Emplacement of Amba Dongar Carbonatite-alkaline Complex at Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary: Evidence from 40Ar-39Ar Chronology

[摘要] 40Ar-39Ar analyses of three fresh alkaline rock samples and a phlogopite separate from a carbonatite from Amba Dongar carbonatite-alkaline complex of the Deccan Flood Basalt Province, India, yield indistinguishable precise plateau ages of 64.8 ± 0.6, 64.7 ± 0.5, 65.5 ± 0.8 and 65.3 ± 0.6 Ma, giving a mean plateau age of 65.0 ± 0.3 Ma, which is the age of emplacement of this complex. This age implies contemporaneity of Amba Dongar with several other carbonatite-alkaline activities of Chhota Udaipur subprovince and is consistent with their Reunion-Deccan plume origin hypothesis. The emplacement of these complexes at 65 Ma makes them very significant in the ongoing debate on the K/T extinctions owing to their capacity to rapidly inject a substantial amount of CO2 and SO2 into the atmosphere.

[学科分类] 天文学(综合)

[关键词] Amba Dongar carbonatites;Deccan Flood Basalts;40Ar-39Ar chronology;K/T boundary.