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Mixed carbonate–siliciclastic sedimentation in the Upper Cretaceous Nilkanth Formation, Garhwal Himalaya, India

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Abstract

The Upper Cretaceous Nilkanth Formation awaits a process-based depositional model despite being a topic of discussion between stratigraphers, palaeobiologists and structural geologists over the last few decades. Sedimentary facies analysis of a ~50 m thick section along a ~2.8 km long section along Rishikesh–Tal Bidhashini in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand allowed documentation of mixed carbonate–silicicalstic facies types, dominantly consisting of sand- and pebble-sized carbonate debris mixed with siliciclastics in a proximal to distal facies tract. Ten different facies types that include matrix-rich and matrix-poor shelly conglomerate, mixed clastic-carbonate wackestone, packstone, impure calcirudite and calcarenite, biomicrite and ferruginous sandstone are documented. Delineation of facies association and documentation of facies stacking pattern provide a post-Santonian mixed carbonate–siliciclastic sedimentation history of the Nilkanth Formation, deposited in the form of mass flows of varied rheology on a barred low- to moderate-gradient carbonate ramp, formed at the leading edge of the India plate before its collision with the Kohistan–Ladakh arc. Carbonate clasts comprising bivalves, crinoids, algae, bryozoan, etc., were produced in a narrow high-energy transgressive coastline and supplied across shelf along with reworked siliciclastics from clastic shoreface bar. It is argued that the reworked fossils, including the bryozoa Ceriocava Nilkanthi, present within massflows may not justify fixing of an absolute age for the formation but may definitely help in providing an age range.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the infrastructure help provided by their host institutes. AS acknowledges UGC for extending financial help in the form of fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of India, Northern Region, Lucknow, India

    Shruti R Mishra

  2. Department of Geology, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India

    Aditi Sharma & Partha P Chakraborty

  3. Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, India

    Shruti R Mishra & Sarada P Mohanty

  4. Geological Survey of India, Southern Region, Hyderabad, India

    Satish C Tripathi

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  1. Shruti R Mishra
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Correspondence to Aditi Sharma.

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Communicated by Santanu Banerjee

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Mishra, S.R., Sharma, A., Chakraborty, P.P. et al. Mixed carbonate–siliciclastic sedimentation in the Upper Cretaceous Nilkanth Formation, Garhwal Himalaya, India. J Earth Syst Sci 129, 125 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-020-01383-3

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