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Lower Permian Gondwana sequence of Rajhara (Daltonganj Coalfield), Damodar Basin, India: floristic and geochemical records and their implications on marine ingressions and depositional environment

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Abstract

Early Permian floral diversity and palaeodepositional environment of the Lower Permian Rajhara sequence of Damodar Basin have been studied based on mega-, microfossil and geochemical proxies. Even though Gondwana sediments are generally considered as fluvio-lacustrine deposits, recent studies indicate marine inundations with patchy records. Here in the present study, an attempt has been made to address the changeover from fluviatile to shallow marine conditions and also to address the palaeodepositional aspects. Luxuriant vegetation during deposition of the Lower Barakar Formation generated thick coal seams. The macroplant fossil assemblage shows Glossopteridales, Cordaitales and Equisetales comprising one palynoassemblage with the dominance of bisaccate pollen grains having glossopterid affinities. However, Lycopsids are absent in the megafloral record and are represented in megaspore assemblage. The present floral assemblage led to envisage the presence of dense forest with swampy conditions and prevalence of warm and humid climate during the deposition of Barakar sediments. Correlation with the coeval Indian assemblages and those from other Gondwanan continents also supports an Artinskian age and reveals a stronger affinity with flora of Africa than that of South America. Biomarker analysis reveals low pristane/phytane values (0.30–0.84), noticeable absence of hopanoid triterpenoids and long-chain n-alkanes that is attributed to the obliteration of organic compounds and subsequent alteration of composition due to thermal effect. The high chemical index of alteration, A–CN–K plot and PIA also suggest severe denudation under a warm/humid climate. The V/Al2O3 and P2O5/Al2O3 indicated freshwater–near-shore conditions. However, signature of possible marine influence is identified from Th/U and Sr/Ba ratios resulted from the eustatic fluctuations during Permian.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are greatly indebted to the Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the research. We also thank the Director, Central Coalfield Limited, for permission to collect samples. The author (SK), INSPIRE Fellow, is indebted to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, for the research grant (IF200461). We are highly grateful to the three reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions, which substantially improved the quality of the manuscript. We are thankful to Mr. Ishwar Chandra Rahi, Mr. Amrit Pal Singh Chaddha and Mr. D. S. Bhist, BSIP, for their technical support.

Funding

The author (SK) received the research grant (IF200461) from Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

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  1. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53 University Road, Lucknow, 226007, UP, India

    Sankar Suresh Kumar Pillai, M. C. Manoj, Runcie Paul Mathews, Srikanta Murthy, Anju Saxena, Anupam Sharma & Suraj Kumar

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Sankar Suresh Kumar Pillai, M. C. Manoj, Runcie Paul Mathews, Srikanta Murthy, Anju Saxena, Anupam Sharma & Suraj Kumar

  3. Department of Geology, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, 753003, Odisha, India

    Mrutyunjaya Sahoo

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Sambalpur University, Samabalpur, 768019, Odisha, India

    Sanghamitra Pradhan

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. SP, MM, RP and SM were responsible for conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, writing the original draft, validation, visualization, and reviewing and editing; MS, AS, AS, SP and SK were involved in data curation, validation, visualization, and reviewing and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Pillai, S.S.K., Manoj, M.C., Mathews, R.P. et al. Lower Permian Gondwana sequence of Rajhara (Daltonganj Coalfield), Damodar Basin, India: floristic and geochemical records and their implications on marine ingressions and depositional environment. Environ Geochem Health 45, 6923–6953 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01517-8

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