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Wave-Generated Structures in the Siwalik Rocks of Tista Valley, Eastern Himalaya:Implication for Regional Palaeogeography


Affiliations
1 Geological Studies Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 700 108, India
2 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, NY 14627, United States
 

The Siwalik foreland deposit was earlier considered as freshwater continental mega fan deposit, formed by southward flowing transverse drainages, analogous to modern Kosi-like mega fans. However, this analogy remained incomplete due to lack of evidence of a regionally persistent axial stream system or marginal marine depositional system, like the Ganga–Brahmaputra River and Ganga Delta, as in the present-day foreland basin. In this paper, we report the abundant wave-generated structures and marine trace fossils from the Siwalik succession of the Tista valley and infer that they represent the deltaic part of the Neogene foreland basin. This interpretation provides the link between upland fluvial deposits of the western Himalaya and deep marine sediments of the Bengal Fan and is more consistent with available data from the Siwaliks of the eastern Himalaya. It also implies that a marine embayment existed in the eastern part of the Siwalik foreland basin.

Keywords

Deltaic Sedimentation, Himalayan Foreland Basin, Sedimentary Facies, Siwalik Group, Tista valley.
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  • Wave-Generated Structures in the Siwalik Rocks of Tista Valley, Eastern Himalaya:Implication for Regional Palaeogeography

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Authors

Suchana Taral
Geological Studies Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 700 108, India
Nandini Kar
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, NY 14627, United States
Tapan Chakraborty
Geological Studies Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 700 108, India

Abstract


The Siwalik foreland deposit was earlier considered as freshwater continental mega fan deposit, formed by southward flowing transverse drainages, analogous to modern Kosi-like mega fans. However, this analogy remained incomplete due to lack of evidence of a regionally persistent axial stream system or marginal marine depositional system, like the Ganga–Brahmaputra River and Ganga Delta, as in the present-day foreland basin. In this paper, we report the abundant wave-generated structures and marine trace fossils from the Siwalik succession of the Tista valley and infer that they represent the deltaic part of the Neogene foreland basin. This interpretation provides the link between upland fluvial deposits of the western Himalaya and deep marine sediments of the Bengal Fan and is more consistent with available data from the Siwaliks of the eastern Himalaya. It also implies that a marine embayment existed in the eastern part of the Siwalik foreland basin.

Keywords


Deltaic Sedimentation, Himalayan Foreland Basin, Sedimentary Facies, Siwalik Group, Tista valley.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi05%2F889-901