Provenance Variability during Damuda Sedimentation in the Talchir Gondwana Basin, India – A Statistical Assessment

The Talchir Gondwana basin houses the Talchir Formation at the base, succeeded by the Damuda Group and the Kamthi Formation in upward progression. The present study is an attempt to determine the provenance of the Damuda Group and its variability in terms of location, climate and tectonism through time from the composition of sandstone grains and detritus of the constituent Karharbari, Barakar and Barren Measures formations. The Damuda sandstones are composed of variable amounts of monocrystalline undulatory, nonundulatory and polycrystalline quartz grains, potash and plagioclase feldspars as well as metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments in addition to heavy accessories. Palaeocurrent studies suggest that the Eastern Ghats Supergroup lying to the south of the basin served as the source area of the Damuda sediments. Plots of sandstone composition in tectonic setting discrimination diagrams suggest derivation of the detritus from craton interior, continental block and recycled orogen provinces. Statistical analyses indicate significant differences in the detrital modes of the sandstones of the Karharbari, Barakar and Barren Measures formations, which may be attributed to temporal and spatial variation of the provenance coupled with climate change in commensurate with Damuda sedimentation.

Cyclic Sedimentation of the Barakar Formation, Singrauli Coalfield, India: Statistical Assessment from Borehole Logs

The succession of lithofacies of a part of the Barakar Formation of the Singrauli coalfield has been studied by statistical techniques. The lithologies have been grouped under five facies states viz. coarse-, medium-, and fine-grained sandstones, shale and coal for statistical analyses. Markov chain analysis indicates the arrangement of Barakar lithofacies in the form of fining-upward cycles. A complete cycle consists of conglomerate or coarse-grained sandstone at the base sequentially succeeded by medium- and fine-grained sandstones, shales and coal seam at the top. The entropy analysis puts the Barakar cycles in A-4 type of cyclicity, which consists of different proportions of lower-, side- and upper-truncated cycles of lithologic states. Regression analysis indicates a sympathetic relationship between total thickness of strata (net subsidence) and number of coal cycles and an antipathic relationship between average thickness and number of coal cycles. The cyclic sedimentation of the Barakar Formation was controlled by autocyclic process, which occurred due to the lateral migration of streams triggered by intrabasinal differential subsidence. In many instances, the clastic sediments issued from the laterally migrating rivers interrupted the sedimentation resulting in thinner cycles in areas where the numbers of cycles are more. Principal component and multivariate regression analyses suggest that the net subsidence of the basin is mostly controlled by number and thickness of sandstone beds and coal seams.