Krol Sandstone-black shale association of the Lesser Himalayan Neoproterozoic succession, Himachal Pradesh, India: An unexplored record of the hothouse aftermath

Abstract

Citation of the inferred glacial diamictite-cap carbonate association, as the unequivocal evidence of the Snowball Earth hypothesis, fails to explain the absence of the sedimentary record of the intermediate period between the onset of thawing and the restoration of the optimum temperature for carbonate deposition. The Krol Sandstone-black shale association of the Lesser Himalayan Neoproterozoic succession, represents the initial phase of that hothouse aftermath. The black shale is the product of oceanic anoxia developed during the initial thawing phase of late Cryogenian glaciation. As the melting process continued, remobilization of some pre-existing aeolian sand sheet deposit, lying on the melting ice sheet in the upper shelf region, led to the accumulation of deeper shelf fans, the Krol Sandstone, over this black shale. The petrographic composition, detrital zircon age, and the palaeoflow directions, in conjunction with the available reconstructed paleogeography, suggest that the constituent sand particles of Krol Sandstone were possibly derived from a Late Neoproterozoic aeolian sand sheet of South Australia formed during the coldest phase of the late Cryogenian Elatina glaciation. These findings not only document the sedimentary record of the initial phase of the hothouse aftermath, but also open up a new line of evidence for paleogeographic reconstruction.