Precambrian Research 255 (2014) 236–244 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Precambrian Research jo ur nal home p ag e: www.elsevier.com/locate/precamres Characterisation and U–Pb–Hf isotope record of the 3.55 Ga felsic crust from the Bundelkhand Craton, northern India Parampreet Kaur a,b,∗ , Armin Zeh b , Naveen Chaudhri a a Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160 014, India b Institut für Petrologie, Geochemie und Lagerstättenkunde, Universität Frankfurt am Main, Altenhöferallee 1 D-60438, Germany a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 8 February 2014 Received in revised form 19 July 2014 Accepted 22 September 2014 Available online 30 September 2014 Keywords: Bundelkhand Craton Palaeoarchaean Trondhjemite gneiss U–Pb zircon dating Lu–Hf isotopes a b s t r a c t To date, ca. 3.3 Ga tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses from the Aravalli and Bundelkhand Cratons are the oldest rocks in northern India. However, the results of our combined U–Pb and Lu–Hf iso- tope study on zircon grains from a trondhjemite gneiss of the Bundelkhand Craton provide evidence for the formation of even older felsic crust of 3.55 Ga age in this part of India. The petrological and geochem- ical data reveal that the trondhjemite gneiss from the Bundelkhand Craton is characterised by a highly fractionated REE pattern [(La/Yb) N = 34.4] with low HREE contents, and positive Eu (Eu/Eu* = 1.52) and Sr anomalies. These features are consistent with melt extraction from a garnet-bearing and plagioclase- free source. Slightly subchondritic Hf compositions (Hf 3.55Ga of −0.8 ± 0.3) and Hf model ages between 3.80 Ga and 3.95 Ga additionally indicate that the trondhjemite was formed by reworking of Eoarchaean mafic crust. This interpretation is in good agreement with age-Hf isotope data obtained from zircon grains worldwide. Furthermore, our new results indicate that the Bundelkhand and Bastar Cratons experienced an important granitoid emplacement event at 3.58–3.55 Ga. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Our understanding about the state of early Earth’s crust- mantle system is quite sketchy as the geological record of Hadean (4.6–4.0 Ga) to Eoarchaean (4.0–3.6 Ga) crust, either from exposed rocks or from detrital materials in (meta)sedimentary rocks, is rare and limited to a few outcrops (for reviews see Armstrong, 1991; Smithies et al., 2003; Kemp et al., 2010; Hawkesworth et al., 2010; Zeh et al., 2014). The oldest rocks so far known are the 4.03 Ga Acasta gneiss in the Slave Province, northwest- ern Canada (e.g. Bowring et al., 1989; Stern and Bleeker, 1998; Bowring and Williams, 1999; Iizuka et al., 2007). Elsewhere, expo- sures of Eoarchaean crust are preserved only in a few Archaean cratons, such as the Itsaq Gneiss Complex (3.85–3.60 Ma) in south- ern West Greenland (Nutman et al., 1996, 1999; Crowley, 2003; Manning et al., 2006; Kemp et al., 2009), the Pilbara and Yilgarn Cra- tons (3.7–3.5 Ga) in western Australia (Thorpe et al., 1992; Kinny and Nutman, 1996; Thern and Nelson, 2012), the Ancient Gneiss Complex (3.7–3.5 Ga) in the Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa ∗ Corresponding author at: Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab Univer- sity, Chandigarh 160 014, India. Tel.: +91 172 2534237. E-mail addresses: param.geol@gmail.com (P. Kaur), a.zeh@em.uni-frankfurt.de (A. Zeh), naveen.geol@gmail.com (N. Chaudhri). (Kröner et al., 1996; Schoene et al., 2009; Zeh et al., 2011), the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt (3.8–3.5 Ga) of the Superior Craton in northeastern Canada (O’Neil et al., 2007, 2013) and metaigneous rocks (3.8–3.66 Ga) in the Anshan and Xinyang areas of the North China Craton (Liu et al., 1992; Song et al., 1996; Zheng et al., 2004; Wan et al., 2005). Such sparse records, therefore, resulted in var- ied interpretations regarding the composition, geodynamic setting and crust-mantle evolution of the Earth’s early crust (e.g. Harrison et al., 2005, 2008; Pietranik et al., 2008; Kemp et al., 2010; Griffin et al., 2014). From the Archaean cratons of India, the oldest known magmatic rocks are 3.58–3.56 Ga granite-tonalite gneisses from the Bastar Craton in East India (Fig. 1a; Ghosh, 2004; Rajesh et al., 2009) and a 3.51 dacitic lava from the Singhbhum Craton (e.g. Mukhopadhyay et al., 2008). Detrital zircon grains, however, suggest the presence of ca. 3.6 Ga crust in the Singhbhum Craton (Goswami et al., 1995). The oldest exposed rocks from the Dharwar Craton of southern India (Fig. 1a) yielded ages between 3.36 and 3.35 Ga (Jayananda et al., 2008; Peucat et al., 2013), but a few detrital zircon grains indicate the existence of older 3.6 Ga crust (Nutman et al., 1992; Bhaskar Rao et al., 2008; Sarma et al., 2012). From the Bundelkhand and Aravalli Cratons in northern India, the oldest exposed rocks recorded so far are ca. 3.3 Ga tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses (e.g. Wiedenbeck and Goswami, 1994; Roy and Kröner, 1996; Mondal et al., 2002), whereas a few U–Pb and Hf http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.09.019 0301-9268/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.