Birmania Phosphorites: Petro-Mineralogical Characters and Palaeogeological Implications

The lower Palaeozoic (possibly Cambrian) phosphorites of Birmania in Western Rajasthan are pelletal as well as microcrystalline. Carbonate fluorapatite is the only mineral phase in these phosphorites. Petrodiagenetic and mineralogical studies indicate primary precipitation of apatite directly from the basinal waters. Suggestions have been made for an extensive Cambrian sea encompassing the phosphogenic provinces of Western Rajasthan, Hazara in Pakistan and Mussoorie hills of Kumaun Himalayas.