Petrography and major element geochemistry of habo formation sediments, kachchh, western india: clues for provenance

The Habo Dome is one of the most important exposures of Bathonian to Kimmergian sediments among the Kachchh Mainland exposures. The study area is represented by sandstones, shale and limestone, the deposits of shallow marine to fluvio-deltaic environment that was strongly influenced by the fluctuation of relative sea level. Detrital mineralogy and major element chemistry of sandstones and shales of this Jurassic succession in the pericratonic Kachchh Basin have been used to investigate paleoweathering and tectono-provenance. The studied sandstones were derived from a predominantly felsic provenance comprising granites and granite-gneisses with noticeble proportions from basic rocks of the Aravalli range and Nagarparkar massif. The Petrofacies analysis reveals that these sandstones belong to the continental block, recycled orogen and rifted continental margin tectonic regime. The A-CN-K ternary plot and CIA, PIA, ICW and ICV indices suggest that the source rocks of these clastics suffered severe chemical weathering under humid climate. Tectonic setting discrimination diagrams based on major elements suggest a quartz rich igneous provenance in a passive continental margin. The petrography and geochemical interpretation duplicate each other and suggest humid climate and low relief highlands during Jurassic.