Two previously reported lamprophyre dykes from the Kalwakurthy area, at the northwestern margin of the Cuddapah basin, Dharwar craton, southern India, are reinvestigated. Petrography reveals that they have an overall cumulate texture and comprise clinopyroxene (dominant phase), amphibole (mostly secondary), magnetite, ilmenite and chromite and are reclassified as clinopyroxenites. The chemistry of clinopyroxene and chromite, bulk-rock major and trace element composition and the Sr–Nd isotopic systematics of the Kalwakurthy dykes strongly favour the involvement of subduction-related processes in their genesis and are strikingly similar to those of the continental arc-cumulates and Alaskan-type ultramafics reported from the supra-subduction type of tectonic settings. Incompatible trace element ratios, involving high field strength elements, of these clinopyroxenites are also suggestive of the fluid-related metasomatism influencing their source regions. Petrogenetic modelling reveals that 10–20% partial melting of the fertile lithospheric mantle source was involved in their genesis. The tectonomagmatic significance of the studied clinopyroxenites is evaluated in light of the existing models invoking a Neoarchaean subduction in the evolution of the Dharwar craton.

Xenotime is a significant accessory mineral which is being extensively used for precise U–Th–Pb geochronology by Electron Microprobe Analysis (EPMA). This paper presents a protocol for high analytical precision (<3% uncertainties on the measured ages) developed for the accurate estimation of U–Th and Pb content in xenotime using SXFive EPMA at the Department of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, by deploying five spectrometers attached with TAP, LIF, LPET, LTAP and PET crystals. The protocol is applied to the xenotime grains of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite-gneiss (TTG) rocks from the geochronologically well-constrained terrain of the Bundelkhand Craton, central India. The obtained xenotime age 2929$\pm$23 Ma of TTGs is in agreement with the earlier published Neoarchaen 2697$\pm$3 Ma Pb–Pb zircon ages from the same area which validates the authenticity of the analytical method developed at the BHU-EPMA facility.

$\bf{Highlights}$

$\bullet$ Analytical protocol for high precision U–Th–Pb chemical dating of xenotime by EPMA.

$\bullet$ High precision ages from TTG gneiss of the Bundelkhand Craton, Central India.

$\bullet$ Ages distinguishable from earlier reported ages from other techniques and samples.

$\bullet$ Validates the authenticity of the analytical method developed at the BHU-EPMA facility.