Early Eocene biotic assemblage from the sedimentary deposits of the Tarkeshwar Lignite Mine, Gujarat and its palaeoenvironmental implications

Authors

  • Prem Raj Uddandam Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
  • Priya Agnihotri Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
  • Shailesh Agrawal Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
  • Hukam Singh Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2023.1864

Keywords:

Amber, Cambay Basin, Dinoflagellate cysts, Eocene, Gujarat, Vertebrates

Abstract

The Palaeogene biota and the palaeoenvironmental history from the low latitudes are remarkably well–preserved in the
open–cast lignite deposits from Western India. Lignite sequences of the Cambay Shale Formation (Gujarat) have been a major
source to understand the concept of early evolution of fossils including flora, arthropods, vertebrates fauna, and several aquatic
forms during the Early Eocene. The study deals with an extensive record of amber inclusions and extracted pollen, vertebrate
fragments, dinoflagellate cysts and Carbon isotopes from the lignite and associated sediments from the Tarkeshwar Lignite Mine
to add insights into the palaeoenvironment and depositional conditions of the Cambay Basin during the Early Eocene period. The
current study demonstrates that throughout the late Palaeocene and early Eocene epoch, the palaeoenvironment changed from
low land, marshy (lower portion), to shallow marine environment, presumably due to hyperthermal event PETM (middle part).
Age diagnostic taxa, viz. Auxiodinium longispinosum, Apectodinium parvum and early wetzelielloid (Vallodinium? sp.) excursion
provide late Palaeocene–early Eocene period (~56–53 Ma) for the dinocyst interval in the middle part of the section. A pronounced
negative Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) in the middle part is correlated to the second Eocene Thermal maximum (53.7 Ma),
which is a globally recorded hyperthermal event. During the ETM–2 warming, the rise in pCO2 caused warm, humid conditions
as well as a rise in sea level, which may have contributed to the establishment of constrained shallow marine environments in the
examined middle unit sedimentary succession. Floral (spore–pollens, leaf, wood, seed, fruits) and faunal assemblages (Crocodiles,
fish remains, amber insects) revealed the prevalence of a dense tropical luxurious rain forest (floral and faunal) near shore during
the ETM–2 in the Tarkeshwar Lignite Mines, Cambay Basin.

सारांश

उल्लेख्य है कि पश्चिमी भारत के विवृत भूरा-कोयला निक्षेपों में निम्न अक्षांशों से प्राप्त पैलियोजीन एवं पुरापर्यावरणीय इतिहास सुपरिरक्षित हैं। प्रारंभिक आदिनूतन के दौरान वनस्पति-जात, संधिपाद (आर्थ्रोपोड्स), कशेरुक प्राणिजात तथा विभिन्न जलीय रूपों सहित जीवाश्मों के प्रारंभिक विकास की अवधारणा को समझने हेतु कैम्बे शेल शैलसमूह (गुजरात) के भूरा-कोयला अनुक्रम प्रमुख स्रोत रहे हैं। यह अध्ययन प्रारंभिक आदिनूतन  के दौरान कैम्बे द्रोणी की पुरापर्यावरणीय तथा निक्षेपण स्थितियों पर अंतर्दृष्टि डालने हेतु ताड़केश्वर भूरा-कोयला खदान से प्राप्त भूरा-कोयला एवं एम्बर अंतर्वेशन एवं निष्कर्षित पराग, कशेरुक खंडज, घूर्णीकशाभ पुटी और कार्बन समस्थानिकों के व्यापक अभिलेखों से संबंधित है। वर्तमान अध्ययन प्रदर्शित करता  कि पूरे अंतिम पुरानूतन तथा प्रारंभिक आदिनूतन युग के दौरान, अतितापीय घटना PETM (मध्य भाग) के कारण अनुमानतः पुरापर्यावरण निम्नभूमि, दलदली (निचले भाग) से उथले समुद्री वातावरण में परिवर्तित हो गई।

काल विभेदक टैक्सा अर्थात ऑक्सिओडिनियम लॉन्गिस्पिनोसम, एपेक्टोडिनियम पार्वम तथा प्रारंभिकवेटज़ेलॉयड (वैलोडिनियम? एसपी.) आरोहण, अनुभाग के मध्य भाग में घूर्णीकशाभ पुटी अंतराल हेतु  अंतिम पुरानूतन-प्रारंभिक आदिनूतन अवधि (~56-53 मिलियन वर्ष) की आयु प्रदान करते हैं। मध्य अनुभाग में सुस्पष्ट नकारात्मक कार्बन समस्थानिक आरोहण {निगेटिव आइसोटोप एक्सकर्शन (CIE)} द्वितीय आदिनूतनतापीय  उच्चतम (53.7 मिलियन वर्ष) से सह-संबंधित है, जो भू -मंडलीय अभिलेखित अतितापीय घटना है। ईटीएम-2 (ETM-2) तपन  के दौरान, pCO2 में वृद्धि के कारण उष्ण, आर्द्र स्थितियों के साथ-साथ समुद्र के स्तर में भी वृद्धि देखी गई, जिसका योगदान इस खोजी गई मध्य इकाई के अवसादी अनुक्रमण में व्यवरुद्ध उथले समुद्री पर्यावरणों की स्थापना में हो सकता है। पुष्पी (बीजाणु-पराग, पत्ती, काष्ठ, बीज, फल) तथा प्राणिजात समुच्चयों (मगरमच्छ, मत्स्यअवशेष, एम्बर कीट) ने ताड़केश्वर भूरा-कोयला खदानों, कैम्बे द्रोणी में ईटीएम-2 (ETM-2) के दौरान तट के निकट सघन उष्णकटिबंधीय समृद्ध वर्षावन (पुष्पी तथा प्राणिजात) की व्यापकता प्रकट की। 

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2023-12-22

How to Cite

Uddandam, P. R., Agnihotri, P. ., Agrawal, S., & Singh, H. (2023). Early Eocene biotic assemblage from the sedimentary deposits of the Tarkeshwar Lignite Mine, Gujarat and its palaeoenvironmental implications. Journal of Palaeosciences, 72(2), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2023.1864

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