Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic sedimentation and tectonics of the Singhbhum Craton, eastern India, and implications for global and craton-specific geological events

The Singhbhum Craton in eastern India preserves a depositional record from the Palaeo-Mesoarchaean to the Mesoproterozoic. Herein, we have summarized the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic supracrustal record of the Singhbhum Craton, discussed tectonosedimentary processes and discriminated Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic global and craton-specific events. The late Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic supracrustal record of the Singhbhum Craton is limited. It includes evidence for high continental freeboard conditions during 2.6- 2.1 Ga in the form of terrestrial deposits (alluvial fan-fluvial) of the Dhanjori Formation. This was followed by a major transgression and a transition to the relatively deeper-water shelf to shallow intertidal environments recorded by the Chaibasa Formation. A long hiatus ensued before deposition of the Dhalbhum Formation and conformably overlying Dalma and Chandil formations, suggesting continued high continental freeboard during 2.2-1.6 Ga. In significant contrast to the craton-specific Dhanjori Formation volcanism, the 1.7- 1.6 Ga plume-related Dalma volcanism was probably part of a global tectonothermal event.