Singhbhum craton

The Singhbhum carton is located in the eastern India. The Archean cratons are those regions of the earth crust that remained undeformed since the Precambrian times.

About Singhbhum carton

The Singhbhum carton is encircled by greenstone belts such as similipal, Dalma, Dhanjori, etc. They are rich in iron. It is one of the five major Archean cratons of Indian shield. The other four cratons are Bastar craton, Dharwar craton, Aravalli craton and Bhundelkhand craton. The Singhbhum craton is made of Archean rocks. They are located in northern parts of Odisha and Jharkhand. It is bordered by Chhotanagpur plateau in the north, Bastar carton in the south, Eastern ghats in south east and Alluvium to the east.

Discovery about Singhbhum craton in 2021

In November 2021, the scientists discovered that the sedimentary evidence in Singhbhum craton emerged above the sea level around 3 billion years ago. This means that the rocks in this region were formed even before the plate tectonics existed. The plate tectonics controls the current elevation on the earth surface. The Alps and Himalayas are formed when two tectonic plates collide. The Himalayas are still growing. The scientists found 3.1-billion-year-old sandstone layer on the top of Singhbhum craton. They believe that the Singhbhum craton was formed by the gradual accumulation of volcanic lava. The elements in rocks extracted from the Singhbhum craton were similar to those in Western Australia and South Africa.