Palynomorphs of Gondwanic affinities in the Oligo-Miocene sediments of Kargil Molasse Group, Ladakh, India

Abstract

The Kargil Molasse Group of northwest Ladakh Himalaya is divided into Kargil, Tharumsa and Pashkyum formations, composed mainly of sandstone, mudstone, siliceous clay and grey to dark brown carbonaceous shale. Plant fossils recorded in these sequences are represented by angiosperm leaf impressions, pteridophytic spores, gymnosperm and angiosperm pollen grains, algal and fungal remains and gyrogonites of charophytes. The present study deals with reworked palynoflora of Gondwanic affinity of late Permian (Tatarian) and early Triassic (Scythian) age embodied in the l ate Cenozoic sediments of Tharumsa Formation of northwest Himalaya. The occurrence of reworked palynomorphs in the younger sediments is very significant. It can be interpreted that Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Tethyan sediments, deposited along the northern margin of Indian Plate, were transported and eroded and eventually got accumulated in the Tharumsa Formation during the process of orogenesis in this region.