Cenozoic Stratigraphy of

India
A S Maurya
 Cenozoic of India

Cenozoic of Shimla
Palaeogene of Shimla
Neogene of Himalaya
Indus belt
Deccan Traps
Assam Arakan
Andaman Nicobar
Nw peninsula
Cauvery and Godavary Basin
 Palaeogene of Shimla

Paleogene rocks are exposed in

Shimla Hills of Lesser Himalaya
NW-SE trending exposures bounded
between Krol Thrust in North and
MBT in the South
The youngest formation of
Palaeogene of Shimla known as
Subathu Fm comprising definite
marine fossils
 Shimla Paleogene
Kasauli
Formation
Dagshai
Formation
Subathu
Formation
 Subathu Formation
The PaleoceneMiddle Eocene marine transgression commenced
with the unconformable deposition of the Subathu Formation on
the Sub-Himalaya and ProterozoicEarly Paleozoic Lesser
Himalayan domains. Carbonaceous and coaly shale is overlain by
dull green-gray fossiliferous splintery shale and siltstone, thin
fossiliferous limestone, and sandstone intercalations. These rocks
were deposited in euxinic and evaporitic lagoons and shallow
tidal sea (Singh, 1978) between Middle Paleocene and lower
Middle Eocene (Mathur, 1978). Felsic volcanics, chert, serpentine
schist clasts, and high-Al and Cr spinel reflect a mixed source
from the proto-Himalayan Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone (Najman
and Garzanti, 2000; Bhatia and Bhargava, 2006). It is supported
by Nd values of ~-9 and 87Sr/86Sr ratios of ~0.7100.715, which
plot between fields of the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone and
Tethyan sedimentary cover (Najman et al., 2000). The sequence
grades into variegated purple siltstone-shale alternations,
grouped as the Passage bed sequence (Bhatia, 2000) and, in
turn, by dull white sandstone; the latter was deposited as coastal
barrier in a high-energy environment (Srivastava and Casshyap
, 1983). Furthermore, the age of the Subathus has been
 Dagshai Formation
During Late Eocene-Oligocene times (c. 4030 Ma), clastic
sediment input increased and red lenticular sandstones,
thinner planar-bedded sandstones, mudstones and caliche
of the 350 m thick Dagshai Formation were deposited. A
semi-arid, meandering fluvial/floodplain setting is
envisaged, with thick channelised and overbank sands.
Palaeocurrent evidence indicates a general SE progradation.
The detailed field mapping shows that where the entire
Subathu and Dagshai Formations are intercalated, this is
the result of post-depositional tectonics, rather than primary
intertonguing as described in some previous reports. The
relative abundance of sandstones greatly increased in
upper Dagshai times, continuing into the Early-Mid-Miocene
(c. 3010 Ma)
 Dagshai
The precise contact relationship between the Subathu and
Dagshai Formations remains controversial since the transition was
postulated from marine to fluvial environment (Bhatia, 2000 and
references therein; Bhatia and Bhargava, 2006). On the contrary,
an unconformity was proposed between these two sequences with
a hiatus ranging from ~10 m.y. to <3 m.y. (Najman et al., 1993,
2004; Bera et al., 2008). The age of the Dagshais is debatable: (1)
35.5 6.7 Ma for the whole formation (Najman et al., 1994) or
between <28 and 25 Ma from 40Ar/39Ar detrital micas (Najman
et al., 1997), or (2) base younger than 31 2 Ma from detrital-
zircon FT ages (Najman et al., 2004) or 35.5 Ma magneto-
stratigraphically (Lakshami et al., 2000).

The overlying unfossiliferous Dagshai Formation in Shimla Hills or

the Dharamsala Formation of Punjab (Raiverman et al., 1983) is
red-colored siltstone and mudstone in the lower parts, while
sandstone and caliche appear in the upper parts. The arenites
contain schistose clasts, zircon, garnet, tourmaline, and epidote,
which were derived from medium-grade metamorphosed
Himalayan rocks (Sinha, 1970; Najman et al., 1997; Najman
et al., 2004). Nd and 87Sr/86Sr values range between ~-12 to 18
 Kasauli Formation
The Kasauli Fm 2100-250 m thick was laid down after
Dagshai. This formation is characterized by lenticular
and planar-bedded grey sandstones, rich in plant
material including occasional logs (but without caliche)
interbedded with minor grey mudstones. A rapidly
prograding, braided fluvial environment is proposed,
with the petrography (e.g. presence of garnets)
suggesting erosion and derivation from deeper levels of
the Himalayan mountain belt to the north. The climate
had by then changed from semi-arid to humid, possibly
in response to the onset of the monsoon, initiated when
the mountain belt had reached sufficient height to
interfere with the jet-stream.
 The overlying Kasauli Formation contains gray-
green sandstone and alternating siltstone-
mudstone with litharenites having a larger
percentage of metamorphic fragments than the
Subathu and Dagshai Formations, and isotopic
character like the latter. The formation appears to
have been deposited in a migratory braided river
system under humid climate conditions (Singh,
1978; Najman et al., 1993). A Lower Miocene age
(2316 Ma) of this formation has been determined
from floral and mammal remains (Arya et al.,
2004). 40Ar/39Ar white mica ages constrain its age
at <28 and 22 Ma (Najman et al., 1997), while no
meaningful age can be deciphered from the
detrital-zircon FT data (cf. Najman et al., 2004).
As an equivalent of the Dharamsala Group, the
magnetostratigraphic age of the uppermost
 Neogene of Himalaya
Knows as Siwalik Supergroup
Belongs to Molasse Facies
Sub-Himalayan Neogene Foreland Basin
The outermost and southernmost Cenozoic foreland basin has
accumulated ~10 km of predominantly fluvial sediments, which
were derived from the rising Himalaya. The belt rises abruptly
above the Indo-Gangetic Plains along the Main Frontal Thrust
and, in turn, is overridden by the Lesser Himalayan belt along
the Main Boundary Thrust.
Age/Epoch Formation Lithology Fossils
Late Pliocene to Boulder Bed Coarse Boulder Equus, Elephas,
Pleistocene Buffelus,
Camelus
Pinjor Formation Sandstone Stegodon,
conglomerate Elephas

Tatrot Sandstone Hyppophys,

Formation conglomerate Leptobos
Middle Miocene Dhokpathan Sandstone Stegodon,
to Early Formation shale, pebble at Mastodon
Pliocene top
Nagri Massive Mastodon,
Formation sandstone, Hipparion,
shales Giraffoid
early-Middle Chinji Formation Nodular shale, Tetrabelodon,
Miocene 400-800m clay with Giraffokery,
sandsstone Listriodon
Kamlial Dark Sandstone, Hypoboops,
Formation purple red Tetrabelodon
 The bulk of the Sub-Himalayan basin comprises >~6000-m-
thick, coarsening-up Siwalik Group. The 1800-m-thick Lower
Siwalik Subgroup of <1311 Ma (White et al., 2001, 2002)
contains highly indurated, fine to coarse, purple-gray sandstone
and interbedded brown shale (Parkash et al., 1980). Low- to
medium-grade metamorphosed Himalayan source rocks are
indicated by the presence of phyllite clasts, and epidote,
garnet, tourmaline, zircon, rutile, chlorite, and staurolite (Sinha
, 1970; White et al., 2002). The Lower Siwalik sediments were
deposited by south-flowing, highly sinuous meandering rivers in
broad muddy flood plains (Singh, 1978; Parkash et al., 1980).
The Middle Siwalik Subgroup, which is more than 2300 m thick,
contains cross-bedded, medium to coarse sandstone,
intercalated siltstone and shale, and was deposited between 11
and 4.5 Ma by major braided rivers with alluvial fan complexes.
Coarsening-up graywacke beds have rock fragments ranging
from 20% to 40%, with garnet, tourmaline, zircon, epidote,
staurolite, zoisite, and kyanite (Fig. 3; Sinha, 1970). The Upper
Siwalik Subgroup (~2300 m thick) of conglomerate, sandstone,
Geology of Assam
Assam
Bokabil Fm
 Dupi-Tila Grp Cont..

Assigned Mio-Plio age by lithogocically comparing with Irrawady

Group of Shilong.
 It all
Deccan Geology
happened nearly 70 million years back. The
mighty Himalayas were just beginning to come up, the
great dinosaurs that ruled the earth were disappearing
and the crust of the earth in the Western India was
fractured. This was a remarkable event - large
quantities of molten rock (Lava) were poured out from
these fractures filling up valleys and covering the hills.
The eruption continued intermittently with periods of
quiescence, building up a huge volcanic province..."
(West, W.D. 1988)
The geological world identifies this volcanic province
either as the "Deccan Volcanic Province" (DVP) or
simply the "Deccan Traps" and recognizes it as one of
the Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) representing high
magmatic fluxes involving large amount of thermal
energy in short period of geological time. The term
Deccan Trap was coined by W.H. Sykes in 1833 and
it is derived from a Sanskrit word Dakshin meaning
 Map showing distribution of Deccan lavas and
associated intrusive in the Western and Central India
Coloumnar Joints , Near Kolhapur,
Ajanta
 Considerable advances have been made over the last
two decades in understanding the regional lava
stratigraphy of the Deccan flood basalt province of
India . The province has a present-day area of 500,000
km2 (e.g. Wadia, 1975) on land and a large additional
area offshore of western India; an unknown, but
probably large amount of the provinces original
extent has been lost to erosion since the formation of
the province ~65 million years ago (Ma). The Deccan
lava pile is particularly well exposed in the
southwestern part of the province in the Western
Ghats range, and the stratigraphic framework of this
region is now known quite well from extensive field,
geochemical (including isotopic) and palaeomagnetic
work. . On the basis of geochemical characteristics
and field markers, the Western Ghats sequence, with a
total stratigraphic thickness of 3,000 m, has been
divided into three subgroups and eleven formations .
 Fossil content
The Deccan Traps are famous for the beds of
fossils that have been found between layers of
traps lava. Particularly well known species include
the frog Oxyglossus pusillus (Owen) of the Eocene
of India and the toothed frog Indobatrachus, an
early lineage of modern frogs, which is now
placed in the Australian family Myobatrachidae.
The infratrappean and intertrappean beds also
contain fossil freshwater mollusks, ostracods as
well as some planktic foraminifera were also
recovered which indicative of Marine intrusion.