The Southern Granulite Terrane was metamorphosed to ultrahigh temperatures during the assembly of Gondwana (ca 640-500 Ma). The rocks in this region are dominated by aluminous metsediments (locally referred to as khondalites), garnet-biotite gneisses (leptynites) whose origin remains controversial and Proterozoic igneous massifs including classic exposures of incipient charnockites. The focus of our work here has been trying to understand what drives the crust to reach extreme temperature, what the sources of heat are, the behaviour of geochronometers (mainly zircon and monazite) at high-temperatures, the duration of these events and how this all fits together with the amalgamation of Gondwana.
A gallery of some of the typical rock types and scenery are shown below.
Constraints on the timing and conditions of high‐grade metamorphism, charnockite formation and fluid–rock interaction in the Trivandrum Block, southern India by Blereau et al., 2016 in Journal of Metamorphic Geology
Hot orogens and supercontinent amalgamation: A Gondwanan example from southern India by Clark et al., 2015 in Gondwana Research
Unravelling the complexities in high-grade rocks using multiple techniques: the Achankovil Zone of southern India by Taylor et al., 2015 in Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
Prograde and retrograde growth of monazite in migmatites: An example from the Nagercoil Block, southern India by Johnson et al., 2015 in Geoscience Frontiers
Post-peak, fluid-mediated modification of granulite facies zircon and monazite in the Trivandrum Block, southern India by Taylor et al., 2014 in Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology
Peninsular India in Gondwana: The tectonothermal evolution of the Southern Granulite Terrain and its Gondwanan counterparts by Collins et at., 2014 in Gondwana Research
The P-T-t architecture of a Gondwanan suture: REE, U–Pb and Ti-in-zircon thermometric constraints from the Palghat Cauvery shear system, South India by Clark et al., 2009 in Precambrian Research
SHRIMP U–Pb age constraints on magmatism and high-grade metamorphism in the Salem Block, southern India by Clark et al., 2009 in Gondwana Research