A protracted episode of Pan-Dharwar mafic dyke swarm emplacement at 2.2 Ga is the most geographically widespread Paleoproterozoic mafic magmatic event currently recognized in the Dharwar craton. U–Pb baddeleyite dating of two dykes located south of the Cuddapah basin yield ages of 2220.5 ± 4.9 Ma (N–S trending Kandlamadugu dyke) and 2209.3 ± 2.8 Ma (NW–SE trending Somala dyke), indicating emplacement of two distinct subswarms in the region. Two dykes from the northern Dharwar craton (the E–W Bandepalem and NW–SE Dandeli dykes) separated by 550 km yield indistinguishable U–Pb ages of 2176.5 ± 3.7 (baddeleyite and zircon) and 2180.8 ± 0.9 Ma (baddeleyite), respectively. Collectively, these age data hint at the presence of a giant 2.18 Ga radiating mafic dyke swarm that spans >100,000 km2 of the Dharwar craton, which has a focal point west of the present day Deccan Flood basalt province.
The identification of Pan-Dharwar mafic dyke swarm emplacement at 2.2 Ga allows for new global correlations with contemporaneous mafic magmatic events previously recognized in many other Archean cratons worldwide (e.g., within Antarctica, Australia, Finland, Greenland, and North America). Increasing evidence suggests that this global mafic magmatism at 2.2 Ga was linked with intracontinental rifting, enhanced mantle plume activity, and the breakup of one or more Archean continents. We highlight the similarity in timing of Paleoproterozoic (2.23–2.17 Ga) mafic dyke swarm emplacement recorded in the Dharwar and Slave cratons and use the correlation of high precision U–Pb ages, geometry and regional patterns of mafic dyke swarm emplacement, and matching Archean geology in these cratons as reconstruction pins to constrain the configuration of the 2.2 Ga supercraton Sclavia.
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