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Petrography and whole-rock geochemistry of the Miocene Bhuban Formation of Tripura Fold Belt, North District, Tripura, India: implications for provenance, tectonic setting and weathering intensity

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Abstract

Petrography and whole-rock geochemical analysis of the Miocene Bhuban Formation exposed in the Jampui Anticline of Tripura Fold Belt, Tripura, India was carried out to reveal the provenance, depositional environments, tectonic setting and intensity of paleo-weathering of the source rocks at that period is described in this work. The Bhuban sandstones have an average detrital framework composition of Q(92.51%), F(4.44%) and RF(3.05%). The sandstones are mostly composed of quartz arenite and subarkose with subordinate sublithic arenite and their bulk-rock geochemistry support the petrographic results. The provenance discrimination diagrams depict the derivation of the detritus from both plutonic and metamorphic source rocks having affinity of continental block provenance with a minor trace of the recycled source. The sandstones have moderate SiO2 contents (61.38–70.85%; average 64.04%), constitute the major portion of the oxides followed by Al2O3 (12.42–18.35 wt%) and Fe2O3 (3.73–7.44 wt%). Compared to the average sandstone value, the Bhuban sandstones are depleted in the CaO (1.73% avg.), Na2O (1.19%), K2O (2.80%) and enriched in SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3. The geochemical characteristics suggest an active continental margin and oceanic island arc setup for the Bhuban sediments. The Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) values (43.52–74.71) indicate low to moderate nature of chemical weathering of the source areas. Whereas the Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW) values (47.22–88.72) indicate low to higher degree of weathering in the source region. The Eu/Eu* 0.65, (La/Lu)N (10.48), La/Sc (2.97), Th/Sc (1.81), La/Co (0.92), Th/Co (0.55), Th/Cr (0.16) and Cr/Th (6.66) ratios as well as chondrite-normalized rare earth elements (REE) patterns with flat heavy rare earth elements (HREE) (Gd/YbN = 1.69–2.17), enrichment of Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) (La/SmN = 3.10–3.73) and negative Eu anomaly support a felsic source rocks for the sandstones and shale of the Bhuban Formation.

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source rocks for Bhuban Formation after Hayashi et al., (1997). c Zr/Sc vs. Th/Sc binary plot after McLennan and Hanson (1993) representing the original source composition along with the extent of sediment recycling

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source rocks after Schoenborn and Fedo (2011). b Granite–ultramafic end-member mixing binary plot of Y/Ni vs. Cr/V after Mongelli et al. (2006). c Ternary plot of La–Th–Sc after Jinliang and Xin (2008) representing the mixing of various source for Bhuban sediments

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source rocks. b Th vs. Th/U plot after McLennan and Hanson (1993) representing the weathering trend of Bhuban sediments

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the authorities of the Applied Geology Department, Dibrugarh University for providing laboratory facilities. We would like to thank Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun for providing facilities in geochemical analysis. We are also thankful to the Editor-in-chief, Prof. Maria Virginia Alves Martins and the two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Applied Geology, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, 786004, India

    Kashyap Borgohain & Ranjan Kumar Sarmah

  2. Boarding Road, Nazira, Sibsagar, Assam, 785685, India

    Kashyap Borgohain

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Borgohain, K., Sarmah, R.K. Petrography and whole-rock geochemistry of the Miocene Bhuban Formation of Tripura Fold Belt, North District, Tripura, India: implications for provenance, tectonic setting and weathering intensity. J. Sediment. Environ. 7, 211–235 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43217-022-00092-9

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