Unusual Calcareous Concretions from the Palaeocene Grey-Black Shales of Palana Formation at Hadla Bhatiyan Southwest of Bikaner, Rajasthan

During the search of some plant and animal fossils a variety of calcareous concretions were collected from the carbonaceous grey-black shales of Palana Formation of the Palaeocene age in a dug well section at Hadla Bhatiyan village Southwest of Bikaner in Rajasthan. The concretions range in size from a few millimetres to 30 centimetres in diameter. These structures exhibit a variety of shapes ranging from spherical, botryoidal, flattened and dumbbell shaped. The calcareous concretions observed here show an unusual internal structure. On the outer surface they show straight laminations but inside these laminations form slump structures. In many cases the central portion of the slump structures has been detached and rotated due to the gravity effect. Secondly, laminations on the outer surface exhibit continuity irrespective of the shape of the concretions.