Carbon Isotopic Profile Across the Bilara Group Rocks of Trans-Aravalli Marwar Supergroup in Western India: Implications for Neoproterozoic — Cambrian Transition

Abstract

The rocks of Marwar Supergroup in the trans-Aravalli sector in western India are presumed to span the time interval between Neoproterozoic and early Cambrian. This, predominantly unfossiliferous, marine sedimentary sequence is characterized by a lower arenaceous facies (Jodhpur Group), middle carbonate facies (Bilara Group) and upper argillaceous— arenaceous facies (Nagaur Group) rocks. The sedimentation has been essentially in a shallow basin, described either as the fore-land slope of the rising Aravalli mountains or a sag-basin which developed and evolved due to subsidence of the updomed crust during Neoproterozoic Malani magmatism that failed to open rifts. The carbon isotopic profile for the Bilara Group carbonate rocks in the lower part shows marked oscillations and broadly negative δ 13C character with negative anomalies as low as <−4.3‰ PDB, observed near the base of Dhanapa Formation (lower unit) and <−6.5‰ PDB in the overlying Gotan Formation (middle unit). The upper part of the profile shows a gradual positive shift. The carbon isotopic signatures of the Bilara Group rocks can be correlated with the end-Neoproterozoic — early Cambrian (Vendian — Tommotian) carbon isotopic evolution curve. Extremely low δ 13C values indicate the glaciation related cold climatic postulates of the end-Neoproterozoic, followed by the warmer climatic conditions as indicated by the positive shift. The carbon isotopic data for Gotan Formation carbonates, at variance with the globally observed δ 13C trends for early Tertiary, do not support the recently proposed Tertiary age for the Bilara Group.