Intertrappean Beds Research Articles

Paleobiota from the Deccan volcano-sedimentary sequences of India: paleoenvironments, age and paleobiogeographic implications

Paleobiotic assemblages from the Deccan infra- and intertrappean beds are reviewed in great detail. Three distinct paleoenvironments (fluvio-lacustrine/terrestrial, brackish water and marine) have been identified within the infra- and intertrappean biotic assemblages of peninsular India. Recently, marine incursions have been recorded in a few of the Deccan intertrappean beds exposed in central and south-eastern India. The intertrappean beds have yielded marine planktic foraminiferans and freshwater/brackish water ostracods. The affinities of the paleobiotas are commonly considered to show a mixed pattern resulting from the addition of Gondwanan and Laurasian elements to endemic Indian taxa. During the last four decades, various biogeographic models (southern and northern connections) have been proposed to explain the presence of anomalous biogeographic biota in the Late Cretaceous of India. Based on the recovered fauna and flora assemblages, the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary has been marked and a Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age has been assigned to these Deccan volcano-sedimentary sequences.

Palynology and clay mineralogy of the Deccan volcanic associated sediments of Saurashtra, Gujarat: Age and paleoenvironments

The intertrappean sediments associated with Deccan Continental Flood Basalt (DCFB) sequence at Ninama in Saurashtra, Gujarat yielded palynoassemblage comprising at least 12 genera and 14 species including Paleocene taxa such as Intrareticulites brevis, Neocouperipollis spp., Striacolporites striatus, Retitricolpites crassimarginatus and Rhombipollis sp. The lava flows of Saurashtra represent the northwestern most DCFB sequence in India. It is considered that the Saurashtra lava flows represent the earliest volcanic activity in the Late Cretaceous of the Reunion Mantle Plume on the northward migrating Indian Plate. The present finding of the Paleocene palynoflora from Ninama sediments indicate Paleocene age for the associated lava flows occurring above the intertrappean bed which suggests that the Saurashtra plateau witnessed eruption of Deccan lava flows even during Paleocene. The clay mineral investigation of the Ninama sediments which are carbonate dominated shows dominance of low charge smectite (LCS) along with the presence of mica and vermiculite. Based on the clay mineral assemblage it is interpreted that arid climatic conditions prevailed during the sedimentation. The smectite dominance recorded within these sediments is in agreement with global record of smectite peak close to the Maastrichtian–Paleocene transition and climatic aridity.

A New addition to Paleobiodiversity from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Singhpur, M.P., India

Intertrapppean flora is rich in fossil angiosperm. There is record of large number of angiospermic fruits. The present fossil differs from all reported fruits in having its own unique hydrophytic character. The anatomical details were studied by etching the chert with hydrofluoric acid and peel sections were prepared without grinding the material. The fruit is bilocular, sessile oval to elliptical in shape, pericarp undifferentiated parenchymatous cells present, poor vascularature due to its hydrophytic nature. One fertile locule with single seed and other sterile with arenchymatous chamber. Fruit measures 1 mm in length and 375 μ m in breadth. The fruit wall measures 75 μ m in thickness. The fruit is compared with the reported fruits from the intertrappendeds, butTits differs from all of them, comparision is also drawn with modern living hydrophytic families such as Nymphaecea, Trapaceae, Hydrocharitaceae, Typhacea, Allismataceae, Potomogetonaceae, PortulacaceaeElatinaceae, Onagraceae, scrophulariceae, Pontedariaceae.Howeverit could not be comparable to any genus of these families. Hence new generic name is proposed to accommodate this fruit as Hydrocarponsinghpuriigen et Sp. Nov. The generic nameis after its peculiar character and specific name after the locality from where it was collected. The discovery of these new genus will add to the diversity of Deccan Intertrappean Beds of India.

Performance characteristics of tunnel boring machine in basalt and pyroclastic rocks of Deccan traps – A case study

A 12.24km long tunnel between Maroshi and Ruparel College is being excavated by tunnel boring machine (TBM) to improve the water supply system of Greater Mumbai, India. In this paper, attempt has been made to establish the relationship between various litho-units of Deccan traps, stability of tunnel and TBM performances during the construction of 5.83km long tunnel between Maroshi and Vakola. The Maroshi–Vakola tunnel passes under the Mumbai Airport and crosses both runways with an overburden cover of around 70m. The tunneling work was carried out without disturbance to the ground. The rock types encountered during excavation are fine compacted basalt, porphyritic basalt, amygdaloidal basalt, pyroclastic rocks with layers of red boles and intertrappean beds consisting of various types of shales. Relations between rock mass properties, physico-mechanical properties, TBM specifications and the corresponding TBM performance were established. A number of support systems installed in the tunnel during excavation were also discussed. The aim of this paper is to establish, with appropriate accuracy, the nature of subsurface rock mass condition and to study how it will react to or behave during underground excavation by TBM. The experiences gained from this project will increase the ability to cope with unexpected ground conditions during tunneling using TBM.

The East Africa Oligocene intertrappean beds: Regional distribution, depositional environments and Afro/Arabian mammal dispersals

The East Africa Oligocene intertrappean beds: Regional distribution, depositional environments and Afro/Arabian mammal dispersals

Oldest fruits of the grape family (Vitaceae) from the Late Cretaceous Deccan Cherts of India

Despite the inferred Cretaceous origin of the Vitaceae, fossils of the grape family are relatively young, with the oldest previously known examples limited to the Paleocene of Europe and North America. New fossil evidence indicates that the family was already present in India in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), about 10-15 million years before the tectonic collision of India with Eurasia. • Fruits and seeds were investigated by serial sections and peels of chert from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of central India, and compared anatomically with those of extant genera. • Indovitis chitaleyae gen. et sp. n. is described based on immature fruits bearing four to six seeds, and isolated mature seeds. The seeds possess paired ventral infolds and a dorsal chalaza, features diagnostic of the order Vitales. Characters of chalaza shape, infold morphology, and seed coat anatomy place I. chitaleyae within Vitaceae and favor a phylogenetic position either sister to the Vitis-Ampelocissus clade or sister to the Ampelopsis-Clematicissus-Rhoicissus clade. • Presence of the oldest known vitaceous fossils in the latest Cretaceous of India indicates a previously undocumented Gondwanan history and a possible southern hemisphere origin for the Vitales. An "out-of-India" scenario might explain the relatively sudden appearance of diverse Vitaceae in the Late Paleocene and Early Eocene of the Northern Hemisphere.

Mineral Chemistry of Clays Associated with the Jhilmili Intertrappean Bed in the Eastern Deccan Volcanic Province: Palaeoenvironmental Inferences and KTB Transition

Abstract Jhilmili intertrappean bed (~13 m thick) attains its significance with the recent discovery of brackish water ostrocod and planktonic foraminifera fossils (Keller et al. 2009; Khosala et al. 2009). Present XRD data revealed abundance of montmorillonite > montmorillonite/chlorite mixed layer > palygorskite in five physically distinct litho-units namely: (a) lower chocolate brown siltstone with green patches, followed by (b) brick red clayey siltstone, (c) greenish grey clay, (d) yellowish brown clay and (e) uppermost olive grey to dark brown silt layers in the succession-represent higher weathering indices and annual precipitation, reflecting cyclic, but longer spells of weathering. Occurrence of M/C mixed layer with the smectite in Jhilmili area is suggestive of their derivation from the later, whilst montmorillonite to palygorskite transformation is ascribed to the drastic changes in the humid to arid climate, where former served as a source of Al and some of the Si and Mg ions for the later. Jhilmili and Anjar clays represent similar charge occupancies at different sites, but later contains relatively higher amount of palygorskite, formed in the arid environment. Majority of the trace elemental data plots for Jhilmili clays lie within the upper and lower limits of infra (Lametas)-/inter-trappeans clays. The continuous release of Cu throughout the succession (mainly in the palygorskite dominated clays) indicates oxidizing conditions. PAAS normalized REE data plots for these clays show progressive enrichment in the HREE contents in the lower part, but, upper part of the succession is marked by positive cerium anomaly, reflecting oxidizing conditions prevailed at the later stage of the succession. These conditions continued, but, were not conducive to HREE enrichment as evidenced by their depletion in the upper part of the succession. The Ce anomaly observed in the middle part of the succession is similar to that form by continental weathering of the basalt, ascribed to Ce precipitation in the oxic environment, thus suggestive of drastic changes in the oxidizing conditions. Thermodynamic data-sets for Jhilmili clays show I/S mixed layer and celadonite compositions, whereas, Jabalpur infra-/inter-trappean clays correspond to Mg smectites and celadonite end members, thus, representing compositional commonality with those of the other clays derived from the continental weathering of basalt protolith. Jhilmili smectites and smectite-chlorite mixtures show compositional similarity with the dioctahedral and trioctahedral smectites and the smectites formed at 250ºC, having compositions between trioctahedral smectite and chlorite, thus, assigning high temperatures for their formation, where the heat required for the formation of these clays was possibly derived from the hydrothermal fluids, associated with the Deccan volcanism.

A Fossil Gymnospermous Leaf Gnetalophyllum deccanii gen. et sp.nov. From The Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Mohgaonkalan, M.P., India

Mohagaonkalan is the well known locality of the Deccan intertrappean series of Chhindwara district, of Madhya pradesh belonging to upper most cretaceous period. The present fossil leaf Gnetalophyllum deccanii collected from the deccan Intertrappean beds of Mohgaonkalan. The leaf is Gymnospermous, triangular in shape with ridges and furrows. Mesophyll undifferentiated, transfusion tissues are totally absent and vascular tissue present in radiating arm fashion. On comparison it shows close affinities with the order Gnetales. It measures 3099um in length along with lamina and 1433µm in width in the median region were as 1033µm in the laminar region.

A Fossil Dicot Wood Aeschynomenoxylon Mohgaonsesp.Nov From The Deccan Intertrappean Beds Of Mohgaonkalan, M.P., India.

The Deccan Intertrappean flora is mostly silicified and often very well preserved, representing the groups Thallophyta (fungi, algae and charophytes), water ferns, conifers and angiosperms with both monocotyledons and dicotyledons. The present wood is collected from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Mohgaonkalan. The wood is angiospermic diffuse porus, vessels solitary and in multiples of two, usually small, occasionally of medium size. Xylem parenchyma scanty with paratracheal vasicentri type, Intervascular pitting are simple and alternate.Perforation plate simple. Fibers are non-septate and storied. Wood rays uniseriate only. Rays are homogenous and made up of procumbent cells only. It show its affinities with the reported species of Aeschynomene.

227 Flowers and fruits from the Deccan intertrappean beds of India

227 Flowers and fruits from the Deccan intertrappean beds of India

226 Megafloral analysis of Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Central India

226 Megafloral analysis of Deccan Intertrappean Beds of Central India

Further contribution to the knowledge of Chitaleypushpam mohgaoense Paradkar

This paper deals with the investigation of the petrified flower Chitaleypushpam mohgaoense Paradkar and redescribes the flower in as much detail as possible. The present petrified flower was collected from well-known fossiliferous locality Mohgaonkalan, M.P., India, where Deccan Intertrappean beds are exposed. The previous diagnosis of the genus and the species is emended. The additional characters of Chitaleypushpam are especially about structure of carpels. In the present fossil flowers gynoecia are seven carpeled and nine carpeled in Specimen-A and Specimen-B, respectively. Besides this, in cross section the ovary reveals stellate structure. From the above discussion it is clear that present fossil flowers closely resemble Chitaleypushpam mohgaoense Paradkar in many characters and hence are placed under the same genus and species with emended diagnosis.

Early Danian lacustrine - brackish water Ostracoda from the Deccan Inter-trappean beds near Jhilmili, Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh, India

Twenty lacustrine – brackish water ostracode species are described from the recently discovered early Danian Planktic Foraminiferal Zone P1a sediments in the Deccan Inter-trappean beds of Jhilmili, ChhindwaraDistrict, Madhya Pradesh, India. These include two brackish water species – Neocyprideis raoi (Jain 1978), Buntonia sp. - and 18 lacustrine species of which one species - Strandesia jhilmiliensis - is new, 15 species are assigned to previously known species, and 2 species are left in open nomenclature. The Inter-trappean beds in the central Deccan volcanic province of India were previously mostly considered as Maastrichtian in age but at Jhilmili, on the basis of associated planktic foraminifera, their deposition clearly persisted into early Danian time.

Nypa fruits and seeds from the Maastrichtian–Danian sediments of Bir Abu Minqar, South Western Desert, Egypt

Fossil fruits and seeds of Nypa burtinii (Brongniart) of Arecaceae are described from the Maastrichtian and Danian sediments of the Dakhla Formation of Bir Abu Minqar, South Western Desert, Egypt. These fruits represent one of the oldest fossil records of the genus Nypa, contemporaneous with those known from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of India. As Nypa is now distributed along the sea coast from Sri Lanka to North Australia and New Guinea, the present discovery along with the known associated plant and invertebrate fossils reveals that a tropical littoral, swampy and estuary biota emerged early in the Maastrichtian in the region.

Sequence stratigraphy of Soma quarry section, near Gowripatnam, Rajahmundry area, Andhra Pradesh

An attempt is made to work out the sequence stratigraphic frame work of Infra and Intertrappean beds exposed in Soma quarry section, near Gowripatnam, Rajahmundry area to understand the mode of depositional process in the basin by integrating litho and biostratigraphic data. The study documents the field data to recognize some of sequence parameters in the field. The sequence stratigraphic study shows the Sequence Boundary, Transgressive Systems Tract (TST), three shallowing upward sequence, Maximum Flooding Surface (MFS) and Highstand Systems Tract (HST) deposits got exposed as a result of basinal rise and fall.

Foraminifera from the early Danian intertrappean beds in Rajahmundry quarries, Andhra Pradesh

Intertrappean beds exposed between upper and lower traps of the Government and Sunnamrayalu quarries of Rajahmundry were analyzed based on benthic and planktic foraminifera, ostracodes and algae observed in thin sections. Planktic foraminifera indicate deposition occurred in the early Danian Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina (P1a) zone shortly after deposition of the lower trap flows. The most diverse planktic assemblages were deposited in limestones of the middle intertrappean interval and indicate an upper P1a age, or subzone P1a(2), as marked by the co-occurrence of P. eugubina, Globoconusa daubjergensis, Parasubbotina pseudobulloides and Subbotina triloculinoides. Reworked late Maastrichtian planktic foraminifera are common in a limestone interval and suggest erosion of uplifted Cretaceous sediments. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages indicate deposition occurred predominantly in shallow inner shelf to brackish environments. Similarly, ostracodes indicate variable environments ranging from inner neritic to brackish with fresh water influx, as also indicated by the presence of fresh water algae. These data confirm an overall deepening from restricted shallow marine to estuarine, lagoonal and finally open marine conditions followed by abrupt emersion and paleosoil deposition prior to the arrival of the upper trap flows at or near the base of C29n.

Euarchontan affinity of Paleocene Afro-European adapisoriculid mammals and their origin in the late Cretaceous Deccan Traps of India

The controversial family Adapisoriculidae, a group of shrew-sized Paleocene mammals, had proposed relationships with insectivores, marsupials and more recently to plesiadapiforms. Adapisoriculid remains are numerous in the early Paleocene locality of Hainin, Belgium, and allow us a test of these different phylogenetic hypotheses. Here, we identify the first tarsal bones of adapisoriculid mammals. The highly specialised bones indicate an arboreal mode of life with euarchontan affinity. Moreover, the tarsal bones are morphologically very close to those of the late Cretaceous Deccanolestes from the Deccan intertrappean beds of India, and also share several characters with the Paleocene plesiadapiforms and the extant cynocephalid dermopterans. The adapisoriculid affinities of Deccanolestes are also confirmed by tooth morphology, indicating that Deccanolestes is a primitive member of this family. These phylogenetic affinities suggest a paleobiogeographic scenario for the family with dispersal either via East Africa or across the Tethys area.

Review: Groundwater development and management in the Deccan Traps (basalts) of western India

The Deccan Traps or the basalts of western India are the largest exposure of basic lava flows covering about 500,000 km2. Groundwater occurrence in the Deccan Traps is in phreatic condition in the weathered zone above the hard rock and in semi-confined condition in the fissures, fractures, joints, cooling cracks, lava flow junctions and in the inter-trappean beds between successive lava flows, within the hard rock. Dug wells, dug-cum-bored wells and boreholes or bore wells are commonly used for obtaining groundwater. The yield is small, usually in the range of 1–100 m3/day. The average land holding per farming family is only around 2 ha. Recently, due to the ever increasing number of dug wells and deep bore wells, the water table has been falling in several watersheds, especially in those lying in the semi-arid region of the traps, so that now the emphasis has shifted from development to sustainable management. Issues like climatic change, poverty mitigation in villages, sustainable development, rapid urbanization of the population, and resource pollution have invited the attention of politicians, policy makers, government agencies and non-governmental organizations towards watershed management, forestation, soil and water conservation, recharge augmentation and, above all, the voluntary control of groundwater abstraction in the Deccan Traps terrain.

Rhizopalmoxylon singulare sp. nov. - coralloid palm roots from the Late Cretaceous Deccan Intertrappean beds of Nawargaon, India

Permineralized coralloid aerial palm roots forming a thick compact mantle have been described from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Nawargaon, Maharashtra, India. A medium sized root exhibits rhizodermis, thick exodermis, thin outer and wide inner cortex; fibers in the inner cortex; air cavities in 3-7 concentric rings in the middle zone of inner cortex; polyarch stele with 12-15 xylem and phloem bundles and sclerenchymatous pith with 1-3 medullary bundles. Morpho-anatomical characters of the root suggest its affinity with coralloid roots probably of Hyphaene dichotoma (White) Furtado and Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb. A combination of details of stelar and cortical region is found to be a better criterion to resolve the natural affinity of permineralized palm roots. Two new combinations of Rhizopalmoxylon, R. angiorhizon and R. macrorhizon are also suggested.

Palynofloral study of the intertrappean bed exposed at a new locality in Kutch district, Gujarat and its implications on palaeoenvironment and age

A palynofloral assemblage has been recorded from the intertrappean bed exposed at a new locality, near Naredi, on Naliya-Narayan Sarovar Road in western Kutch, Gujarat. This intertrappean bed (ca. 0.6 m thick) of grey laminated clay is underlain and overlain by the volcanic traps. The assemblage recovered from this bed includes algal and fungal remains, pteridophytic spores, angiospermous pollen as well as cuticles of terrestrial plants. Important palynotaxa recovered are Azolla sp., Lygodiumsporites lakiensis, Polypodiaceaesporites intrapunctatus, Compositoipollenites argutus, C. conicus, Graminidites media, Ladakhipollenites minutus, Lakiapollis ovatus, Matanomadhiasulcites sp., etc. Besides, a variety of fungal remains belonging to the genera Dictyosporites, Frasnacritetrus (Tetraploa), Kutchiathyrites, Palaeomycites (VAM fungi), Papulosporonites, Parmathyrites, Phragmothyrites, Polycellaesporonites (Alternaria), etc have been recorded. It has been deduced that this intertrappean bed was deposited in a shallow depression over the trap during short interval of quiescence in a tropical-subtropical climate. The age of the intertrappean bed is suggested as Early Palaeocene.