Research Projects

Giant quartz veins are large-scale features with mineralized zones, indicating the extensive mobilization of silica in the crust. These veins require conduits for fluid flow through the creation of space via crustal-scale tectonic activities in extensional regimes and shear zones in collision regimes. The multiple (20 Nos) Bundelkhand giant quartz veins (BGQV) are enigmatic crustal features, more than 60 km in NNE-ssW to N-s strike length. Despite evidence of major silica-rich fluid activity in India and globally, the BGQVs remain a puzzle in terms of fluid source, formation conditions, and their relationships with host-granitic bodies. Despite sharing fluid characteristics with mineralized quartz veins of adjacent Dharwar and Bastar cratons, questions remain about the origin of these veins, the color variations, and the relationship with regional deformation. A proposed project aims to answer these questions through a multiproxy approach, including field structures analysis, microstructural analysis of selected quartz veins, measurement of the orientation fabric of the Quartz c-axis, LA-ICP-Ms studies of fluid inclusions within quartz veins, and mineral chemistry using EPMA. The results will enhance our understanding of the origin of these giant vein systems, the reasons for observed variations in quartz grain colors, and the overall relationship with regional deformation.