Enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle in the northern part of the South Indian granulite terrain: Evidence from Yelagiri and Sevattur syenite plutons, Tamil Nadu, South India

In the southern part of the Indian Peninsula, there are a number of alkaline plutons of Proterozoic age. In the northern part of the South Indian granulite terrain, the Yelagiri (syenite, pyroxenite) and Sevattur (syenite, pyroxenite, carbonatite) plutons intrude Archaean epidote-hornblende gneisses. Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the Yelagiri and Sevattur plutons indicate that the syenitic magmas formed from highly differentiated mantle-derived alkali basalts. The Yelagiri and Sevattur syenites are characterized by evolved Sr and Nd isotopic compositions, pronounced enrichment in LILE and large negative Nb anomalies. Trace element and Sr-Nd isotope characteristics of the Yelagiri and Sevattur syenites are similar to those of the subduction-related alkaline rocks. The scarcity of geological evidence for subduction activity at the time of syenite intrusion during Neoproterozoic does not support a link between the alkaline magmatism and subduction. However, our data are consistent with the model of derivation of the Yelagiri and Sevattur syenites from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, which was previously enriched by slab derived component. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of other mantle-derived intrusive rocks in the northern part of the South Indian granulite terrain with ages ranging from ca. 2.5 Ga to 0.75 Ga also support the above idea.