Felsic magmatisms in the north of Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ) in Ladakh range of northwest Indian Himalaya, referred herein Ladakh granitoids (LG), and associated magmatic rocks constitute the bulk of the Ladakh batholith. They have been characterized as Andean-type, calc-alkaline, largely metaluminous (I-type) to a few peraluminous (S-type) granitoids derived from partial melting of subducting materials. The LG can be broadly classified into coarsegrained facies with abundant mafics (hbl-bt), medium-grained facies with low content of mafics, and fine-grained leucocratic facies with very low amount of mafics. Mesocratic to melanocratic, rounded to elliptical, fine to medium grained, mafic to hybrid microgranular enclaves (ME) are ubiquitous in medium to coarse-grained LG. ME are absent or rare in the leucocratic variety of LG. In this paper different types of ME, and their field relation and microstructures with respect to felsic host LG are documented from northwestern, central, southeastern parts of the Ladakh batholith. Rounded to elongate ME of variable sizes (a few cm to metres across, mostly d<30 cm) commonly having sharp, crenulate, and occasionally diffuse contacts of ME with felsic host LG suggest that several pulses of crystal-charged mafic and felsic magmas coexisted, hybridized, and co-mingled into subvolcanic settings. Occurrence of composite ME (several small mafic ME enclosed into large porphyritic ME) strongly point to multiple mafic to hybrid magma intrusions into partly crystalline LG magma chambers. Synplutonic mafic dykes disrupted to form subrounded to angular (brecciated) mafic ME swarms commonly disposed in strike-length suggest mafic magma injections at waning stage of felsic magma evolution with large rheological contrasts. Pillowing of mafic melt against leucocratic (aplitic) residual melt strongly suggests mafic magma intrusion in nearly-crystallized condition of pluton. Although common mineral asemblages (hblbt-pl-kfs-qtz-ap-zrn-mt±ilm) of ME (diorite, quartzdiorite) and host LG (granodiorite, monzogranite) may relate to their cogenetic relation, fine to medium grained porphyritic (hybrid) nature and lack of cumulate texture of ME strongly oppose cognate origin for ME. Presence of plagioclase xenocrysts, quartz ocelli and accicular apatite in porphyritic ME strongly indicate mingling and undercooling of hybridized ME globules into relatively crystal-charged cooler host LG magma. Grain size differences of some ME, except to those of porphyritic ones, appear related to varying degrees of undercooling of ME most likely controlled by their variable sizes. Several smaller ME, however, lack fine-grained chilled margin probably because of their likely disaggregation from a large size ME during the course of progressive hybridization (mingling to mixing) leaving behind trails of mafic schlieren. Field and microstructural evidences at least suggest that Ladakh granitoids and their microgranular enclaves are products of multistage magma mingling and mixing processes concomitant fractional d...
The Nagaland‐Manipur Ophiolites (NMO) in northeast India is known for its complex geological history. Tough terrain, thick vegetation, and dismembered exposure of ophiolitic suite of rocks in the region made uneasy for geological investigation and put it in a deadlock for a long time. Only in the last decade has seen an appreciable amount of publications but the results boil down to a hot debate between two opposite schools of thoughts of subduction origin versus non‐subduction origin of the NMO. In this article, we revisit the literature data and compare it with our new geochemical data with an attempt to provide fresh insight into the long‐standing debate on the geodynamic evolution of the NMO. Our investigation arrives at the conclusion that the NMO as a whole cannot be considered as 100% subduction or 100% non‐subduction origin. It is indeed a combination of both. The non‐subduction group of mafic rocks shows a high ratio of incompatible elements (Nb/Yb >1), high‐Ti, enriched LILE, and HFSE with primitive mantle normalized values >5. Their bulk‐rock geochemical composition is equivalent to mid‐ocean ridge basalt (MORB) and ocean island basalt (OIB). The subduction group of rocks, on the other hand, shows a low ratio of incompatible elements (Nb/Yb <1), low‐Ti, depleted LILE, and HFSE with primitive mantle normalized values <1, affinity to the fore‐arc depleted N‐MORB type. Similarly, spinels present in subduction‐influenced mantle rocks show high chromium content (Cr# >50) but it is lower (Cr# <50) in non‐subduction abyssal peridotites of the NMO. Such geochemical variations cannot simply be explained by fractional crystallization or variable degree of partial melting of a single source, but rather signifies derivation from different tectonic settings of subduction and non‐subduction magma factories. We further conclude that the primary compressional force of India‐Myanmar Plate collision and secondary strike‐slip faults running along this ophiolite belt jeopardized the accretionary process which led to distortion and dismembering of the rocks like a scrambled bread.
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