Abstract
Reliably dated continental crust older than 3,000 Myr is only known from restricted segments of cratons in southern Africa, Greenland–Labrador, and Minnesota (summarised in ref. 1). These rare Archaean nucleii are very important in constraining the timing and mechanism of the differentiation of continental material from the mantle. We report here preliminary Rb–Sr whole rock data for Archaean gneisses from the Gorur-Hassan area, South Indian Craton which yield the oldest age yet reported from the Indian sub continent (3,358±66 Myr) with a very unradiogenic initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio (0.7000±0.0004) which implies that the igneous precursors of these gneisses were derived from a relatively Rb-depleted source within the mantle.
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Beckinsale, R., Drury, S. & Holt, R. 3,360-Myr old gneisses from the South Indian Craton. Nature 283, 469–470 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283469a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283469a0
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