Selected papers of an international conference, held in Calcutta during 8-10 December 1988.

The northwestern Indian Shield, covering a major part of Rajasthan and parts of northern Gujarat, northwestern Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, is one of the most important repositories of a variety of mineral deposit types, particularly of base metals. Their metallogeny has been a topic of both academic and economic interest for more than five decades. This volume presents in a systematic manner the essential features of all economically significant types of metallic mineral deposits in this region and considers their mettallogeny in the perspective of crystal evolution of the northwestern Indian shield. Current concepts, problems and the probable trends of future research are highlighted. Leading geoscientists with first hand knowledge of this Precambrian terrene have contributed to this volume. The book will be of interest to exploration geologists, researchers and postgraduate students concerned with Precambrian geology and metallogeny.

Crustal evolution means the resultant changes that the Earth's crust has gone through in its geologic past affected by changes in the mantle-crust system, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere. Metallogeny is the genesis of metallic mineral deposits. Both the terms are used in the book in their conventional sense, but keeping in mind an Indian context. This book is the first of its kind to document in detail the nature, origin and evolution of mineral deposits in India and is contextualized in local, regional and global geology. The book is unique in that it combines both metallogeny and crustal evolution that were hitherto treated as stand-alone topics. The exhaustive chapters in the book carry detailed case studies of the distribution and occurrence of ores. The book would be useful to students of advanced geology, researchers, teachers, planners and global metallogeneticists around the world.

Cratons and Fold Belts of India, is a unique attempt at presenting geological characteristics and evolution of the fold belts and the cratonic areas of the Indian shield. The author has evaluated the different evolutionary models for each fold belt in light of all the currently available geological and geochronological informations that are clearly listed. Shortcomings, if any, of each model are stated and a viable geodynamic model is presented for each fold belt. The book is self-contained – it includes an introduction to the processes of mountain building, especially plate tectonics theory with its application to the evolution of the Himalaya as an illustrative example – so that the reader can better appreciate the novel approach to the evolution of Proterozoic fold belts. The author eschews a detailed account of the fold belts for a clear description of all the concepts that go into building models. It is primarily written for graduate students, teachers and for those geoscientists who aspire to know all about the Indian shield.

This books documents the salient characters of the tectonic evolution of the Indian subcontinent. It showcases the well investigated subcontinent of Gondwana. The book is linked to an updated geological and tectonic map of this region on 1:12,000,000 in scale. The Indian subcontinent displays almost uninterrupted and unique the geological history since about Eo-Archean (~3800 Ma) to recent, with the development of many Proterozoic deformed and metamorphosed fold belts around Archean nuclei, and enormously thick undeformed platform deposits. After their stabilization during late Proterozoic, the subcontinent underwent Paleozoic rifting and deposition of coal-bearing thick sequences, followed by enormously-thick outpouring of Deccan volcanics as a consequence of huge mantle plume. The youngest event in its evolution is the Cenozoic Himalayan Orogenic Mountains, spanning the area between Nanga Parbat and Namcha Barwah; a part of which extends both in Pakistan and Myanmar.

This book presents in a concise format a simplified and coherent geological-dynamical history of the Indian subcontinent (including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Southern Tibet and Pakistan). Encompassing a broad array of information related to structure and tectonics, stratigraphy and palaeontology, sedimentation and palaeogeography, petrology and geochemistry, geomorphology and geophysics, it explores the geodynamic developments that took place from the beginning around 3.4 billion years ago to the last about 5,000 years before present. Presented in a distilled form, the observations and deductions of practitioners, this book is meant for teachers, researchers and students of geology, geophysics and geomorphology and practitioners of earth sciences. A comprehensive list of references to original works provides guidance for those seeking further details and who wish to examine selected problems in depth. The book is illustrated with a wealth of maps, cross sections and block diagrams — all simplified and redesigned.

Focusing on the Precambrian in the central part of the Fennoscandian Shield, the book combines the results from modern geological and geophysical research into a detailed petrologic, lithologic, and structural synthesis and interpretation of the Archean and Proterozoic of Finland. It will be of value to anyone interested in the evolution of the shield in particular and in Precambrian geology in general.