Petrography and Provenance of Early Triassic Pachmarhi Formation Sandstones, Satpura Gondwana Basin, Madhya Pradesh, Central India

Abdullah Khan, Anis  , Shahnawaz  

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Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.

DOI: 10.4236/ojg.2013.32012                

Abstract

The Pachmarhi, Denwa and Bagra Formations comprise of terrigenous sediments predominantly constitute the Mesozoic Gondwana sequence in Satpura basin of Madhya Pradesh, central India. The Pachmarhi Formation sandstones were studied with a view to understand the nature of the Satpura basin in relation to provenance and tectonic setting. Twenty representative samples of sandstone from Pachmarhi were examined for detrital mineralogy, petrofacies and tectonic implications. These sandstones are medium to coarse grained, moderately to moderately well sorted, subangular to subrounded and of moderate sphericity and composed of several varieties of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, mica and a suite of heavy minerals. Petrographically, the Pachmarhi sandstones are quartzarenite and subarkose. The petrofacies studies reflect derivation of the sediments from continental block provenance and stable cratonic to fault-bounded basement uplift tectonic setting. The study suggests that the Precambrian granitoids occurring in the southern margin of the Satpura basin contributed sediments during Pachmarhi sedimentation.

Keywords

Petrography; Provenance; Pachmarhi Formation; Satpura Basin; Madhya Pradesh

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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