Stratigraphy and Palaeoenvironments of the Jurassic Rocks of the Jaisalmer Basin Field Guide

About this book

Language: English

The Jaisalmer Basin was located on the southern shelf of the Neotethys during Jurassic tirnes. The basin is well known for its Jurassic outcrops which display abundant and diverse fossils. Lithostratigraphically, the Jurassic siliciclastic, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic, and carbonate rocks are grouped into the Lathi, Jaisalmer, Baisakhi, and Bhadasar formations which range in age from Early Jurassic to Tithonian. The corresponding sediments have been deposited in continental to marine offshore environments. The outcrops are easily accessible and offer a panoramic view that almost resembles a natural museum. Due to the shallow nature of the basin for most of the time erosional events have been quite frequent and stratigraphic gaps are common. As a result, hardgrounds and abrupt changes in lithology are widespread. Common features are encrusted and bored fossils pointing to reworking events, shell concentrations, and signs of faunal mixing. Some marker beds allow intrabasinal correlations and also interbasinal correlations with the neighbouring Kachchh Basin. Large-scale slumping and convolute bedding as evidence of synsedimentary tectonic events have also been observed. Compared to the Kachchh Basin, the sedimentary succession in the Jaisalrner Basin is less complete and more complex sedimentologically.

This field guide, prepared on the occasion of the 9th International Congress on the Jurassic System in Jaipur, India, attempts to give an overview of the present state of knowledge on the geology of the area. Divided into three main parts, it begins with a short description of the Jaisalmer District including its cities, sights, people. climate, flora and fauna, as well as its history. The second part deals with the Jurassic geology of the area, covering topics such as the history of research, the occurring facies types, the existing litho- and biostratigraphic framework, cyclo- and sequence stratigraphy, the floral and faunal content of the sediments, palaeoecology, and a comparison to the Jurassic succession of the neighbouring Kachchh Basin. The guide finishes with concise descriptions of 13 localities which enable the reader to follow the development of the Jaisalmer Basin through the Jurassic as well as understand its different palaeoenvironmental settings in time and space.

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