Fig 11 - uploaded by Om N. Bhargava
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Cartoon showing profile during Early Ordovician North position of the Dhargad thrust sheet of Late Cambrian age.
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The Cretaceous ‘greenhouse’ period (~145 to ~66 million years ago, Ma) in Earth’s history is relatively well documented by multiple paleoproxy records, which indicate that the meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradient increased (non-monotonically) from the Valanginian (~135 Ma) to the Maastrichtian (~68 Ma). Changes in atmospheric CO 2 conc...
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... Suttner (2007) proposed the term Pin Formation for the Takche Formation (Srikantia, 1981) and this is followed in Myrow et al. (2023). However, Bhargava (2008Bhargava ( , 2011 and Bhargava (2018, 2020) contested and rejected the term "Pin Formation" and preferred the Takche term because of its easy accessibility, well-defined lithostratigraphy with a top and bottom, and its mappability from the Zanskar to Kinnaur regions. The Sanugba Group is disconformably overlain by the quartzarenite of the Muth Formation (Devonian) (Bhargava, 2008(Bhargava, , 2011 which is regarded as a beach deposit by Bhargava and Bassi (1998) and by Draganits et al. (2001Draganits et al. ( , 2002) a barrier island system. ...
... However, Bhargava (2008Bhargava ( , 2011 and Bhargava (2018, 2020) contested and rejected the term "Pin Formation" and preferred the Takche term because of its easy accessibility, well-defined lithostratigraphy with a top and bottom, and its mappability from the Zanskar to Kinnaur regions. The Sanugba Group is disconformably overlain by the quartzarenite of the Muth Formation (Devonian) (Bhargava, 2008(Bhargava, , 2011 which is regarded as a beach deposit by Bhargava and Bassi (1998) and by Draganits et al. (2001Draganits et al. ( , 2002) a barrier island system. The generalized lithostratigraphical classification of the Ordovician-Silurian successions of the Spiti region is provided in Table 1. ...
Limestones of the Takche Formation (Spiti, Himalaya) are characterized by normal marine fauna and flora typical
for the Late Ordovician. The flora is represented by algae, mostly by receptaculitids and dasyclad green algae. Var-
ious calcareous microorganisms such as calcitarchs, Rothpletzella and Girvanella are present. There are some dif-
ferences in the microfossil content and abundance between different lithofacies of the Takche Formation. Two
main biofacies types could be recognized on the basis of the abundance of algae and calcitarchs, namely algal
rich and algal poor biofacies. The abundance of dasyclad green algae in limestones of the Takche Formation is
characteristic of the warm climate. The Himalaya (Gondwana) has calcitarchs in common with Baltica.
... Myrow et al. (2003), Hughes et al. (2005), Peng et al. (2009), andHughes (2016) suggested that the Cambrian rocks were deposited in a continuous margin of the Indian plate representing distal to proximal facies respectively. Bhargava (2008Bhargava ( , 2011 inferred low energy, mainly sub-tidal environment. The present study is the first attempt to interpret the depositional setting of Kunzum La Formation with the help of geochemical analysis. ...
The geochemical and petrological studies were carried out to deduce the chemical composition, provenance, and intensity of chemical weathering of the source rocks in the Middle Cambrian sandstone of Spiti Basin. The petrographical studies of sandstones show texturally immature with fine to medium, angular to sub-rounded, and moderately sorted grains. The major constituent of the framework components is quartz which is majorly monocrystalline, undulatory in nature, followed by feldspar and mica with matrix. The presence of quartz grains classifies it under quartz intermediate greywacke. The studies reveal that sandstone was derived from a nearby mixed source and reflects low degree of weathering. Various weathering indices such as Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA avg. 67.24%), Plagioclase Index of Alteration (PIA avg. 75.20%), and Index of Compositional Variability (ICV avg. 1.21%) suggest low to moderate chemical weathering of the source area. The provenance discrimination based on major element concentrations indicates an intermediate and a felsic provenance for the Middle Cambrian sediments. Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns show enriched light rare earth element (LREE) and relatively flat heavy rare earth element (HREE) pattern with negative Eu anomaly and conclude that the sediments were derived from felsic source. The major element–based discrimination diagrams suggest active marginal setting to the studied sediments.
... In the Takche area, the fossiliferous Takche Formation is exposed along the Spiti River's right bank ( Fig. 2A). Different lithostratigraphic terminology and classifications of the Early Palaeozoic sequence of the Spiti region are shown in Fig. 3 as given by various workers over the years (Stoliczka, 1865;Griesbach, 1891;Hayden, 1904;Srikantia, 1974Srikantia, , 1981Goel and Nair, 1977;Srikantia et al., 1977;Mehrotra et al., 1982;Bagati, 1990;Bagati et al., 1991;Bhargava and Bassi, 1998;Draganits, 2000;Draganits et al., 2002;Suttner, 2003Suttner, , 2007Myrow et al., 2006Myrow et al., , 2019Suttner et al., 2007, Bhargava, 2008a, 2011Parcha and Pandey, 2011;Pandey and Parcha, 2018;Srikantia and Bhargava, 2018). Here, we adopt the lithostratigraphic classification and terminology given by Bhargava (2008aBhargava ( , 2011 and Bhargava (2018, 2021). ...
... Different lithostratigraphic terminology and classifications of the Early Palaeozoic sequence of the Spiti region are shown in Fig. 3 as given by various workers over the years (Stoliczka, 1865;Griesbach, 1891;Hayden, 1904;Srikantia, 1974Srikantia, , 1981Goel and Nair, 1977;Srikantia et al., 1977;Mehrotra et al., 1982;Bagati, 1990;Bagati et al., 1991;Bhargava and Bassi, 1998;Draganits, 2000;Draganits et al., 2002;Suttner, 2003Suttner, , 2007Myrow et al., 2006Myrow et al., , 2019Suttner et al., 2007, Bhargava, 2008a, 2011Parcha and Pandey, 2011;Pandey and Parcha, 2018;Srikantia and Bhargava, 2018). Here, we adopt the lithostratigraphic classification and terminology given by Bhargava (2008aBhargava ( , 2011 and Bhargava (2018, 2021). The fossil-bearing strata for this study is the Takche Formation, which contains limestone, nodular limestone, marl, shale, well-bedded limestone, calcareous siltstone, dolomite, calcareous sandstone and is characterised by a minor development of corals with little algal input (Rao et al., 1984;Bhargava and Bassi, 1987;Suttner et al., 2005). ...
The calcareous siltstones within the Ordovician section of the Takche Formation near Takche, Spiti region of Tethyan Himalaya, India, contain numerous specimens of non-calcified marine macroalgae in association with brachiopods, gastropods, tentaculitoids, and few trace fossils. The algal remains, representing five genera, are preserved as black or dark brown carbonaceous compression fossils, interpreted as warm-water marine macroalgae, namely, Inocladus sp., Callisphenus? sp., Algites sp. (siphonous algae), Fisherites sp., and Mastopora sp. (non-siphonous). Callisphenus is characterised by a radially symmetrical short pyriform thallus, with a central axis surrounded by short laterals whereas Inocladus sp. is characterised by an unsegmented simple thallus with internal parallel medullary siphons and cortical tubes. These algal remains, probably transported from a more near-shore living niche, co-occur with Cyclocrinitids, Tentaculitoids tube worms, trace fossils and brachiopods, suggesting that deposition of the studied units took place in low energy hydrodynamic conditions influenced by intermittent storm events. The study represents the first diversified macroalgal records from the Ordovician strata in the Tethyan realm of Indian subcontinent.
... The Palaeozoic-Mesozoic rocks of the "Himalayan Tethys belt" are exposed along a series of structural basins which constituted a continuous sea, separated as a result of collision tectonics of the Himalayan Range (Shah, 1991). Sedimentation in structural sub-basin of Kashmir, between the Pir Panjal Range in the southwest and Zanskar Range in northeast, has been deposited in subtidal shoreface to tidal flats (Bhargava, 2011). In the north-western Kashmir, the early Palaeozoic succession has been assigned to Pohru Group in Kupwara district, and predominantly comprises of argillaceous rocks with sub-ordinate calcareous and arenaceous bands. ...
Early Palaeozoic succession in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, Northwestern Himalaya comprise of sandstone, shale, carbonates and slate. The petrological properties of these rocks were used to work out the provenance, depositional environment and their diagenetic history. The siliciclastic sediments with interbedded carbonate rocks indicate shifts in sea level and consequent changes in energy conditions of the basin as well as biogenic interferences leading to carbonate precipitation in a shallow marine depositional environment. Provenance of these rocks has been of mixed nature with monocrystalline quartz dominant in sandstones indicating greater contribution from igneous sources.
... The Cambrian succession is comprised of Khewra, Kussak, Jutana, and Khisor formations. The Khewra Formation is dominated by deltaic sandstone overlain by marine glauconite and micaceous marine sandstone of the Kussak Formation (Bhargava, 2011;Hughes et al., 2019). The clastic dominated shelf was exposed and tide-dominated settings were established whereby thick dolomite sequence of the Jutana Formation and dolomite to evaporite sequence of the Khisor Formation were deposited (Shah, 2009;Khan, 2020). ...
This paper investigates mixed‐siliciclastic‐carbonate system in response to Permian climate and subsequent carbonate platform evolution using microscopic details of the Middle Permian Amb Formation, northern Pakistan. Thin sections distributed throughout the stratigraphic section of the Amb Formation were analyzed with an emphasis on carbonate and clastic microfacies. The microfacies were interpreted within the existing chronostratigraphic framework. The outcrop observations revealed that the rock unit is comprised of coarse‐grained, channelized, ripple marked, burrowed sandstone and sandy, fossiliferous limestone with minor marls and shale intercalations suggesting deposition in the subaqueous tide‐dominated delta to a beach barrier. Based on recorded seven microfacies coupled with outcrop observation, the Amb Formation is deposited in tide influenced subaqueous delta to middle shelf environment under fluctuating sea‐level. The deposition of compositionally mature sandstone in the lower part of the unit suggests reworking of detritus from the rift shoulders and adjacent source area with an ambient warm and humid climate. The stratal mixing of carbonates and compositionally mature siliciclastic units in the middle part suggest deposition under tectonic and climatic induced terrigenous and carbonate fluxes to the basin. Thus the deposition shows a perfect transition from clastic‐dominated deltaic to pure carbonate platform settings as a result of warm climate and tectonics. This Middle Permian warming is confirmed by sea‐level rise and the presence of temperature‐sensitive fusulinid fauna in association with photozoan based ooids. The present study envisaged that deposition of the Amb Formation and establishment of a carbonate platform are associated with major rifting of northern Gondwana which subsequently resulted in the development of rift basin at the passive margin of the northwest Indian Plate, northern Pakistan.
... The deltaic deposits are overlain by shallow marine and shoreline clastic deposits of the Kussak Formation (Bhargava, 2011;Fatmi, 1973;Kadri, 1995;Shah, 1977). It is comprised of sandy dolomites, glauconitic sandstone, and interbedded shales (Hughes et al., 2019). ...
Here we present the stratigraphic architecture and carbonate platform evolution of the Middle Permian (Capitanian) succession (Wargal Formation) of Trans-Indus Ranges, central Pakistan. The exposed carbonate sequence consists of thin- to thick-bedded bioclastic, nodular, fine-grained, and sandy limestone. Based on detailed petrographic studies, seven microfacies assemblages have been recognized, suggesting diverse depositional environments including mudflats, lagoon, sand shoal, and middle shelf. The identified age-diagnostic larger benthic foraminiferal species enabled to assign a Middle Permian (Capitanian) age to the studied section of the Wargal Formation. Based on the vertical arrangements of depositional environments in time, three Transgressive Systems Tracts (TSTs), two Regressive Systems Tracts (RSTs), and 11 high-resolution fourth/fifth-order parasequences were delineated. The depositional and sequence stratigraphic analyses of the studied section inferred evolution of the Middle Permian carbonate platform in three stages: (i) marginal marine facies development in the lower part followed by (ii) transitional stage in the middle part, and (iii) finally, aggrading shallow marine facies stage in the upper part. The evolution of carbonate platform can be linked with the cessation of major rifting followed by thermal cooling and establishment of marine Tethyan settings at the margin of the rift flank basin. The diverse facies variation in the second stage of platform evolution argues strongly for the local intra-plate stresses. Based on petrographic, SEM, and EDS studies, it is concluded that the studied section of Wargal Formation carries porosity values from a range of 2–8% with an average of 5% and can be called a low to moderate hydrocarbon reservoir in the study area.
... Recently, Myrow et al. (2006) introduced the term Parahio For-mation for the Cambrian rocks in the Parahio Valley (Spiti). The term Parahio Formation was contested by Bhargava (2008Bhargava ( , 2011 and Srikantia and Bhargava (2018), who retain the status of the Kunzam La Formation, because the former does not follow the stratigraphic nomenclature code of India (Anon, 1971). The term Kunzam La (Parahio) Formation has also been introduced to avoid confusion among readers (Chaubey et al., 2018;Singh et al., 2014Singh et al., , 2015Singh et al., , 2016aSingh et al., , 2016bSingh et al., , 2017aSingh et al., , 2017b. ...
A 153.48 m thick section of the Kunzam La (Parahio) Formation exposed on the right bank of the Sumna River (Spiti), Himalaya (India), yielded Cambrian trilobites from two stratigraphic intervals. The lower interval yielded the trilobites Xingrenaspis cf. X. dardapurensis and Kunmingaspis stracheyi with a few brachiopods. This interval falls within unzoned 4 of the Cambrian of the Himalaya. The upper stratigraphic interval yielded Iranoleesia butes and an undetermined ptychopariid trilobite belonging to Hayden level 13. Based on faunal elements, the entire measured section is correlated with the Sunaspis laevis–Sunaspidella rara biozone to Metagraulos dolon biozone of the southern and western marginal parts of the Ordos basin (China) and belongs to the middle Wuliuan Stage (Miaolingian Series).
... Noetling 1 proposed the name 'Kussak Group' while the Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan formalized the name as Kussak Formation 6 . Further, a thin but widespread conglomerate bed followed by grey silty and sandy glauconitic shale, minor sandstone and a few black shale horizons were described by Bhargava 7 . The strata in the Salt Range are from Eo-Cambrian to late Miocene age 8 . ...
Comprehensive sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic analyses of the Kussak Formation were carried out at the Nilawahan Gorge, the Karuli Section and the Khewra Gorge, Pakistan. The studied Kussak Formation has been grouped into: (1) bioturbated mudstone, (2) interbedded sandstone/shale, (3) sandy dolomite, (4) glauconitic sandstone and (5) laminated sandstone and siltstone. Hard to friable sandstone is present with condensed neobolus beds in the mud at
the top. Bioturbation and glauconite are in middle parts, while a few beds of sandy dolomite are also present in the upper and middle parts of the Kussak Formation. These five depositional sequences had developed during the phase of transgression. Mineralogically, the average modal composition classifies it as quartz arenite. Rock fragments belong to the igneous origin, and feldspar grains most likely indicate an igneous and metamorphic source. The field and petrographic study indicate that the source area belongs to arid and semi-arid environments. Presence of wavy and flaser bedding indicates tidal flat deposition. Burrows, mud cracks, and synaeresis cracks indicate supra-tidal environment. Subsurface data show the
finning upward sequence that confirms the deposition during transgression. In summary, the environment of deposition is subtidal, intertidal to supra-tidal environment. Palaeogeographic setting shows that the Kussak Formation source belongs to Aravalli and
Malani ranges.
... The nomenclature of the Cambrian rocks in the Spiti region is currently a subject of debate [Myrow et al., 2006, Bhargava, 2008, 2011, Singh et al., 2014, 2016a, Hughes et al., 2018, Srikantia and Bhargava, 2018]. In the present work, we follow Singh et al. [2014] and adopt the name Kunzam La (Parahio) For-mation. ...
The Oryctocephalus indicus biozone (Wuliuan, Miaolingian) is recognised in the Sumna Valley, in the southeastern part of the Spiti region in the Himalaya, on the basis of the first appearance datum (FAD) and last appearance datum (LAD) of Oryctocephalus indicus. The biozone is ~5.6 m thick (17.8 to 23.4 m) and contains the trilobites Oryctocephalus indicus, Pagetia significans and Kunmingaspis pervulagata. Comparative studies of the lithological variations across the Cambrian Series 2–Wuliuan (Miaolingian) transition in the Parahio and the Sumna valleys (southeastern part of the Spiti region) shows the Wuliuan (Miaolingian) deposits transgressed over the undulatory surface of the Cambrian Series 2. The uppermost part of the Cambrian Series 2 deposits in the southeastern part of the Spiti region is characterised by ferruginous, reddish–brown, very coarse grained sandstone unit and indicates a diastem prior to the Wuliuan (Miaolingian) transgression.
... 1. Auden (1935) referred the Lesser Himalaya as the Peninsular Himalaya, separated from the Tethyan part by a barrier constituted of the Precambrian rocks (Fig. 2a). This model is followed by many to account for the differences in the geological setup of these two sectors (Saxena 1971;Bhargava et al. 1998, Bhargava 2008a, 2008b, 2011a, 2011b, and references therein). 2. Brookfield (1993), Myrow et al. (2003Myrow et al. ( , 2009Myrow et al. ( , 2015, Hughes et al. (2005), and Hughes (2016) conceived one continuous basin from the Lesser to the Tethyan Himalaya (Fig. 2b). ...
A shallow marine transgression during the lower-middle Ordovician resumed the sedimentation with a prominent conglomerate horizon. The conglomerate horizon is absent in the Byans (Kalapani) and Bhutan sectors. The lower Ordovician siliciclastic sediments are succeeded by siliciclastic-algal-coral buildups during the Katian, indicating deepening of the basin; at this juncture the Bhutan and Byans areas too were submerged. There was another subaerial break around the Wenlock, which extended up to the early Devonian. Shallow sea returned in the early-middle Devonian, manifested by the Muth Formation in the western Himalaya. The sea level relatively rose in the Givatian, heralding the siliclastic-carbonate sedimentation that continued upto the Tournaisian. In majority of the areas, there is a hiatus at the end of the Tournaisian. In the distal parts of Spiti-Zanskar sub-basin and Kashmir, however, the sedimentation continued up to Visean/ Serpukhovian. In Spiti-Zanskar, a late Carboniferous-early Permian diamictite horizon is present. The diamictites are assigned glacial origin by many workers. The areas where the sedimentation had ceased during the Tournaisian, witnessed a marine transgression during the Asselian-Sakmarian. It was followedby outpouring of the 289 Ma Panjal Volcanics in parts of Kashmir, Zanskar and Lahaul. The 289 Ma interval represented by abreak between the Sakmarian and the Wuchiapingian sediments in the areas where the Panjal volcanics are absent. The Wuchiapingian transgression was extensive; https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2020/020025 it covered the Tandi, Chamba and Bhadarwah areas also. Save Kashmir, the Changhsingian is absent in the Tethyan Himalaya and there is a marked hiatus between Wuchiapingian and the Induan. The Induan-Lias succession is characterized mainly by carbonate sediments throughout the Tethyan sector. The sedimentation ceased towards the Lias; the hiatus spanned the Late Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian. The Kimmeridgian transgression, barring Kashmir, covered the remaining Tethyan sector. In the Cretaceous, the plate margin became active, thereafter the deeper water sediments were deposited in Spiti-Zanskar and Garhwal. With a Danian break, the Cretaceous sediments were succeeded by shallow marine Paleocene and the fresh water Eocene in Zanskar. Obducted ophiolite klippen were emplaced over the Cretaceous sediments in the Zanskar and Malla Johar areas. In Malla Johar the ophiolite has carried the deep water Triassic-Cretaceous sediments-termed as exotic blocks of Kiogad and Chitichun facies.
