The Indian Paleogene

This unique book provides a concise account of Indian Paleogene and presents a unified view of the Paleogene sequences of India. The Paleogene, comprising the early part of the Cenozoic Era, was the most dynamic period in the Earth's history with profound changes in the biosphere and geosphere. The period spans ~42 million years, beginning from post- K/T mass extinction event at ~65 Ma and ending at ~23 Ma, when the first Antarctic ice sheet appeared in the Southern Hemisphere. The early Paleogene (Paleocene-Eocene) has been considered a globally warm period, superimposed on which were several transient hyperthermal events of extreme warmth. Of these, the Palaeocene Eocene Thermal Maxima (PETM) boundary interval is the most prominent extreme warming episode, lasting 200 Ka. PETM is characterized by 2-60/00 global negative carbon isotope excursion. The event coincided with the Benthic Extinction Event (BEE) in deep sea and Larger Foraminifera Turnover (LFT) in shallow seas.Rapid ~60-80 warming of high latitudinal regions led to major faunal and floral turnovers in continental, shallow-marine and deep-marine areas. The emergence and dispersal of mammals with modern characteristics, including Artiodactyls, Perissodactyls and Primates (APP), and the evolution and expansion of tropical vegetation are some of the significant features of the Paleogene warm world.

In the Indian subcontinent, the beginning and end of the Paleogene was marked by various events that shaped the various physiographic features of the Indian subcontinent. The subcontinent lay within the equatorial zone during the earliest part of the Paleogene. Carbonaceous shale, coal and lignite deposits of early Eocene age (~55.5-52 Ma) on the western and north-eastern margins of the Indian subcontinent are rich in fossils and provide information on climate as well as the evolution and paleobiogeography of tropical biota. Indian Paleogene deposits in the India-Asia collision zone also provideinformation pertaining to the paleogeography and timing of collision. Indian Paleogene rocks are exposed in the Himalayan and Arakan mountains; Assam and the shelf basins of Kutch-Saurashtra, Western Rajasthan; Tiruchirappalli-Pondicherry and Andaman and, though aerially limited, these rocks bear geological evidence of immense importance.

Inhalt

Paleogene Stratigraphy Of India: An Overview.- Paleogene Tectonic And Sedimentation History Of The Andaman-Nicobar Accretionary Arc, Northeast Indian Ocean.- Geotectonic Evolution Of The Paleogene Basins In And Around Peninsular India As Revealed In Seismic Sections And Deep Drilling.- Foraminiferal Effects Of Regional Fire And Attendant Paleoenvironment During K/Pg Transition: Organo-Chemical Evidence From The Um Sohryngkew River Section, Meghalaya, India.- Palaeogene Neogene Tectonics And Continental Aggradational Basins In North-Western India: Implications For Geological Evolution Of Thar Desert.- Provenance Of The Late Paleocene Matanomadh Sandstones, Kachchh, Western India.- Palynofacies Study Of Lakadong Limestone (Late Paleocene) Of Mawsynram Area, Shillong Plateau, India: Implications For Sequence Stratigraphy.- Nannofossil Imprints Of Paleogene Transgressive Events In India.- Implication Of The Occurrence Of Minute Biotic Bodies On The Conjoined Nummulites Aff. Nummulites Acutus (Sowerby) In The Subsurface Eocene Of Cauvery Basin, India.- Palaeocene Faunal Events And Fossil Records Of Andaman Islands, India.- Middle Eocene-Lower Oligocene Climatic Transition And Planktonic Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy At Dsdp Sites 219 And 237, Arabian Sea And Western Tropical Indian Ocean.- The Oligocene Corals Had Circumtropical Distribution.- Molluscan Biostratigraphy And Palynological Assemblage Of Paleogene Disang Formation, Manipur, India.