Geochemistry of the Gabbro-Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granite Suite of the Ezhimala Pluton, North Kerala

Abstract

The Ezhimala pluton emplaced in possible Sargur-equivalent sequence in North Kerala is a differentiated suite showing a continuous compositional range from gabbro to granite through tonalite and trondhjemite. Geochemistry indicates that the suite is the product of diapiric emplacement of magma generated at shallow depth and of fractional crystallization in which the major participating phases were hornblende and plagioclase. Biotite and Fe-Ti oxides were minor fractionating minerals. There is an indication that this suite is one of the many igneous bodies of variable composition which are the products of important magmatic event in the Kerala region, in late Proterozoic and early Palaeozoic times.