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Garnet-sillimanite bearing gneisses from Darjeeling, eastern Himalaya: Textural relationship and P–T conditions

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Abstract

The area around Darjeeling consists of medium grade metamorphic rocks and provides a classic example of inverted Himalayan metamorphism. The area under investigation shows upper amphibolite facies metamorphism (sillimanite-muscovite subfacies), rocks are intimately associated with the migmatites and granites. The presence of quartzite, calc-silicate rocks, graphitic schist and abundance of aluminous minerals like kyanite or sillimanite in these rocks indicate their metasedimentary character. Granet-sillimanite bearing gneisses occupy most of the area of Darjeeling but not persistent throughout. Textural relationship suggests sequential growth of progressively higher-grade metamorphic minerals during D 1 and D 2 deformation. The relative X Mg in the minerals varies in the order: biotite >staurolite> garnet, and the X Mn decreases in the order: garnet >staurolite>biotite. The P–T evolution of these garnet-sillimanite gneiss has been constrained through the use of conventional geothermobarometry, internally consistent TWEEQU programme and Perple_X software in the KFMASH model system, the combination of these three approaches demonstrates that the Darjeeling gneisses experienced peak pressure and temperature at 7.0±0.3 kbar and 700±30∘C. The observation in this study has important bearing on the inverted metamorphism in the Himalayan metamorphic belt.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank the Head, Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University and the CAS programme of the UGC at BHU for providing necessary infrastructural facilities. They also thank anonymous reviewers for the constructive comments that led to substantial improvement in the manuscript and deeply appreciate the editorial efficiency of Prof. M Jayananda.

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  1. Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221 005, India

    Divya Prakash & Suparna Tewari

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  1. Divya Prakash
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  2. Suparna Tewari
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Correspondence to Divya Prakash.

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Prakash, D., Tewari, S. Garnet-sillimanite bearing gneisses from Darjeeling, eastern Himalaya: Textural relationship and P–T conditions. J Earth Syst Sci 124, 1187–1199 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-015-0603-8

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