently appearing as
the Indian Subcontinent is difficult to ascertain because of the fact that a consid-
erable part of it in the north has undergone extensive reconstitution during the
‘Continent-Continent’ collision leading to the emergence of the Himalayas during
the late Cenozoic (Fig. 2). The geological and geophysical data from the Himalayas
also provide evidence that much of its edifice is made of components sliced off from
the Indian Shield (Qureshy 1969; Qureshy and Kumar 1992; Warsi and Molnar
1977). The concept is also ingrained in the term ‘Extra-Peninsular rocks’ used for
all the ancient Precambrian elements in this youngest mountain belt by the
‘late-eighteenth-early nineteenth century’ geologists of the Geological Survey of
India (Medlicott and Blandford 1879–81).
Several attempts have been made trying to reconstruct at least partially the true
spatial extent (or the size) of the Indian Shield in its northern part. Though differ in
detail, the central strand in all these models is that the pristine Indian Precambrian
crustal block constituting the Indian Shield had an extension varying between 500
and 950 km (Ali and Aitchison 2008) in the north of the Main Boundary Thrust
(the southernmost base of the Himalayas, Valdiya 1998). These estimates are
Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size and Tectonic Framework 3

Fig. 1 The geomorphic division of the Indian Subcontinent comprising three major geomorphic
terrains. Modified after Roy (2012)

Fig. 2 Schematic illustration of the evolution of the Himalayas resulting from ‘piggy-back riding’
of slices in the northern part of the Precambrian Indian Shield during the collision of the Indian
Plate with that of the Tibet (after Roy 2012)
4 A. B. Roy

compatible with some of the suggested geodynamic and geophysical models

depicting the subducted Indian Lithosphere beneath Tibet, as well as the estimates
of the Himalayan shortening (Warsi and Molnar 1977; Le Fort 1975; Molnar and
Tapponnier 1975; Valdiya 1984; Searle et al. 1987; Virdi 1987; Dewey et al. 1989;
DeCelles et al. 2002).
Apart from its reconstitution along the northern part, the decimation of Indian
Shield was caused by separation of Antarctica in southeast, and Madagascar and
Seychelles islands in the southwest during the late Phanerozoic. This has added
further complications in reconstructing the original dimension of the Indian Shield
prior to its reconstitution during the late Phanerozoic (Roy 2004).
There are studies suggesting Indo-Antarctic connection based on the correlation
of granulite belts of the two regions (Sen et al. 1995; Sengupta et al. 1999;
Dasgupta and Sengupta 2003; Bhadra et al. 2004; Gupta et al. 2005; Kelly et al.
2002). Such a correlation implies that the boundary of the Indian Shield does not
end at the eastern margin of the Eastern Ghats ‘Granulite’ belt but extends far into
East Antarctica. However, because of lack of geological information, it is impos-
sible even to guess what could even vaguely be the actual eastern boundary of the
granulite belt in Antarctica (placing Antarctica against the present day India!). Like
the granulite belt of Eastern Ghats and its continuity into the east Antarctica, the
Southern Granulite belt along with Sri Lanka and Madagascar formed a continuous
Precambrian terrane in the south and southwest of Peninsular India (Harris et al.
1994; Jayananda and Peucat 1996; Kröner et al. 1991; Radhakrishna et al. 1994,
1999; Storey et al. 1995; Torsvik et al. 2000; Valsangkar et al. 1981; Veeraswamy
and Raval 2004). This suggests that the extension of ‘Greater Indian Shield’ much
beyond the boundary of the southern and southeastern Peninsular India (Fig. 1).
The Precambrian terrane of the Peninsular India constitute only a part of the
‘Greater Indian Shield’ which evolved during the Precambrian, and remained vir-
tually undisturbed (by any orogenic event or by thermal perturbation caused by
Plume impingement) till the initiation of its break-up in the Phanerozoic.
Summarising, the Indian Shield which evolved as a stabilised Precambrian
crustal block covered a wider spatial extent than that of the crustal block of
Peninsular India. However, it is not possible to specify the actual size or shape of
this Precambrian crustal block because of the successive events of break-up and
reconstitution that have taken place during the Phanerozoic (Roy 2004).

Subdivision of Indian Shield: Concept and Perspective

Because of reconstitution as well as destruction of a considerable part of the

‘Greater Indian Shield’, we have to depend on the geological information only from
the region of Peninsular Indian to understand the growth and the framework of the
Indian Shield. This is in spite of the fact that a considerable part of the region is
under the cover of Phanerozoic rocks like the Deccan Traps, Gondwana formations
Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size and Tectonic Framework 5

and other younger sediments. In the following discussion the Precambrian domain
of Peninsular India has been considered as the ‘de facto’ Indian Shield for
understanding its growth, evolution and tectonic framework.
Krishnan (1948) was amongst the earliest geologists who proposed subdivision
of Precambrian terrane of the Peninsular India (henceforth orth described as Indian
Shield) by noting divergent patterns of structural trend-lines in different parts.
Implied in the Krishnan’s suggestion is the fact that the Indian Shield is made of
disparate crustal blocks having distinctive tectonic pattern. This must have played
in the minds of Naqvi et al. (1974) while suggested that the Indian Shield is made
up of a collage of ‘Protocontinents’ (smaller fragments of Precambrian Crust
forming continental nuclei). In the present paper, the term Protocontinent suggested
by Naqvi et al. (1974) has been used for the individual nuclei of the initially
growing Crust. Rogers’ (1986) nondescript term ‘Join’ has been used as the sep-
aration plane (trace of which appear as line or linear zone on the surface) between
the individual Protocontinent. In the context of the Indian Shield most of these Joins
are the sites of Gondwana Rift basins generally overlying ‘unclassified Precambrian
granitoids’, except along the Godavari (P-G) Valley where cratonic-platformal
Proterozoic sediments form the basement for the Gondwana rift basins. Implication
of using the nondescript term is that it speaks of the contact surface between two
separate crustal blocks without stipulating any tectonic model of clustering toge-
ther, which is truly unknown.

Tectonic Divisions of the Indian Shield

The earliest proposal on the broad tectonic division of the Indian Shield (should
read Peninsular Indian Shield) was by Fermor (1936) who divided it into two broad
tectono-metamorphic domains: Charnockitic and Non-charnockitic regions.
Since Fermor’s (1936) division of the Indian Shield into two exclusive terranes,
a number of reports came up indicating occurrence of chanockite and granulite
facies rocks from different parts of the Indian Shield outside the Fermor’s
‘Charnokite Line’. Yet, Fermor’s proposal deserves consideration as it provides an
important clue to differentiate the Precambrian rocks of Indian Peninsula into two
basic crustal types having distinctly different tectonic evolutionary history.
A feature of great significance is the cross-cutting relationship between the
Charnockitic and the Non-Charnockitic terranes indicated in the geological Map of
India published by Geological Survey of India (1993), especially in the case of the
Eastern Ghats Granulite Belt which lies astride the structural grains of the three
Precambrian crustal blocks (Dharwar, Bastar and Singhbhum) occurring on its
western side. The cross-cutting relationship is most obvious especially in the
domain north of the Pranhita-Godavari (PG) Valley. According to Ramakrishnan
et al. (1998) the Eastern Ghats Granulite Belt represent a zone of westerly directed
thrust slices abutting against the Precambrian block of Bastar. Based on this, the
western margin of the Eastern Ghats belt has been interpreted as an ancient Suture
6 A. B. Roy

Zone resulting from continental collision very much like the Himalayan collisional
tectonics. Quoting Gupta et al. (2005), Leelanandam et al. (2006), and
Ramakrishnan and Vaidyanadhan (2008) interpreted the occurrences of ‘deformed
alkaline rocks and carbonatites’ along the western margin of the Eastern Ghats belt
as a marker of an ancient Suture Zone. The interpretation has a strong support from
multidisciplinary studies of Gupta et al. (2000) and Bhadra et al. (2004).
Regarding the tectonic status of the western margin of the Eastern Ghats Belt
south of Godavari (P-G) Valley, a little elaboration is necessary in view of some
studies made in recent years, especially on tectonostratigraphic status of the
Nellore-Kammam schist Belt and associated ensembles. Based on critical evalua-
tion of the existing geological and isotopic data, Dobmeir and Reith (2003) sug-
gested inclusion of the Nellore-Kammam Schist Belt into the domain of the Eastern
Ghats (orogenic) Belt. The revision implies not only a change in the original
concept of Fermor’s ‘Charnockite Line’, but also the shifting of ‘Line’ further to the
west coinciding with the eastern sheared margin of the Cuddapah Basin. In the
structural relationship shown in the schematic map (Fig. 3), the western margin of
the Eastern Ghats Belt is drawn along eastern margin of the Cuddapah-Kurnool

Fig. 3 Geological map showing extent of the Eastern Ghats Belt (with the redefined western
boundary in the south), truncating the structural grains of Dharwar, Bastar and Singhbhum
Protocontinents
Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size and Tectonic Framework 7

outcrop following the tectonostratigraphic reinterpretation of rock ensembles dis-

cussed above.
In the southern part of the (Peninsular) Indian Shield, recent studies indicated
continuity of the Dharwar belt further south of the Charnockite Line. Confirmation
of the southward continuity of the Dharwarian rocks comes from the reports of
end-Archaean ages ranging between 2500 and 2900 Ma both in the charnockitic
granulites as also in the Peninsular gneisses further south of the Fermor’s
Charnockite Line (Rama Rao 1940; Venkatasubramanian 1975; Friend 1981;
Janardhan 1983; Friend and Nutman 1992; Jayananda and Peucat 1996). The field
and geochronologic studies indicated continuity of the Dharwarian rocks up to the
Palghat-Cauvery Shear Zone, (PCSZ) (Fig. 4). South of the PCSZ occur a crustal
block which is tectonically different from the indubitably Archaean granulite terrane
in the north. The new tectonic model received weighty support of Drury and Holt
(1980) and Drury et al. (1984) based on their studies on Satellite Imagery.
The geochronological support for the concept of the two diverse terranes comes
from the reports of ‘younger’ Pan-African tectono-thermal reconstitution ages
centring around 500 ± 50 Ma from the granulites and associated rocks from the
south of the PCSZ (Harris et al. 1994; Chaudhary et al. 1992; Bartlett et al. 1995;
Unnikrishnan-Warrier et al. 1995; Santosh et al. 1992, 2003; Shabeer et al. 2004;
Collins et al. 2007). The two juxtaposed terranes across the PCSZ are named as the
Northern Granulite Terrain bearing signatures of Archaean evolutionary history in
the north, and the Southern Granulite Terrain showing evidence of strong
Pan-African tectonothermal reconstitution south of the PCSZ (Srikantappa 1993).
Naming the southern terrane (south of the PCSZ) as SGT may be misleading in
view of the fact that the same nomenclature is also in use for the entire granulite

Fig. 4 Lithotectonic map of

the southern part of the
Peninsular Indian Shield
showing major tectonic
features. PCSZ = Palghat
Cauvery Shear Zone
8 A. B. Roy

terrane south of the Fermor’s Charnockite Line. Possibly because of that

Ramakrishnan (1988) introduced a new term ‘Pandyan Mobile Belt’ for the
southernmost granulite terrane. However, this new nomenclature though appears
quite rational did not find general acceptance in literatures (Sharma 2010). In the
present paper, therefore, the traditionally accepted nomenclature is used, but after
changing the geographic term ‘terrain’ by the nondescript word ‘belt’, and with a
rider to constrain its northern limit to the south of the PCSZ.
The PCSZ which acts as a tectonic divide between two distinctive terranes is
also considered a Suture Zone marking accretion (or welding) of diverse crustal
blocks. Some authors advocate that the accretion was caused during collision (of
the Dharwar crustal block) with the cratonic blocks of Africa or Antarctica
(Ramakrishnan 2003; Sharma 2010).
The rocks of the redefined Southern Granulite Belt show many similarities in
lithologic and metamorphic character with those of the Eastern Ghats Belt. Both the
belts show Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic protolith ages of the gneisses and gran-
ulites, but have undergone significant reconstitution (under granulite facies condi-
tion) by the late-Proterozoic tectonothermal events. This could be the reason for
mapping the entire charnockite terrane in Peninsular India (sensu Fermor 1936) as
the ‘Eastern Ghats’ (Subramanyam 1983). Based on their geographic disposition,
these are named the Coastal Granulite Terrain (Eastern Ghats domain sensu stricto)
and the ‘Southern Granulite Terrane’ (for the granulite province south of Fermor’s
Charnockite Line in south India). The combined terranes are known to have their
counterparts outside the domain of the Indian Peninsula. Apart from the possibility
of their being ‘Exotic’ or ‘Suspect Terranes’ (Radhakrishna 1989), the granulite and
other high-grade metamorphic rocks comprising the Eastern Ghats and the Southern
Granulite Belt (even considering the revised boundaries) appear distinctly different
from the components of the Non-charnockite belt in terms of their
litho-stratigraphic character, tectono-metamorphic evolutionary history,
geochronologic framework, and metallogenic traits. Characterization of the
charnockite belts as Exotic or Suspect Terranes implies that the Non-charnockitic
domain constituted the primary crustal block or ‘Proto-India’ (Dobmeir and Raith
2003), the frontiers of which was enlarged because of the subsequent accretion of
Charnockite terranes. The concept is ingrained in the thought Mahadevan (1994)
who conceived of a ‘central core region’ as the primary crustal block constituting
the Peninsular Indian Shield to which the granulite belts were exhumed. In the
present description, however, the term Proto-India is preferred as it appears a little
more evocative in describing the framework of the Indian Shield.
Following the suggestion of the early geologists of late nineteenth century of the
Geological Survey of India (Medlicott and Blanford 1879–81), the Proto-India
comprising components of Fermor’s (1936) Non-Charnockitic terrane can be
divided into a northern Aravalli-Bundelkhand domain and a southern Gondwana
domain. The two domains are physiographically separated by the Narmada-Son
River Valley (Basin), which today is better known as the Narmada-Son Lineament
(Mahadevan 1994).
Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size and Tectonic Framework 9

The Aravalli-Bundelkhand domain can be further sub-divided into eastern

Bundelkhand Mass and western Aravalli Mountains (including part of the western
sandy plain of Thar Desert). In spite of many similarities, the emerging thought is
that these two Precambrian crustal blocks have evolved more or less contempora-
neously but under two different tectonic settings. The Archaean Crust of the
Aravalli Mountains enlarged its dimension through stabilization (=cratonization) of
three successive Mobile belts during Palaeoproterozoic-early Neoproterzoic. The
Bundelkhand Mass, on the other hand portrays a different picture of late-Archaean
cratonization with the deposition of Paleo-Mesoproterozoic sedimentary-volcanic
succession under stable platformal condition. The difference between the two is also
reflected in some way in the lithological character, tectonic pattern and the met-
allogenic behaviour (Roy and Jakhar 2002). Considering all these, it may be logical
to subdivide the northern domain into two fundamental nuclei, the Bundelkhand
and Aravalli Protocontinents respectively, separated by the Great Boundary Fault.
Southern Gondwana domain can be subdivided into a number of separate
‘fundamental nuclei’ or Protocontinents, which are separated by narrow belts
‘Gondawana rift basins’ (Fig. 5). For example, the Gondwana rift basin of the
Godavari Valley (Basin) divides the Dharwar from the Bastar Protocontinents,
whereas the Mahanadi Valley (Basin) separates the Bastar from the Singhbhum
Protocontinent. In the present description the nondescript term ‘Join’ (hiring the
term from Rogers 1986) is used as markers separating the primary crustal blocks
described as Protocontinents. Very little is known about these zones along which
Joins are traced except these represent the antique of rift zones over which the
Gondwana basins evolved (Naqvi et al. 1974). In the Godavari Valley which marks
the Join between the Dharwar and Bastar Protocontinents, the cratonic platformal
Proterozoic sediments form the basement for the Gondwana Rift Basins. In other
instances, the Gondwana Rift Basin (marking Joins) overlie the unclassified
Precambrian granite and gneisses.
The proposed scheme of dividing the Gondwana domain by Joins marked by the
Gondwana rift basins would imply delimitation of the Singhbhum Protocontinent
by Gondwana Rift Basin of the Damodar Valley in the north. This leaves a small
region between the Son-Narmada Lineament in the northwest and the Damaodar
valley Gondwana basins in the south. If we accept the poorly exposed, north–south
trending Rajmahal coal occurrences as remnant of a Gondwana basin, then the
extent of this continental nucleus would be the small triangular area bounded by the
Son-Narmada Lineament in the northwest and the Damodar valley Gondwana
basins in the south, and the Rajmahal coal occurrences in the east. On the other
hand, the reported presence of Gondwan rift basins in the northern Bengal Basin
under the thick cover of ‘Cenozoic to Recent’ sediments in the ‘Garo-Rajmahal
Gap’ (in Bangladesh) across the N-S lying outcrops of the Rajmahal Traps strongly
the continuity of the Damodar Valley coal basins further east (Khan et al. 1994).
Thus, if we neglect the Rajmahal coal belts as misidentified ‘freak’ occurrence, then
there lies the possibility of extension of this northern Precambrian nuclei further
east across the Bengal basin into the Precambrian blocks of Shillong Plateau and its
eastern continuity. We may tentatively describe this poorly defined crustal block as
10 A. B. Roy

Fig. 5 Geological Map of Indian Subcontinent showing different tectono-stratigraphic features

like, the Protocontinents and the accreted exotic blocks, rift basins represented by the river valleys,
and the Charnockite Line (marked by blue line). Protocontinents: 1 Dharwar, 2. Bastar, 3.
Singhbhum, 4. Rajmahal, 5. Bundelkhand, and 6. Aravalli. Accreted exotic block: 7. Eastern Ghats
Granulite Belt, 8. Southern Granulite Belt. Modified after Geological Survey of India Map, 1993

the Rajmahal Protocontinent. The limit of the Rajmahal Protocontinent in the east is
virtually unknown because of the occurrence of thick younger Cenozoic sediments
forming the Bengal Basin. It is possible that Protocontinent continues further east
joining the Precambrian rocks of the Shillong Palteau.
Some Gondwana type coal basins are known from different parts of the eastern
Himalayas. However, because of the highly dismembered and tectonised state of
these Gondwana basin bodies, it is hard even to guess their geological significance.

Summary and Concluding Remarks

Evolving entirely during the Precambrian, the pristine Indian Shield (or Greater
India) had undergone several successive changes in the aerial extent during the
Jurassic break-up of the Gondwana Land; and subsequently during successive
Table 1 Table showing crustal evolutionary trends, age of cratonization and metallogenic character of the different Protocontinents
Protocontinents Dharwar Bastar Singhbhum Bundelkhand Aravalli
Archaean Evolution of granite-gneiss Evolution of granite-gneiss Evolution of Archaean Evolution of Evolution of
Crustal basement followed by basement followed by granite-gneiss granite-gneiss granite-gneiss
evolution greenstone belts greenstone belts greenstone belt basement basement
Proterozoic Platformal Proterozoic cratonic Development of Proterozoic Development of Platformal Development
crustal growth basins fold-thrust belt Proterozoic fold belts Proterozoic successive
cratonic basins Proterozoic fold belts
Cratonization *2.5 *1.8 *1.65 *2.5 8.5
(Ga)
Indian Shield: Pristine Shape, Size and Tectonic Framework

Metallogeny Gold, Copper, BIF, Chromite, Gold, Copper, BIF Manganese Copper–uranium, BIF, Diamond Rock phosphate,
and Diamond Diamond Chromite nickel, Lead-zinc copper,
Platinum Uranium
Note Geological information of Rajmahal Protocontinent is not included in the Table because of lack of available information
11
12 A. B. Roy

Plume impingement-related reconstitution and fragmentation events. Relying on the

information from the Peninsular India it is possible to divide this Precambrian
crustal block into two major tectonic blocks comprising the Precambrian
Continental Core or Proto-India and the accreted charnockitic terranes. The
Proto-India can be further sub-divided into six fundamental nuclei or
Protocontinents separated by Joins. These are: (1) Dharwar, (2) Bastar,
(3) Singhbhum, (4) Rajmahal, (5) Bundelkhand, and (6) Aravalli. The two accreted
terranes which were added subsequently include the Eastern Ghats Granulite Belt
and the Southern Granulite Belt. The combined Precambrian crustal blocks of
Proto-India and the accreted terrains constitute the Indian Shield.
Geological history of each individual Protocontinent suggests a very distinctive
history of crustal growth, tectonic evolution, ages of cratonization and metallogenic
traits (Table 1). The disparate character of each of the Protocontinents makes them
individually inimitable suggesting independent growth and evolution of the
Protocontinent favouring an independent growth of the Protocontinent without any
outside influence or interference. Under such a tectonic situation, it is hard to
conceive of operation of any larger scale or global scale process responsible for the
growth and evolution of these fundamental nuclei analogous to the modern Plate
Tectonics.

References

Ali, J. R., & Aitchison, J. C. (2008). Gondwana to Asia: Plate tectonics, palaeogeography and
biological connectivity of the Indian sub-continent from Middle Jurassic through latest Eocene
(166-35 Ma). Earth-Science Reviews, 88, 145–166.
Allen, P., Condie, K. C., & Narayana, B. L. (1983). The Archaean low- to high-grade transition in
the Krishnagiri–Dharmapuri Area, Tamil Nadu, Southern India. In S. M. Naqvi & J. J. W.
Rogers (Eds.), Precambrian of South India (Vol. 4, pp. 450–461). Bangalore: Memoir
Geological Society India.
Argand, E. (1924). La tectonique de l’Asie. In Proceedings of the International Geological
Congress (vol. 7, pp. 171–372).
Bartlett, J. M., Harris, N. B. W., Hawkesworth, C. J., & Santosh, M. (1995). New isotope
constraints on crustal evolution of South India and Pan-African Granulite metamorphism.
In M. Yoshida & M. Santosh (Eds.), Indian and Antarctica during the Precambrian (Vol. 34,
pp. 391–397). Bangalore: Memoir Geological Society India.
Bhadra, S., Gupta, S., & Banerjee, M. (2004). Structural evolution across the Eastern Ghats
Mobile Belt-Bastar craton boundary, India: Hot over cold trusting in an ancient collision zone.
Journal of Structural Geology, 26, 233–245.
Biswal, T. K., Jena, S. K., Datta, S., Das, R., & Khan, K. (2000). Deformation of terrane boundary
shear zone (lakha shear zone) between the Eastern Ghats Mobile belt and the Bastar Craton, in
Bolangir and Kalahandi districts of Orissa. Journal Geological Society of India, 55, 367–380.
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Release date: December 12, 2023 [eBook #72391]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company,

1963

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAR

CHAMBER ***
 STAR CHAMBER

By H. B. FYFE

Illustrated by SUMMERS

There were no courts on the isolated world.

But there was a Judge.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Amazing Stories March 1963.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
At the roar of landing rockets, Quasmin's first impulse was to dash
out to the hilltop to scan the skies.
When he left his shack, however, he did so cautiously, carrying a
small telescope salvaged from the crack-up of his own ship. This
planet was so far beyond the Terran sphere of exploration that he
feared the new-comers might not be human.
He was surprised to sight the spaceship settling about half a mile
away, in the vicinity of the wreck. The lines seemed to be Terran.
"They picked that spot on purpose," he muttered. "Couldn't be
somebody after me, could it?"
There was no lack of good reason for the law to be after him. In the
first place, the battered hull out there had not belonged to him. In the
second, the authorities might be trying to find out what had become
of the original crew. Quasmin could not answer that even if he
wanted to—a corpse was difficult to locate in interstellar space.
He took advantage of the cooling period after the ship had touched
down to make his way through the scrubby growth that resembled a
forest except for the purplish color of the drooping fronds. He found a
good spy point on a low hill and settled down to watch.
In due time, the airlock within Quasmin's view opened. A single
space-suited figure climbed clumsily down the ladder, paused to
glance about, and walked a circuit of the ship as if to survey the
terrain.
Apparently deciding that nothing dangerous flew or crept in the
vicinity, the spacer returned to the base of the ladder to remove his
suit. He dropped it there, hitched at his belt—suggesting to Quasmin
the weight of a weapon—and began to stroll across the turf of
springy creepers toward the wreck. Quasmin followed as sneakily as
he could.
Passing the strange ship, some instinct told him that it was now
unoccupied. The whole attitude of the spacer had suggested a man
as much alone as Quasmin himself. The latter temporarily
abandoned his skulking pace to walk boldly where he might be seen
by any crew members on watch. No activity resulted.
Keeping one eye on the distant figure, Quasmin moved toward the
spacesuit at the foot of the ladder. Just as he was about to reach out
for it, the air took on the resiliency of sponge-covered springs and
thrust his outstretched hand right back at him.
"Force shield!" he growled. "Damn! Probably set to his voice or some
such code. Well, I can't get closer, but it proves he must be alone."
He squinted at the nametape on the breast of the spacesuit and
read, "J. Trolla."
Then he hurried after the spacer, who was just disappearing behind
a clump of shrubbery.

He could not decide later just when Trolla had in some fashion
become aware of him. Quasmin could remember no careless move
that might have given him away, nor did he think it likely that he was
confronted by a practiced telepath. Such people existed, but they
were not normally permitted to risk their unique talents flitting about
the unexplored depths of interstellar space. Quasmin blamed it on
natural animal instinct.
If he could have seen Trolla during the latter's inspection of the
wrecked ship's interior, he would have worried even more. It was no
idle poking about for possible salvage. The spacer spent over an
hour examining those compartments accessible without the use of a
torch to burn away crumpled metal and plastic bulkheads. He
displayed unusual interest in things of obscure value, such as
articles of clothing and empty plastic crates that had once held food
supplies.
He also talked a good deal to himself in a low voice, but the battered
hull concealed this from the man lurking outside.
That there was a watcher there, Trolla stopped doubting when he
mentally summed up the amount of minor equipment obviously
removed from the ship since the crash. He decided it was not
necessary to penetrate the broken-up drive sections in what had
been the lower levels before the hull had toppled over. The
scavenging looked like the work of one individual unable to salvage
any of the heavier machinery.
"Just took some things to make himself more comfortable," he
murmured. "A few instruments, food, medicines, self-powered
appliances, and the like."
He considered returning to his own ship for equipment with which to
make a real check that would include search for and analysis of
fingerprints, hair, perspiration traces ... and perhaps even blood
samples.
"Why waste time?" he asked himself. "It has to be Quasmin, and
there's not much chance of finding anyone with him. Why not just
see where he's holed up—before he starts running again and makes
it a long job?"
Emerging through a rent in the hull, he was again struck by the
sensation of being watched. He could not control a slight motion of
one hand to his belt for the reassuring touch of his gas gun. With it,
he could fill the air around any attacker with a scattering of tiny,
anesthetic pellets while the personal force shield he wore would
protect him from any hostile return. Though assuming that Quasmin
would be armed, he did not think the man could have obtained a
shield. None had been reported missing by any law-enforcement
agency within imaginable range of this untouched planet.

Trolla walked about the wreck twice before he spotted the dim trail
that revealed infrequent visits to the place. Cautiously, he followed it
along the edge of the taller, purplish growth that almost boasted the
dimensions of trees, wondering if he would presently detect sounds
of someone trailing him.
By the time he sighted the crude shack from a low hilltop, he
believed he had heard sounds three or four times. They might have
been indications of native life forms. He forgot about them as he
examined the refuge that Quasmin had built.
The hut was crookedly assembled of bulkhead sections ripped from
the wreck. There had evidently been batteries available to power
simple tools, for lengths of bent plastic were bolted around the
corners, and two windows had been cut in the walls. A mound of dirt
had been heaped up against one of the sides.
"Digging in for the winter season," muttered Trolla, nodding. "Yes,
he'll need some insulation."
He delayed looking inside, lest he provoke some reaction before
learning all that he wished. Instead, he walked on past the shack,
and thus came upon a small stream and an almost pitiful attempt at
building a waterwheel.
"Must work, though," he told himself. "He must have been using it to
recharge batteries for the distress calls he has the nerve to keep
broadcasting. Wonder if he knows they don't have much effect over
fifty billion miles?"
He crossed the brook and looked over the two small fields beyond.
They had been cleared and roughly ploughed by some laborious
means he preferred not to contemplate. It was standard procedure
for spaceships to carry planting supplies for just such situations, and
he had to approve the beginnings made by Quasmin. Retracing his
steps to the shack, he found the opportunity to say so.
"Oh, there you are!" said Quasmin. "I was looking out near your ship
to see who landed. Is there just you?"
Trolla savored the glint of animal cunning not quite disguised in the
other's glance. He decided to quash the verbal sparring at the
outset.
"How many did you expect, Quasmin?" he inquired pleasantly. "My
department has to police three planetary systems, spread widely
along this frontier. We can't afford fuel and rations to send a brass
band after you!"
The shock was good for three or four minutes of bristling silence.
Twice, Quasmin opened his mouth as if to deny his identity, but
thought better of it. His scowl faded into an expression of studied
insolence.
"So you're a cop," he sneered. "What d'ya think ya gonna do, way
out here where ya can hardly even call in to headquarters?"
"That depends," said Trolla, eyeing him analytically. "To be perfectly
frank, I can't call headquarters. Don't you know how far out we are
from the outmost little observation post of humanity? Or did you just
give up all astrogation whenever you got rid of those crewmen you
kidnapped?"
"How can you prove I got rid of them?" demanded Quasmin with the
same sneer.
"I don't even want to bother. There are eleven murder charges
hanging over you besides drug-smuggling and that rape on Vammu
IV; and even I can hardly understand that last. Those people are
only semi-humanoid!"
Quasmin grinned. Trolla felt vaguely sickened at the sudden
realization that his momentary betrayal of a sense of decency was
taken as a sign of timidity.
The other turned aside and took a few slow steps to where an empty
plastic crate had been braced against a rock for a seat. He sat down
and leaned his shoulders against the rock, but with an attitude of
alertness. It was the first physical move made by either since Trolla
had walked around the corner of the hut.
"Maybe ya think you'll arrest me," he said, watching Trolla carefully.
"Maybe ya think I don't pack the same handful of sleep you do!"
"And a shield too?"

Quasmin's eyes narrowed at that. He seemed to estimate his

chances of calling a bluff, then relaxed slightly, accepting the truth.
"Suppose we shoot it out, then," he suggested. "You might kill me at
this range, with an overdose before the pellets scatter. Ya get too
much gas in me, an' you'll be up for murder too."
"That would be your mistake," said Trolla.
"Oh, you might get off," said Quasmin judiciously. "But there lots of
people will still say it's murder. You bein' a cop makes no difference.
Civilization bein' what it is, the law's gotta protect me too! I gotta right
to be helped more than average, because I'm in more than average
trouble—right?"
Trolla nodded, but less in agreement than confirming some suspicion
of his own.
"And you'd refuse to come with me even if I ordered you?"
"What a dummy ya'd be to try an' make me!" grunted Quasmin. "You
gotta sleep sometime—an' you'd sure as hell wake up the wrong
side of the airlock!"
He grinned at the other with his ugly expression of petty triumph and
added, "Ya got nerve to try it after a fair warning?"
"Perhaps not," admitted Trolla.
"Huh! Ya got some sense after all. Why don't ya just go away an' let
me alone? Nobody ever gave your bunch jurisdiction out here. I bet
this planet was never even reported, was it?"
"It's not on record," Trolla confirmed. "As far as I know, the only
humans to reach it are you and I—and I almost turned back. How
you picked it up, I don't know, but I was playing a hunch when I
picked up your distress call."
Quasmin leaned back in more relaxed fashion.
"Well, ya got a problem," he grinned. "I ain't leavin' here with ya, an'
what chance have ya got of bringin' a judge an' jury out here? I gotta
right to a fair trial with legal an' psychiatric advice!"
Trolla took two steps to lean his shoulder against a corner of the hut.
The ill-constructed joint sagged under his weight.
"Didn't it occur to you that you're having your trial right now?" he
asked.
That reached him, he thought, with a certain ironic satisfaction.
Quasmin glared at him in outraged disbelief. He spat on the ground
and demanded, "What're ya doin'? Settin' yourself up as judge an'
jury all by yourself?"
"And executioner, if need be," agreed Trolla.
He watched in silence as the other's jaw hung slackly, then as
Quasmin slowly turned red with temper.
"You ... you ... why, ya dirty cop, ya! That's against every law that
ever was. They ... they wouldn't let ya!"
"There's no other way. As you said, they can't send out people to
hold a trial here. It isn't safe to take you back alone. They couldn't
spare more officers to come with me on the off chance you'd be
found way out here."
"No matter how far it is, you ain't got any right to do that!"
Quasmin's right hand was beneath his shirt but Trolla, secure within
his shield, ignored that.
"Well, then," he said, "if mere distance doesn't put this planet beyond
human law, the same goes for you."
"I still have a fair trial comin' then!"
"You're having it right now," Trolla told him.
"Like hell!" Quasmin snarled. He was on his feet now, teetering on
his toes. "I know my rights. I oughta be gettin' rescue an'
rehabilitation help. You can't do anything but kill me. You got no
right!"
Trolla pushed off from the corner of the shack with a hunch of his
shoulder. He took a few steps toward the trail out of the clearing,
then hesitated.
"You've had a lot of rehabilitation work, haven't you?" he pointed out.
"I had plenty of time to study your records, on the way out from
Blauchen III."
"Ya can't talk me into comin' in for more psych treatments!" growled
Quasmin. "I had enough of those guys, since I was a kid."
"Yes, you were a little too smart for them," agreed Trolla. "The most
they ever managed was a good, thorough conditioning against
suicide, after you put on a psycho act to break up the second trial for
murder."
Quasmin grinned again.
"I sure suckered them that time," he recalled with gloating. "The
treatment didn't hurt any 'cause I never did have any idea of killin'
myself; an' it got me outa the other mess till I could make a break."
"It won't get you out of this one."
Quasmin's grin left him.
"Made up your mind already?" he demanded, half drawing a gas
pistol of his own.
"Not yet," said Trolla. "I'll go back to my ship to think it over."

He walked away, though keeping a prudent watch over his shoulder

until he was a hundred meters distant. Even after that, he turned
around occasionally. This made it difficult for Quasmin to follow him,
but the outlaw managed to be in position to observe Trolla's arrival at
his ship.
He spied as the detective recovered his spacesuit and climbed the
ladder to the airlock. When there appeared to be no likelihood of his
emerging for some time, Quasmin scuttled back to his hut.
"No sense bein' here if he comes lookin' for me with his gun an'
shield," he growled to himself. "Maybe I bluffed him, an' maybe I
didn't."
He threw together a small bundle of rations and rolled it with a water
bottle in a blanket. As he did so, he muttered a stream of curses.
"He's got no right to try anythin'," he reassured himself. "The law
says I gotta have a chance at rehabilitation whether I co-operate or
not. I didn't make up the law, but I can use it as much as he can. He
wouldn't dare overgas me!"
His anger helped him start out at a brisk pace. In less than three
hours, he reached an area of rough, cliff-broken hills where there
were caves that would take Trolla weeks to check. There he
concealed himself for the night.
Sometime during the darkness, a distant rumble awakened him.
Suspiciously, Quasmin poked his head out of the cave in which he
had been sleeping. He was just in time to see the flare of rockets in
the starry sky.
"He backed down!" was his triumphant conclusion.
He watched the flaring light until he was satisfied that Trolla was
making for space and not for another landing place. Then he
returned to sleep.
Just to be sure, Quasmin remained in the hills two more days, until
his supplies ran low and he thought it might be comfortable to return
to the hut. He made his way back warily, lest Trolla should have left
some sort of trap.
At the shack, he found nothing but his own things, so he hiked
through the purplish shrubbery to the landing spot. To his surprise,
he discovered that Trolla had left a number of crates behind. He sat
down to think that over.
When no explanation occurred to him, he went to the wreck of his
own ship. In the partly stripped control room were a few instruments
that still functioned when he hooked up batteries to power them.
"Might be smart to see if he's in orbit," he muttered. "Maybe he
thinks he can soften me up by leaving presents."
Emerging an hour later, he looked puzzled. As much by luck as by
skill and accuracy, he had succeeded in picking up Trolla's ship on
the rangefinder. The instrument was not meant to operate efficiently
through an atmosphere and Quasmin was no expert in its use; but it
definitely showed Trolla was heading out-system.
"Well, then, I might as well see if he left a bomb," decided Quasmin.
He approached the crates close enough to read the stenciled labels.
Scowling in bewilderment, he set about opening them. Just as the
lettering indicated, he found an assortment of electric motors,
equipment for building a new generator that could be powered by his
waterwheel, and even a supply of glow-panels for light if he should
get an electrical system into operation.
There was also a chest of tools and parts, and several boxes of grain
and vegetable seeds. The prize of all was a small, three-wheeled,
battery-powered vehicle that looked just large enough to pull a
homemade plow.
The man sat on an open crate and burst into hysterical laughter.
"All a bluff!" he chortled. "I knew he didn't dare do anything!"

It was after he staggered to his feet to haul the little machine from its
crate that he found Trolla's note attached to the handlebar.
Dear Quasmin, it said. As you tried to point out, there is
some argument whether a society has any moral right to
punish a criminal or merely an obligation to help him heal
himself.
Quasmin roared with laughter. He looked up at the clear sky.
"That's right, Trolla! I'm sick—an' don't you forget it!"
On the other hand, he read on, an individual owes support
to the society that protects his rights. I think a breach of
the contract by one party nullifies it for the other too. Think
that over—Trolla.
Quasmin scowled at the words, then at the sky, and finally at the
tools and materials that would help maintain him on this strange
planet for many years.
"Years and years and years," he muttered, glancing about at the
hanging, purplish fronds in the silent background.
A stunned expression crept over his face, as he realized what kind of
sentence had been passed upon him.
THE END
 *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAR
CHAMBER ***

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