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• New U–Pb and Lu-Hf data from the Daitari Greenstone Belt, Singhbhum Craton, India. • Detailed geochronological and tectonic evolution of the Daitari Greenstone Belt. • Zircon εHf (t) indicate a juvenile source for 3.5 Ga felsic volcanic rocks. • 3.5 Ga marks a significant period of growth of the continental crust. The Singhbhum Craton in India contains well-preserved Palaeoarchaean greenstone belts that rival their Australian and South African counterparts, but their stratigraphic make-up remains to be resolved. Here we provide new SHRIMP- and LA-ICP-MS-based U–Pb and Lu-Hf data on magmatic and detrital zircons from stratigraphically resolved samples of the Daitari Greenstone Belt (DGB) in the south of the Singhbhum Craton. A minimum age for the Kalisagar Formation, the lowermost mafic–ultramafic volcanic suite of the DGB, is provided by a felsic sill dated at 3505 ± 6 Ma. Felsic volcaniclastic rocks from the overlying Talpada Formation provided a weighted mean age of 3507 ± 5 Ma. Zircon εHf (t) indicate a juvenile source for 3.5 Ga felsic volcanic rocks. Erosion of the volcanic edifice of the Talpada Formation acted as a predominant source for the overlying turbidite sequence of the Sindurimundi Formation, having identical U-Pb detrital zircon ages of ∼ 3505 Ma. A maximum age of deposition of 3502 ± 2 Ma is proposed for the Sindurimundi Formation. Magmatic zircon ages obtained from different intrusive felsic rocks in the Daitari belt ranges from c. 3.37 to 3.35 Ga and support the notion of widespread felsic magmatism of the Singhbhum Suite in the southern part of the craton. Xenocrystic zircon crystals dated at c. 3.55 to 3.52 Ga may correspond to an earlier phase of magmatism. 3.5 Ga marks an important period in the Earth's history, when extensive felsic magmatism facilitated continental crustal growth as recorded in the Singhbhum, Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Singhbhum Craton of East India has a remarkably well-preserved Archaean geological record that rivals those of the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons. Based on a critical literature review, and aided by new field and geochronological data, a consistent framework of craton evolution during the Archaean is proposed that aims to put to rest some of the uncertainties on its geological history. The oldest rock assemblage so far identified in the Singhbhum Craton consists of ~3.5 to 3.3 Ga old greenstones of the Badampahar Group that are in tectonic contact with, or intruded by, broadly contemporaneous tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite of the Champua Suite, representing the precursor of grey gneisses of the Singhbhum Granitoid Complex. A reported Eoarchaean to Hadean detrital and xenocrystic zircon record suggests an even older onset of craton evolution, the details of which remain to be deciphered. Following >200 Ma of submarine volcanism and sedimentation, concomitant with granitoid emplacement of the Singhbhum Suite in the evolving craton, a regional event of deformation and metamorphism took place at ~3.3 Ga ago. It gave rise to syn -tectonic deposition of coarse siliciclastic successions of the Dhosrapahar Group, tight to isoclinal upright folding of the supracrustal rocks, and a greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic overprint. Starting at around 3.35 Ga, but overlapping with this regional event, was a broad change in the composition of felsic plutons towards more K-rich compositions, which culminated in the emplacement of granites of the Mayurbhanj Suite at 3.1 Ga that led to stabilization of the craton. Following tectonic uplift, erosion, and peneplanation, the intracontinental to continental margin volcano-sedimentary successions of the Koira Group and the correlative Simlipal Group were deposited on granitoid-greenstone basement between 3.0 and 2.75 Ga. Subsidence may have been related to extension of the craton that gave rise to the extrusion of largely subaerial basalts that may have been fed by a prominent mafic dyke swarm at ~2.80 Ga. At the same time, deformation and high-grade metamorphism affected the southwestern part of the craton. This event gave rise to widespread emplacement of granites that heralded the onset of tectonic reworking of the craton along its margins, which continued well into the Proterozoic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]