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Fluvial trace fossils in the Middle Siwalik (Sarmatian-Pontian) of Darjeeling Himalayas, India

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Trace fossils that record animal and plant activity are described for the first time from the Middle Siwalik, Neogene deposits of Darjeeling Himalaya. Sedimentary facies association attests to a channel–interchannel floodplain fluviatile setting. The intimate association of the burrows with phytoliths, rhizoliths, leaf compressions and coal lenses suggest that the tracemakers dominated a floodplain habitat. Point bar deposits host a low diversity Planolites-Naktodemasis-Macanopsis-Cylindricum equilibrium ichnocoenosis in the heterolithic fine sandstone-siltstone-shale facies that alternates with dense, monospecific colonization of Planolites as opportunistic pioneers relocating under stressed condition. Interlayered floodplain deposits in the fluvial successions preserve enigmatic large diameter, vertical tubes within thin to thick-bedded, dark silty shale facies. These tubes bear mixed characters assignable to both crayfish burrows and large-diameter rhizoliths. Further work on these tubes is necessary to make more accurate interpretations of those structures. Shallow to moderate burrow depths; intermittent, short-lived colonization events and preservation of rhizoliths and rhizohalos under fluctuating moisture content indicate short-term fluctuations of a relatively high water table (close to the paleosurface) in an imperfectly drained proximal floodplain setting. Ichnotaxa distribution and their inferred ethology provide significant faunal data that may put constraints on the reconstruction of Middle Siwalik depositional environment.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to anonymous reviewers for their meticulous review and improvement suggestions. Heart-felt thanks to Prof. Nibir Mandal, Associate Editor, JESS for his helpful suggestions during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Jogamaya Devi College, 92 S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata, 700 026, India

    ABHIJIT CHAKRABORTY & BHASKAR GHOSH

  2. Department of Geology, The University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd., rm. 120, Lindley Hall, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7594, USA

    STEPHEN T HASIOTIS

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, Presidency University, 86/1 College Street, Kolkata, 700 073, India

    HARENDRA NATH BHATTACHARYA

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  1. ABHIJIT CHAKRABORTY
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CHAKRABORTY, A., HASIOTIS, S.T., GHOSH, B. et al. Fluvial trace fossils in the Middle Siwalik (Sarmatian-Pontian) of Darjeeling Himalayas, India. J Earth Syst Sci 122, 1023–1033 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-013-0324-9

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