Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Sr isotope numerical depositional age of Miocene marine strata (Quilon Formation), Kerala–Konkan Basin, India

  • Published:
Journal of Earth System Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The large offshore and marginal marine Kerala–Konkan basin consists mainly of the Warkalli Group, of which the Quilon Formation represents a transgressional facies of carbonates and siliciclastics with a distinct marine biota consisting of ostracods, foraminifers, otoliths, echinoderms, bryozoans, etc. Depositional ages initially assigned to this formation varied from Eocene to Pliocene, although subsequent estimates favoured an early or middle Miocene age. Based on strontium isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr) measured from well preserved, marine, unaltered aragonitic molluscs from the Quilon Formation of Kerala basin, we report a precise numerical age and prefer a depositional age between 17.08 and 17.13 Ma, which is in agreement with the Burdigalian Stage assigned to this formation on the basis of paleontological data. The new-age data suggest that the Quilon Formation records the onset of Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adhikari A, Nandi A, Mukherjee S and Vadlamani R 2021 Petrogenesis of Neoarchean (2.80–2.75 Ga) Jagannathpur volcanics and the Ghatgaon and Keshargaria dyke swarms, Singhbhum craton, eastern India: Geochemical, Sr–Nd isotopic and Sm–Nd geochronologic constraints for interaction of enriched-DMM derived magma with metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle; Lithos 400 106373.

  • Bajpai S, Domning D P, Das D P, Vélez-Juarbe J and Mishra V P 2010 A new fossil sirenian (Mammalia, Dugonginae) from the Miocene of India; N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 258 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialik O M, Frank M, Betzler C, Zammit R and Waldmann N D 2019 Two-step closure of the Miocene Indian Ocean Gateway to the Mediterranean; Sci. Rep. 9(1) 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas S K 1992 Tertiary stratigraphy of Kutch; J. Palaeontol. Soc. 37 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briguglio A 2018 The Miocene (Burdigalian) Lepidocyclinids and Miogypsinids of Channakodi, Padappakkara, southern India; Palaeontogr. Abt. A 312(1–4) 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briguglio A, Coric S and Rogl F 2018 Micropalaeontological investigations of the Quilon Formation at the Channakodi section of Padappakara, Kerala, India; Palaeontogr. Abt. A 312(1–4) 41–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campanile D, Nambiar C G, Bishop P, Widdowson M and Brown R 2008 Sedimentation record in the Konkan–Kerala Basin: Implications for the evolution of the Western Ghats and the Western Indian passive margin; Basin Res. 20 3–22.

  • Carolin N, Bajpai S, Maurya A S and Schwarzhans W 2022 New perspectives on late Tethyan Neogene biodiversity development of fishes based on Miocene (~17 Ma) otoliths from southwestern India; Palaontol. Z., https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-022-00623-9.

  • Carter H J 1853 Descriptions of some of the larger forms of fossilized foraminifera in Scinde with observations on their internal structure; Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 11(2) 161–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter H J 1857 On contributions to the geology of central and western India; J. Roy. Asiat. Soc. (Bomb. Br.) 5 614–638.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clementz M, Bajpai S, Ravikant V, Thewissen J G M, Saravanan N, Singh I B and Prasad V 2010 Early Eocene Warming Events and the timing of terrestrial faunal exchange between India and Asia; Geology 39 15–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cramer B S, Toggweiler J R, Wright J D, Katz M E and Miller K G 2009 Ocean overturning since the Late Cretaceous: Inferences from a new benthic foraminiferal compilation; Paleoceanogr. 24(4).

  • Dey A K 1961 The Miocene Mollusca from Quilon, Kerala (India); Geol. Surv. India Memoir, Palaeontologia Indica. n.s. 36.

  • Douville H 1902 Essaid’une Review des Orbitolites; Bull. Soc. Geol. 4(2) 289–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eames F E 1950 On the ages of certain upper tertiary beds of peninsular India and Ceylon; Geol. Mag. 87(4) 233–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epa R, Perera N, Manamendra-Arachchi K and Meegaskumbura M 2011 Sri Lanka’s Aruwakkalu fossil deposit dates to the Burdigalian Age; Ceylon J. Sci. (Biol. Sci.) 40 163–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foote R B 1883 On the geology of south Travancore; Rec. Geol. Surv. India 16 20–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furon R and Lemoine P 1939 Sur la presence du Nummulitique a Pondichery; C.R. Acad. Sci. 207 1424–1426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halverson G P, Dudas F O, Maloof A C and Bowring S A 2007 Evolution of 87Sr/86Sr composition of Neoproterozoic seawater; Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 256 103–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haq B U, Hardenbol J and Vail P R 1987 Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the Triassic (250 million years ago to present); Science 235 1156–1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardenbol J, Thierry J, Farley M B, Jacquin T, Graciansky P C and Vail P R 1998 Mesozoic and Cenozoic sequence chronostratigraphic framework of European basins; In: Mesozoic and Cenozoic Sequence Stratigraphy of European basins (eds) Graciansky C P, Hardenbol J, Jacquin T and Vail P R, SEPM Spec. Publ. 60 3–13.

  • Harzhauser M 2014 A seagrass-associated Early Miocene Indo-Pacific gastropod fauna from southwest India (Kerala); Palaeontogr Abt. A 302 73–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodell D A and Woodruff F 1994 Variations in the 87Sr/86Sr of seawater during the Miocene: Stratigraphic and geochemical implications; Paleoceanography 9 405–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbourn A, Kuhnt W, Kochhann K G D, Andersen N and Meier K J S 2015 Global perturbation of the carbon cycle at the onset of the Miocene Climatic Optimum; Geology 43(2) 123–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holbourn A, Kuhnt W, Schulz M, Flores J A and Andersen N 2007 Orbitally-paced climate evolution during the middle Miocene “Monterey” carbon-isotope excursion; Earth Planet Sci. Lett. 261 534–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasbohm J and Schoene B 2018 Rapid eruption of the Columbia River flood basalt and correlation with the mid-Miocene climate optimum; Sci. Adv. 4.

  • Kessarkar P M, Rao V P, Ahmad S M and Babu G A 2003 Clay minerals and Sr–Nd isotopes of the sediments along the western margin of India and their implication for sediment provenance; Mar. Geol. 202 55–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khosla S C and Nagori M L 1989 Ostracoda from the Quilon beds (Lower Miocene) of Kerala; Geol. Surv. India Memoir 14 1–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • King W 1882 General sketch of the geology of Travancore State. The Warkalli beds and associated deposits at Quilon in Travancore; Rec. Geol. Surv. India 15 93–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar C P and Pichamuthu C S 1933 The tertiary limestone of Travancore; Quart. J. Geol. Min., Met. Soc. India 5 85–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • McArthur J M 1994 Recent trends in strontium isotope stratigraphy; Terra Nova 6(4) 6331–6358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur J M, Howarth R J, Shields G A and Zhou Y 2020 Strontium isotope stratigraphy; Chapter 7, pp. 211–238, In: Geologic Time Scale (eds) Gradstein F M, Ogg J G, Schmitz M D, Gradstein G M A, Elsevier B.V. 1 1357p.

  • Mcleod E, Chmura G L, Bouillon S, Salm R, Bjork M, Duarte M C, Lovelock C E, Schlesinger W H and Silliman B R 2011 A blueprint for blue carbon: Toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2; Front. Ecol. Environ. 9 552–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrotra D K 1982 On the occurrence of fish remains from the Quilon beds of Kerala coast; J. Geol. Soc. India 23 408–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menon K K 1967 The lithology and sequence of the Quilon Beds; Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 65 20–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nair K M and Rao M R 1980 Stratigraphic analysis of Kerala basin; In: Proc. Symposium on geological survey and geomorphology of Kerala, Geol. Surv. India, Spec. Publ. 5 1–8.

  • Narayanan V, Anirudhan S and Grottoli A G 2007 Oxygen and carbon isotope analysis of the Miocene limestone of Kerala and its implications to palaeoclimate and its depositional setting; Curr. Sci. 93 1155–1158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulose K V and Narayanaswami S 1968 The tertiaries of Kerala coast; Geol. Surv. India Memoir 2 300–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raha P K 1996 A revision of the stratigraphic sequences of coastal sedimentary basin of Kerala; XV Indian Colloq. Micropal. Strat., pp. 805–810.

  • Raha P K, Sinha-Roy S K and Rajendran C P 1983 A new approach to the lithostratigraphy of the Cenozoic sequence of Kerala; J. Geol. Soc. India 24 325–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramanujam C G K, Reddy P R and Rao G M 1992 Palynology of tertiary subcrops of Kalaikode Borewell in Kerala State; Indian J. Earth Sci. 19(2) 18–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravikant V and Bajpai S 2010 Strontium isotope evidence for the age of Eocene fossil whales of Kutch, western India; Geol. Mag. 147(3) 473–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reuter M, Kern A K, Harzhauser M, Kroh A and Piller W E 2013 Global warming and South Indian monsoon rainfall – lessons from the Mid–Miocene; Gondwana Res. 23 1172–1177.

  • Reuter M, Piller W E, Harzhauser M, Kroh A, Rögl F and Coric S 2011 The Quilon Limestone, Kerala Basin, India: An archive for Miocene Indo-Pacific seagrass beds; Lethaia 44 76–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rio D, Fornaciari E and Raffi I 1990 Late Oligocene through early-Pleistocene calcareous nannofossils from western equatorial Indian Ocean (Leg 115); In: Proc. Ocean Drill. Program Sci. results (eds) Duncan R A, Backman J and Peterson L C et al., vol. 115 175–235, https://doi.org/10.2973/odp.proc.sr.115.152.1990.

  • Seralathan P and Padmalal D 1991 Geochemistry of the Tertiary formation at Pozhikkara cliff section, Kerala – Its environmental significance; J. Geol. Soc. India 39 277–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah J, Fainstein R, Broetz R J and Wygrala B 2009 Hydrocarbons in sub-basalt sediments-Basin modeling of Kerala–Konkan Basin, offshore west India; 71st EAGE Conf. Exhib., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 3050–3056.

  • Singh A D 1998 Early Middle Miocene planktonic foraminifera from the Quilon Formation, Kerala; J. Geol. Soc. India 52 313–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonar A M and Badve R M 2019 Bryozoan Fauna from the Burdigalian of Quilon Beds of Padappakara, Kerala, India; J. Geol. Soc. India 93.

  • Sosdian S M, Babila T L, Greenop R, Foster G L and Lear C H 2020 Ocean Carbon Storage across the middle Miocene: A new interpretation for the Monterey Event; Nat. Commun. 11(134).

  • Subrahmanyam C and Chand S 2006 Evolution of the passive continental margins of India – a geophysical appraisal; Gondwana Res. 10 167–178.

  • Thewissen J G M and Bajpai S 2009 A new Miocene sirenian from Kutch, India; Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 54 7–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verma P and Singh A 2018 Palynology of Cenozoic successions of Kerala Basin: A review from the perspective of biostratigraphy and palaeoclimatic studies; Palaeobotanist. 67(1) 99–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vincent E and Berger W H 1985 Carbon dioxide and polar cooling in the Miocene: The Monterey hypothesis, in The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric CO2: Natural Variations Archean to Present; Geophys. Monogr. Ser. 32 455–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wayland E J and Davies A M 1923 The Miocene of Ceylon; Quart. J. Geol. Soc. 79 577–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff F and Savin S M 1991 Mid-Miocene isotope stratigraphy in the deep sea: High-resolution correlations, paleoclimatic cycles, and sediment preservation; Paleoceanogr. 6(6) 755–806.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yasuhara M, Hong Y, Tian S Y, Chong W K, Chu R W C, Okahashi H, Reuter M, Piller W E and Harzhauser M 2020 Early Miocene marine ostracods from southwestern India: Implications for their biogeography and the closure of the Tethyan Seaway; J. Paleontol. 94 1–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young J R, Flores J A and Wei W 1994 A summary chart of Neogene nannofossil magnetobiostratigraphy; J. Nannoplankton Res. 16(1) 21–27.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

NC acknowledges financial support in the form of research fellowship awarded by the University Grants Commission, Government of India. RV is grateful to Dr Anil Kumar of the NGRI for giving full laboratory access to analyze the samples. RV also thanks Senior Research Fellows, Shreya Mukherjee and Avishek Adhikari, for their support with all laboratory analyses at IIT Kharagpur. SB acknowledges the financial support received under Institute Chair Professorship from IIT Roorkee.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, 247 667, India

    Nora Carolin & Sunil Bajpai

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721 302, India

    Ravikant Vadlamani

Authors
  1. Nora Carolin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ravikant Vadlamani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sunil Bajpai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

This work is part of the Master’s thesis of NC submitted to IIT Roorkee. SB and RV conceptualized the idea. NC did the field study and also collected the samples. RV performed the analysis. SB, RV, and NC wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ravikant Vadlamani.

Additional information

Communicated by Pratul K Saraswati

Supplementary materials pertaining to this article are available on the Journal of Earth System Science website (http://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Journal_of_Earth_System_Science).

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (XLSX 21 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Carolin, N., Vadlamani, R. & Bajpai, S. Sr isotope numerical depositional age of Miocene marine strata (Quilon Formation), Kerala–Konkan Basin, India. J Earth Syst Sci 131, 152 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01898-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01898-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation