Siliciclastic-carbonate mixing modes in the river-mouth bar palaeogeography of the Upper Cretaceous Garudamangalam Sandstone(Ariyalur, India)

Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rocks constitute the Upper Cretaceous Garuda- mangalam Sandstone Formation, Ariyalur （India）, and offer an opportunity to look into the broad spectrum of mixing of compositionally and genetically different components. The palaeogeographic reconstruction indicates that deposition in the nearshore zone differed strongly in energy and active processes operatives due to the presence of a shore-parallel river-mouth bar. The western wing of the Mississippi bird-foot delta is considered to be a present-day analogon. Facies analysis in combination with petrography clearly shows the variability in palaeoenvironmental characteristics, both biogenic and non-biogenic. It also indicates dia- genetic uptake of carbonate that filled empty spaces and actively replaced original compo- nents. Chemical staining followed by limited application of cathodoluminescence and energy dispersive X-ray analysis （EDAX） hint at intricacies in mixing arising from the compositional variations in the carbonate components. A model of siliciclastic-carbonate sediment mixing, including both the depositional and diagenetic developments, is presented; it is aimed at generating a better overview of, and a deeper insight into, the physical and chemical mechanisms involved.

Lakshanhatti stromatolite, India： Biogenic or abiogenic？

Abstract The extraordinary lateral continuity of isopachous stromatotite laminae in the -87 m-thick Mesoproterozoic Lakshanhatti Dolomite （India） evinces chemical precipitation. Fan-shaped crystals grown on tamina surfaces further corroborate this contention; growth of fan-shaped crystats under the overhanging stromatolite column-margin indicates direct carbonate precipitation from ambient waters. The fan-shaped crystats are stacked up, separated onty by thin dark micritic taminae. In a retativety upper stratigraphic in- terval of the formation, tighter laminae characterized by a dotted texture and traversed by numerous winding tubutar voids change graduatty upwards into dark micritic taminae. Some sporadicatty distributed lenticutar intraciastic beds also have the similarly dark micritic coatings. Ctear carbonate cement crusts atso occur between laminae and between successive dark micritic coats around intraciasts. DuU cathodotuminescence （CL） characterizes this cement as weU as the cement lining within earty dia^enetic voids, in contrast, the taminae with dotted textures show dirty orange luminescence, white the dark micritic taminae and the dark micritic grain-coats display dear bright orange luminescence. Pyrite and its pseudomorphs are preferabty concentrated along the dark micritic laminae. Carbon content in these dark micritic components, whether laminae or coats, is much higher than in the lighter components, exceeding what can be accounted for their CaMg（COs）2 composition. A large part of this carbon is kerogen, ptausibly biogenic. The dark components are, therefore, reasonably, though not unequivocally, assumed to be microbial mats. Degradation of the mats might have given rise to the tight laminae with dotted textures. The fuzzy-margin tubes within the tight laminae probabty manifest the escape of gases generated during organic matter decomposition. Si-At-rich terrigenous fines thinty draping the dark carbonaceous taminae was possibty the resutt of baftling and trapping of terrigenous fines by filamentous microbiota. Dark carbonaceous taminae encasing intraciasts was considered to be the resutt of binding and stabitization by microbiota. Spike-tike growth of discrete laminae strongty suggests an occasionat breakdown of colonial homeostasis of phototrophic microbiota. The microbiat community thus appears to have prayed an active rote in stromatolite-buitding in the Lakshanhatti Dolomite Member, even though the simultaneous existence of direct carbonate precipitates from sea water indicates a hybrid origin of these stromatotites. Resting on shelf sandstone and being capped by dark offshore shale, the Lakshanhatti Dotomite had been deposited in distal offshore, but not at the great depth, perhaps in an epeiric sea. Progressive deepening inhibited direct carbonate precipitation, δ13C and δ18O values suggest normal open marine salinity during deposition.

Palaeogeography, palaeohydraulics and palaeoclimate of the Mio-Pliocene Siwalik Group, eastern India

South-southwestward palaeocurrent swerved to east-southeast and then broadly to southeast over the transition from alluvial fan to axial channel and then to the flood plain in the Mio-Pliocene foreland system within which the Siwalik Group depositd in Darjeel- ing-Jalpaiguri Districts, eastern India. Palaeocurrent pattern is found to be multi-modal on the fans, virtually unimodal on the axial channel zone and again multi-modal, more profoundly, on the flood plain. Coarse siliciclastic mass-flows were progressively eliminated and gave way to predominant bed-load transport downfan and the axial river, and then to suspensionload dominance in fine siliciclastics on the flood plain. Distal flood plain lacustrine sediment included most of the coals and the entire bulk of the dolomitic limestone. Further resolution in palaeogeography within the frame of aforementioned foursome facies associations is elicited in twenty-six distinctive facies altogether. Critical evaluation of chemical indices （CIA, CIW, ICV, PIA, as well as Rb/Sr ratio） for weathering and depleted （3180 values indicate a high precipitation rate. The contention is further corroborated by the high discharge rate calculated from cross-set thicknesses within the main channel deposits. Reconciliation of various relevant data sets collected or calculated from all known worksites along the entire 2000 km-Iong exposure belt of the Siwaliks along the Himalayan foothills reveal confluence of two tributaries, one from the west and the other from the east, close to the present study area before escaping onto the Indian plains. Channel parameters, channel-belt width and discharge thus attained maxima in the present study area. The precipitation rate and temperature increased eastward overall as a prelude to the modern trend in this regard. 13C enrichment indicates that the transition from C3 to C4 vegetation had already set in.