Palaeoproterozoic fluvio-aeolian deposits from the lower Gulcheru Formation, Cuddapah Basin, India

Precambrian Research 246 (2014) 321–333

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Palaeoproterozoic fluvio-aeolian deposits from the lower Gulcheru Formation, Cuddapah Basin, India Himadri Basu a,∗ , R. Suryanarayana Sastry b,1 , Kiran Kumar Achar a,2 , K. Umamaheswar a,3 , Pratap Singh Parihar a,4 a b

Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, 1-10-153-156, S.P. Road, Begumpet, Hyderabad 500 016, India Department of Applied Geochemistry, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, India

a r t i c l e

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Article history: Received 22 July 2013 Received in revised form 5 February 2014 Accepted 13 March 2014 Available online 21 March 2014 Keywords: Fluvio-aeolian Warm and semiarid climate Palaeoproterozoic Gulcheru Formation Cuddapah Basin India

a b s t r a c t An analysis of facies was done to understand the depositional environment and the palaeoclimate of the sedimentary succession from the lower part of the Palaeoproterozoic (∼2.0 Ga) Gulcheru Formation exposed along the southwestern margin of the Cuddapah Basin. Twelve distinct sedimentary facies were identified and grouped into three main facies associations – wadi fan, ephemeral fluvial and aeolian. Identification of the fluvial and the aeolian facies allowed a more elaborate interpretation of the depositional environment and its palaeoclimate. Facies characteristics indicated that the sediments in the beginning were deposited in a dominantly aeolian realm, under warm and semiarid climatic condition. Translatent strata, pin stripe lamination, zibars, high-index granule ripples, sand sheet deposits, grainflow cross-strata and grainfall laminae, asymptotically down-lapping cross-strata often with erosional lower bounding surface and massive sand-bodies with bimodal fabric, the unambiguous evidences of aeolian depositional regime led to this conclusion. However, the aeolian regime was often punctuated temporarily by fluvial input from ephemeral streams during sudden rainstorm. Depending upon the size, character and availability of sediments, relief difference and the sediment/water ratio cohesionless debris flow, hyperconcentrated flood flow and sheetflood deposits were formed near the basin margin, whereas, coarse-load braided channel deposits were laid further inside the basin. Ephemeral lakes/ponds were formed due to stagnation of floodwater in normally dry interdune lows. Overbank-interdune sediments were deposited in those ephemeral lakes/ponds. Amongst the aeolian facies, translatent strata and sand sheet dominate in the west, whereas, massive beds and dunes with well-developed slipfaces dominate in the eastern part. The spatial distribution of the aeolian bedforms suggests development of erg apron to the west and dune field (erg) to the east. The aeolian sediments identified in the Gulcheru Formation may be considered to be amongst the oldest Palaeoproterozoic aeolian sediments of the world. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Development of a number of intracratonic sedimentary basins marked the Proterozoic history of the Peninsular India (Kale, 1991; Chaudhuri et al., 2002). Thick succession of unmetamorphosed

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 40 27765234; fax: +91 40 27765234. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (H. Basu), [email protected] (R.S. Sastry), [email protected] (K.K. Achar), [email protected] (K. Umamaheswar), [email protected] (P.S. Parihar). 1 Tel.: +91 40 27682257. 2 Tel.: +91 40 27765234; fax: +91 40 27765234. 3 Tel.: +91 40 27767101; fax: +91 40 27762940. 4 Tel.: +91 40 27766791; fax: +91 40 27760254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.011 0301-9268/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

to weakly metamorphosed sedimentary packages, unconformably resting on the deformed and metamorphosed Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic basement, are well preserved in these basins. Though majority of the sedimentary packages attest to multiple cycles of fluvio-marine to shelf-slope-basin sedimentation domain (Kale, 1991; Chaudhuri et al., 2002), signature of aeolian (Chakraborty, 1991; Bose et al., 1999; Chakraborty and Sensarma, 2008) and the influence of glacial (Chakrabarti and Shome, 2007) depositional regimes have also been reported from some of them. Of late, aeolian deposits have been identified in the Gulcheru (Basu et al., 2007) and Srisailam (Biswas, 2005) formations of the Cuddapah Supergroup. Sedimentation in the Cuddapah Basin took place in a series of successively evolved, spatially distributed but interconnected subbasins viz. Papaghni, Nallamalai, Srisailam and Kurnool-Palnad

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Fig. 1. (A) Geological map of the southern Indian Peninsula showing location of the Cuddapah Basin (inset) and spatial distribution of its different subbasins. Abbreviations: WDC, Western Dharwar Craton; EDC, Eastern Dharwar Craton; SGT, Southern Granulite Terrane; CB, Cuddapah Basin. Geology of the EDC is after French et al. (2008) and references therein. (B) Generalized litho-stratigraphic succession of the Cuddapah Basin (after Nagaraja Rao et al., 1987). The age of the Gulcheru Formation is constrained at ∼2.0 Ga on the basis of the isotopic age data from the basement rocks (Chadwick et al., 2000; Chatterjee and Bhattacharji, 2001; Moyen et al., 2003; Halls et al., 2007; Prabhakar et al., 2009) as well as the flows and sills (Anand et al., 2003; French et al., 2008) within the Cuddapah sediments.

(Fig. 1a; Murty, 1981). The Gulcheru Formation, the oldest succession of the Cuddapah Supergroup (Fig. 1b), was deposited in the Papaghni subbasin (Fig. 1a). However, a wide spectrum of views exists on the depositional environment of the Gulcheru Formation. Pascoe (1973) opined that it represented an ancient shoreline. Tidal (Nagaraja Rao et al., 1987), fluvial (Dasgupta et al., 1990) as well as beach (Reddy et al., 1990) environments were also suggested for it. Lakshminarayana et al. (2001) visualized an alluvial fan–braided stream–fan delta domain. Chaudhuri et al. (2002) favoured a fan delta depositional realm. Chakrabarti and Shome (2007), in the same line of thinking, suggested that its basal part represented a fan delta complex in a tide and wave dominated beach–shoreface environment. According to Basu et al. (2007), its deposition (between Kanampalli and Guvvalacheruvu; Fig. 2a) was initiated in a fluvioaeolian domain. Later, marine transgression led to the development of moderate to low energy beach, which with time evolved into a barrier-spit complex. Critical review of literature thus reveals that this wide variation in the interpreted depositional environment of the Gulcheru Formation cannot lead to proper understanding of the depositional history of this specific succession and that, in turn, leaves a gap in understanding of the tectonosedimentary history of the basin. The present study, therefore, intends to work out the depositional environment of the lower Gulcheru Formation, exposed between Ambakapalle and Madyalabodu (Fig. 2a), and to decipher its palaeoclimatic condition. 2. Geological setting The Gulcheru Formation occurs as a ridge-like feature demarcating the southern and western limits of the Cuddapah Basin

(Fig. 2a). It non-conformably overlies the Mesoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic basement (Fig. 1a) and conformably underlies the mixed terrigenous-carbonate suite of the Vempalle Formation (Fig. 2a; Nagaraja Rao et al., 1987; Basu et al., 2007). The basement rocks include Meso- to Neoarchaean TTG suite interspersed with thin slivers of Neoarchaean greenstone belts, K-rich granite plutons, volumetrically minor Palaeoproterozoic basic dykes (Chadwick et al., 2000; Chatterjee and Bhattacharji, 2001; Moyen et al., 2003; Halls et al., 2007; Prabhakar et al., 2009) and quartz reefs (Fig. 2a). Bedding planes of the Gulcheru Formation dip 5–25◦ northeasterly/northerly with strike varying (Fig. 2a) from NW-SE in the west to E-W in the east. Thickness gradually increases from about 90 m in the west to about 215 m in the east. It has been traversed by a series of ENE-WSW to ESE-WNW trending normal, strike faults and NW-SE to NNE-SSW/NE-SW trending diagonal, strike-slip faults. Basic dykes have emplaced along some of the ENE-WSW to ESE-WNW trending faults (Basu et al., 2009). The Cuddapah Basin has traditionally been considered as one of the ‘Purana Basins’ (Meso- to Neoproterozoic) of India (Holland, 1907). Consequently, the age of the Gulcheru Formation has long been considered as Mesoproterozoic. However, the latest highprecision isotopic age data portrays much older age. Murty et al. (1987) reported K–Ar age of 1841 ± 71 Ma of a lava flow from the overlying Vempalle Formation (Fig. 1b). Furthermore, Bhaskar Rao et al. (1995) reported Rb–Sr age of 1817 ± 24 Ma of a mafic sill from the Tadpatri Formation of the Chitravati Group (Fig. 1b). On the basis of the above ages and 40 Ar/39 Ar age of 1879 ± 5 Ma of a mafic dyke, presumably associated with the initiation of the Cuddapah Basin, Chatterjee and Bhattacharji (2001) suggested

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Fig. 2. (A) Geological map of the southwestern part of the Cuddapah Basin (after Krishnaswamy et al., 1981) showing the study area. Note the locations of the measured sections L1–L5 and the field photographs (encircled numbers) (B) Litho-logs of the measured sections showing temporal disposition of the different facies recognized from the lower part of the Gulcheru Formation.

an age of 1850 Ma for the onset of sedimentation. It might be mentioned here that according to Anand et al. (2003), the initial phase of volcanism in the Cuddapah Basin took place as early as 1.9 Ga. Further, French et al. (2008) reported a high-precision U–Pb date of 1885 ± 3 Ma of a mafic sill occurring at the base of the Tadpatri Formation (Fig. 1b). Considering these isotopic age data and the thickness of the Papaghni Group (Fig. 1b), the age of the Gulcheru Formation may be assumed to be around ∼2.0 Ga.

3. Methods Five sections were measured bed by bed and different relevant parameters viz. colour of the sediments, grain size, mineralogy, bedding geometry, their interrelationship and primary sedimentary structures were recorded to recognize different sedimentary facies, their vertical and lateral continuity, spatial distribution and mutual relationship, and therefore to understand the processes responsible for deposition of the lower Gulcheru sediments.

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Additionally, some outcrops and small sections were studied for understanding the sedimentary structures and their geometry in a better way. Microscopic information was integrated with the field data for detailed facies analysis. The sedimentary processes were interpreted at the facies level. Combinations of the processes were established and thereby depositional environments were reconstructed by recognizing different facies associations. 4. Sedimentary facies in the Gulcheru Formation The Gulcheru Formation, exposed along the southwestern margin of the Cuddapah Basin, is made up dominantly of well-sorted, supermature, arenaceous siliciclastics and minor argillaceous and rudaceous material. Six different lithofacies are identified within it and these are (a) basal conglomerate, (b) pink massive sandstone, (c) dark-brown ferruginous sandstone, (d) grey cross-bedded sandstone, (e) purple shale-siltstone, and (f) pitted sandstone (Basu, 2007). The present study is confined to the two lower lithofacies (i.e., basal conglomerate and pink massive sandstone), wherein twelve distinct sedimentary facies are identified. The lithological and sedimentological characteristics of the different facies and the processes interpreted for their deposition are given in Table 1. Spatial and temporal distribution of the different facies is presented in Fig. 2b. Inline Supplementary Figures S1–S3 can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.011. 5. Facies associations and depositional palaeoenvironments The identified sedimentary facies can be grouped into three major genetically related associations that represent wadi fan, ephemeral fluvial and aeolian palaeoenvironments. 5.1. Facies Association I (FA-I): Wadi fan association Facies Association I comprises Facies A, B, C and D (Table 1). Facies A occurs as lensoidal bodies in shallow depressions over basement granitoids near the basin margin. It is overlain by Facies B with a sharp contact. However, at places, Facies B directly rests over the basement granitoids. The sediments of Facies B are overlain by either Facies C or sediments of the aeolian facies association (FA-III). Its upper contact with Facies C is often incised (Fig. 3) but that with the aeolian sediments (Facies H) is sharp and planar (L2 in Fig. 2b). Facies D mainly occurs as thin sheets, interstratified with the sediments of FA-III. Its lower contact is characteristically sharp and erosional (Fig. 9a). From the geometry, mutual relation and spatial distribution of the four component facies, FA-I is interpreted as wadi fan (dry alluvial fan; Kostaschuk et al., 1986; Sohn et al., 1999). Facies A of this association represents proximal fan cohesionless debris flow, while Facies B and C represent proximal to middle fan hyperconcentrated flood flow and transformed hyperconcentrated flood flow deposits, respectively, near the basin margin. Facies D represents distal fan sheetflood deposit (Fig. 4) well inside the basin. FA-I was deposited by ephemeral streams (wadis), which originated in the provenance highland during occasional rainstorm of varying magnitude. 5.2. Facies Association II (FA-II): Ephemeral fluvial association Facies Association II comprises Facies E, F, G and L (Table 1), which occur interstratified with or completely encased within (Fig. 2b) the aeolian sediments of FA-III. Facies E and F occur as packages of alternating units (Fig. 5a) of considerable larger dimension, whereas Facies G occurs as isolated lens of much smaller

Fig. 3. Field photograph of Facies B and C. Note the amalgamated nature of Facies B and the occurrence of outsized clasts along the interface of bipartitely layered sandstone in it. Such outsized clasts along the top of pseudolaminar inertia-flow layer suggest transportation by shear stresses from the overlying turbulent layer (Dasgupta, 2003). Also note the inverse grading and scouring at the base of Facies C. Such scouring is indicative of erosional incision of the finer sediments by subsequent hyperconcentrated flood flow over Facies B. The combined effect of overpassing of larger rolling grains over adjacent smaller ones, within a rapidly shearing layer of gravelly material (Dasgupta and Manna, 2011), and kinetic sieving produced inverse grading. The pen is 14 cm long.

dimension. All the three facies are characterized by scoured lower bounding surfaces (Fig. 2b). Facies L occurs as thin sheet-like unit and often caps as well as grades laterally into the sandstone of Facies G (Fig. 6). It rests over the pre-existing topography with a sharp contact. FA-II also represents deposits by ephemeral streams. In case of Facies E and F, the streams were large bedload wadis that entered long distances inside the basin. Facies E and F were deposited as longitudinal and transverse bars, respectively, depending on the discharge (flow stage) level. Contrary to this, small ephemeral streams of intra-dune-field origin deposited Facies G. Being endorheic both types of streams often flooded the low-lying areas within the sediments of FA-III and ephemeral lakes/ponds (overbank-interdune; Langford and Chan, 1989) were generated. Facies L was deposited in those ephemeral lakes/ponds. 5.3. Facies Association III (FA-III): Aeolian association Facies Association III, comprising Facies H, I, J and K (Table 1), is the most prevalent association (Fig. 2b). Facies H and K occur as tabular bodies while Facies I and J occur as sheet-like sandstone bodies. Characteristically, the different facies of this association do not show any definite temporal order. Their bounding surfaces are generally sharp and flat to gently wavy. However, the upper bounding surface is erosional or incised when associated with Facies D (Fig. S4) of FA-I and Facies E, F and G of FA-II (Fig. 6). FA-III represents different depositional bedforms of an aeolian regime. Facies H represents deposition from decelerating heavily sediment-laden wind or hyperconcentrated flows down the dune lee faces. Facies I, J and K represent dunes without slipface or small dunes (<1 m; Hunter, 1977), low-angle sand sheet and dunes with slipface respectively. An E to NE directed ambient palaeowind regime is inferred from limited palaeo-transport data. Inline Supplementary Figure S4 can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.011. 6. Discussion The Neoarchaean-Palaeoproterozoic (2.7–1.6 Ga) sedimentation systems were mainly controlled by a combination of thermal

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Table 1 Details of different facies in the lower part of the Gulcheru Formation, Cuddapah Basin. Facies

Lithology

External geometry

Internal structures

Depositional process

Facies A: Sandy matrix supported, poorly sorted, lensoidal breccia (Fig. S1)

Sandy matrix supported, poorly sorted, oligomictic to polymictic breccia (<1–1.5 m) with minor ferruginous clay and cement

Lensoidal as a whole, tabular in exposure scale

Randomly distributed (ungraded) clasts in unsorted sandy matrix, some clasts are near-vertical, locally near-horizontal flatter clasts in the middle

Subaerial (Nemec and Steel, 1984) cohesionless debris flow (Shanmugam, 1996; Sohn et al., 1999; Dasgupta, 2003) with high grain/water ratio

Facies B: Unsorted sandy conglomerate grading into laminated sandstone (Fig. 3)

Bipartite layering of sandy matrix supported conglomerate, ungraded pebbly sandstone and medium- to fine-grained laminated sandstone (<1–1 m)

Lensoidal, often multiple units are stacked vertically with irregular and diffused contacts

Coarse-tail normally graded clasts in conglomerate, larger clasts show more angularity (textural inversion); Uniformly dispersed unsorted pebbles in pebbly sandstone; Planar laminations in sandstone

Hyperconcentrated flood flow (Smith, 1986; Smith and Lowe, 1991)

Facies C: Clast supported conglomerate with sandy matrix (Fig. 3)

Dominantly clast supported to locally matrix supported, poorly to moderately sorted, pebbly conglomerate (<1 m) with ferruginous sandy matrix

Lensoidal, scoured bases are common

Randomly distributed (ungraded) clasts in sandy matrix, local inverse grading at the base with alignment of some larger clasts transverse to the flow direction and nearly parallel to the lower bounding surface, clasts show better rounding than those in Facies B

Hyperconcentrated flood flows transformed into cohesionless debris flows (Sohn et al., 1999; Dasgupta, 2003)

Facies D: Stacked couplets of conglomerate and sandstone (Fig. 4)

Poorly sorted, pebbly to granular conglomerate (5–15 cm) and very coarse- to fine-grained sandstone (65–70 cm), locally laminated shale (10–25 cm) or polygonal flat mudstone clasts at the top

Sheet-like, conglomerate is lenticular

Multiple planar-stratified depositional couplets organized into an overall fining upward unit, faint to moderately developed horizontal bedding or lamination defined by variation in grain size and colour, rare trough (due N trough axis) as well as tabular cross-stratification (due E apparent palaeocurrent) in sandstone

Shallow supercritical flow in sheetflood (Dasgupta, 2006; Nichols, 2009; Blair and McPherson, 2009), occasionally followed by (localized) stagnation of water and deposition under standstill condition

Facies E: Unsorted pebbly conglomerate (Fig. 5a)

Unsorted, dominantly clast supported to locally sandy matrix supported massive conglomerate (8–35 cm)

Flattened lensoidal with scoured lower and convex-up upper bounding surfaces

Texturally bimodal – clast as well as matrix supported – fabric, internal structure is not easily discernible except for locally crudely defined planar or convex-up curviplanar accretionary surfaces

Bedload deposition from submerged flow during flooding stage (Nemec and Steel, 1984; Nichols, 2009), followed by infiltration of sandy matrix into the gravel framework during waning stage

Facies F: Medium- to coarse-grained, tabular cross-stratified sandstone (Fig. 5a and b)

Moderately sorted, medium-grained quartzose sandstone (25–45 cm) with subordinate very coarse sand and granules

Sheet-like at exposure scale but may be lensoidal as a whole, deeply incised upper bounding surface

Cosets of tabular cross-stratification, variable set thickness (2–6.5 cm) due to erosional bounding surfaces, downstream accretion by moderately concave-up reactivation surfaces, overall grain size decreases up

Subaqueous sandy bedload deposition during falling stage (Nichols, 2009)

Facies G: Fine- to medium-grained, trough cross-stratified lenticular sandstone (Figs. 6 and 7)

Fine- to medium-grained quartzose sandstone (up to 80 cm)

Lenticular with concave-up lower and planar upper bounding surfaces

Trough cross-stratification (5–14 cm) with two different patterns of foreset laminae organization; Type-I: Poorly-defined foreset laminae that occur in conformity with the shape of the depression at the base but change to smaller nested units at top, show migration with moderately scalloped up reactivation surfaces (Fig. 6); Type-II: Well-developed foreset laminae in conformity with the shape of the channel base, even if the trough-size reduces gradually (Fig. 7); Due NE to E palaeocurrent direction

Deposition from ephemeral streams of intra-dune-field (intra-erg) origin (Chakraborty, 1991) Type-I: Migration of large 3D-ripples along relatively low-relief channel bottom (Langford and Chan, 1989), streams incised into or flowed over drying up muddy interdune deposits Type-II: Deposition from streams that incised into sandy dune field deposits

Facies H: Fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted tabular sandstone (Fig. 8a and b)

Mainly fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted and well-rounded quartzose sandstone (0.7 m to 2 m in general but may be as thick as 7 m), locally well-developed bimodal fabric

Tabular and considerably laterally persistent

Thick to often very thick, massive or structureless beds with planar bases and either planar or incised tops (Fig. S2); frequent isolated low-amplitude ripple forms on the bedding plane; locally faint, horizontal to low-dipping, planar, often discontinuous lamination, and isolated troughs

Rapid sedimentation from decelerating heavily sediment-laden wind (Reineck and Singh, 1980; Collinson and Thompson, 1982), aided by process like hyperconcentrated flows down the dune lee face (Simpson et al., 2002), liquefaction and adhesion of wind-blown sand (Collinson and Thompson, 1982)

Facies I: Plane laminated siltstone to fine-grained sandstone (Fig. 9a and b)

Siltstone and very fine- to often medium-grained (<0.48 mm), rounded to well-rounded, quartzose sandstone (105–345 cm)

Sheet-like

Well-developed, gently dipping to horizontal, inversely graded laminae (2–10 mm) with sharp upper bounding surface; well-developed very thin ‘pin stripes’; laminae continue for several metres

Migration of subcritically climbing wind ripples (Kocurek and Dott, 1981; Fryberger and Schenk, 1988)

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Table 1 (Continued) Facies

Lithology

External geometry

Internal structures

Depositional process

Facies J: Fine- to medium-grained sheet sandstone with coarse lags (Fig. 10)

Poorly sorted, fine to medium quartz sand with subordinate coarse sand, minor granules and fine pebbles (1–1.5 m)

Sheet-like and laterally persistent over several tens of metres

Two distinct bedding geometries and textural attributes; Type-I: Fine to medium sand, often separated by lags of strings of granules and pea-size fine pebbles; planar laminated, horizontal to low dipping wind-rippled strata; Type-II: Stacked laminations or very thin beds of fine to medium sand and very coarse sand to granules with poorly defined boundaries, isolated high-index granule ripples and coarse-grained (coarse sand to granules) low-amplitude bedforms lacking slipfaces

Saltation and accretion of sand from gently decelerating wind; alternating episodes of deposition and erosion (deflation) in aeolian condition not suitable for dune formation (Fryberger et al., 1979; Kocurek and Nielson, 1986)

Facies K: Fine- to medium-grained, tabular cross-stratified sandstone (Fig. 11a–c)

Dominantly fine- to mediumand minor coarse-grained quartzose sandstone (up to 5.50 m)

Tabular

Tabular cross-stratification with two types of sectional foreset geometry; Type-I: Foresets sweep down asymptotically for several metres on the lower bounding surface and lap concordantly over the pre-existing surface topography (Fig. 11a), set thickness varies between 30 and 85 cm; Type-II: Steeply dipping (18–32◦ ), planar (Fig. S3) to mildly concave-up foresets occurring at higher angle with the lower bounding surface (Fig. 11b), set thickness varies between 20 and 45 cm; Dominantly due E with minor due W and S palaeo-transport directions

Migration of aeolian dunes (Kocurek and Dott, 1981; Chakraborty, 1991) Type-I: Large transverse bedforms with abundant grainfall strata in the toe region Type-II: Small dunes with grainflow deposits reaching the base of lee slope

Facies L: Horizontal to slightly concave-up heterolithic unit (Figs. 6 and 11d)

Interlayered shale, sandy siltstone and sandstone (15–30 cm)

Thin continuous sheet within the limits of exposure

Horizontal to slightly concave-up laminations; well-developed polygonal mudcracks in mud-rich portion, local lenticular beds; lower contact of sandstone is sharp, but its upper contact with shale is often gradational

Suspension fallout of sands from suddenly stagnated floodwater; followed by deposition of silt and mud in quiet condition, often with simultaneous deposition of windblown sand; aerial desiccation

processes and plate tectonics (Eriksson et al., 2007). Large epeiric seas were developed due to two global-scale ‘superevents’ during c.2.7 Ga and c.2.2–1.8 Ga (Eriksson et al., 2007 and references therein). The Cuddapah sediments were deposited in a similar epeiric sea developed presumably at ∼2.0 Ga (see Section 2) coinciding with the latter global ‘superevent’. However, two contrasting views exist regarding the formation and evolution of the Cuddapah Basin. According to one school of thought,

mantle induced thermal trigger was responsible for the formation of the basin (e.g., Chatterjee and Bhattacharji, 2001; Mall et al., 2008). Contrary to this, the other school suggested major role of deep basin-margin faults (Kaila et al., 1979; Chaudhuri et al., 2002). According to Singh and Mishra (2002), pulses of thermally driven crustal sagging, punctuated by events of extensional stretching controlled the entire history of basin evolution.

Fig. 4. (A) Field photograph of stacked couplets of pebbly to granular conglomerate and very coarse- to fine-grained sandstone in Facies D. The bedding is mostly defined by the variation in grain size and occasionally in colour. Note the fining upward nature of the succession. The hammer is 32 cm long. (B) Close-up view of pebbly conglomerate and coarse- to medium-grained sandstone couplets near the lower part of the facies. Note the imbrications (arrow) of some pebbles. The marker pen is 14 cm long.

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Fig. 5. (A) Field photograph of braided bar succession (Facies E and F) deposited by ephemeral stream. Note the roundness of the pebbles, convex-up accretionary surfaces and deeply scoured base in Facies E (longitudinal bar). Well-rounded pebbles of this facies are indicative of reworking of aeolian deflation lags by stream. The accretionary surfaces were formed during lateral migration of longitudinal bars (Collinson, 1996). (B) Close-up view of Facies F (transverse bar) showing the nature of cross-stratification and normal grading (arrow) within foreset laminae. Note the scoured nature of the bounding surfaces of the cross-stratification sets and the occurrence of granules and finer pebbles as winnowed lags on the reactivation surface. The coin is 2.6 cm in diameter.

6.1. Depositional model The Palaeoproterozoic sedimentation history in the Eastern Dharwar Craton (Fig. 1a), stabilized at 2.5 Ga (Meert et al., 2010), started with the Gulcheru Formation (∼2.0 Ga). Possibly, prevalence of a sedimentation regime with low preservation potentiality (e.g., aeolian) and/or absence of any suitable sink prevented deposition of sediments during 2.5–2.0 Ga period. From the characteristics of the different sedimentary facies and their distribution in the lower Gulcheru Formation (Fig. 2a and b) as well as consideration of the temporal control on several depositional systems (Eriksson and Simpson, 1998; Simpson et al., 2004), it was inferred that an aeolian regime prevailed and huge supermature quartzose detritus were generated due to prolonged weathering of the provenance under warm and semiarid climatic condition (see Section 6.2). However, these supermature sediments could not be deposited and preserved until the development of a thermally triggered (Chatterjee and Bhattacharji, 2001; Mall et al., 2008) sink (the Papaghni subbasin, Fig. 12a) at ∼2.0 Ga. As the initial sink formed, deposition of the

aeolian sediments started there. At the same time, the detritus occurring over the surrounding provenance highland also became susceptible to sediment gravity flows. Furthermore, an ephemeral, centripetal, endorheic, fluvial system was developed surrounding the Papaghni subbasin. However, transportation of sediments in the newly evolved fluvial system took place only during and immediately after sudden rainstorm (typical of warm and arid to semiarid climate). The existence of an aeolian regime during the initial phase of sedimentation is unequivocally established by the presence of wind-ripple migrated climbing translatent strata, pin stripe lamination (Facies I), zibars, high-index granule ripples, sand sheet deposits (Facies J), grainflow cross-strata and grainfall laminae (Facies K), and massive sand-bodies with bimodal fabric (Facies H). The presence of well-rounded and well-sorted sand grains is also typical of aeolian deposits, particularly of pre-Silurian age (Dott, 2003). It was inferred that the prevalent wind system generated detritus, reworked them and/or dumped the supermature, wellrounded and well-sorted sediments into the sink. Depending upon

Fig. 6. Field photograph of trough cross-stratified channel-fill sandstone (Facies G) overlying as well as interfingering with overbank-interdune (Facies L) deposits. Note the occurrence of millimetre-thin flat mud-chips in conformity with the foreset laminae in the lower part of the channel facies and lack of pebble lags at the channel base. Also note the erosional and/or corrugated lower contact of Facies G with Facies L. The streams either flowed over or incised into the drying up interdune/overbank-interdune deposits and the mud-chips were ripped-up during incision. The marker pen is 14 cm long.

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Fig. 7. (A) Field photograph of channel-fill sandstone in Facies G. The channels were formed by incision of massive sandstone of Facies H. Note the change of trough crossstratification to tabular cross-stratification (arrow) suggesting expansion of flow and lateral migration possibly due to lateral erosion. Also note the contrasting lack of shale interfingering and mud-chips in this type of channel sandstone. (B) Sketch illustrating the bedding characteristics in Facies G. The hammer is 32 cm long.

particle size, moisture availability, height of water table, wind strength, prevalent wind regime and availability of sediments a variety of aeolian bedforms were developed. Presence of moisture due to periodic flooding by ephemeral streams, availability of significant coarse sand (fluvial input) or paucity of sand supply that were entrainable by wind facilitated (Kocurek and Nielson, 1986) the development of sand sheet deposits (Fig. 10) in the western part of the study area. Repeated occurrence of fluvial facies motifs, encased within or interstratified with the aeolian sediments (dominantly sand sheets), around Kanampalli (Figs. 2a and 12b) supports such interpretation. Availability of abundant well-sorted fine to medium dry loose sand and less fluvial input facilitated dune development in the eastern part. Consequently, dunes with abundant

slipfaces (Fig. S5) and massive beds are more common in the eastern part (Giddankipalli and further east; Figs. 2a and 12b). Dunes without slipface (Kocurek and Dott, 1981) or very small dunes (<1 m; Hunter, 1977) are characterized by wind-ripple migrated climbing translatent strata. Occurrence of translatent strata (Fig. 9a) indicates the predominance of small dunes or dunes without slipface mainly between Kanampalli and Giddankipalli (Figs. 2a and 12b). Most significantly, these identified sedimentary facies do not show lateral continuity of any well-defined succession. This may also substantiate the aeolian depositional milieu. It may be mentioned here that erg forming conditions have been identified globally during c.2.0–1.8 Ga (Eriksson and Simpson, 1998; Simpson et al., 2004; Eriksson et al., 2007). If the assumed age (see Section 2) is correct

Fig. 8. (A) Field photograph of isolated low-amplitude ripple forms on the bedding plane in Facies H. Note the considerable wide spacing between the ripples. Such low amplitude widely spaced ripple forms are typical of aeolian deposits (Dott et al., 1986). The marker pen is 14 cm long. (B) Photo-micrograph of bimodal texture, in Facies H, defined by well-rounded, medium (0.31–0.70 mm) quartz grains coexisting with angular to subrounded, fine to very fine (0.06–0.18 mm) quartz sand and silt. Note the mineralogical maturity of the facies. Such bimodal grain-size distribution in matured sandstone is indicative of aeolian transportation of sand in desert dunes (Folk, 1968). The scale bar is 200 ␮m.

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Fig. 9. (A) Field photograph of wind-ripple migrated climbing translatent strata in Facies I. Each lamina comprises basal quartz-silt (dark coloured part) inversely grading upward into fine to medium quartz-sand (light coloured). Note the variation in thickness of individual lamina. Such variation suggests prevalence of a variable wind regime (Kocurek and Dott, 1981). Also note the erosional contact between Facies I and D. The match stick is 3 cm long. (B) Photo-micrograph of pin stripe lamination in Facies I. Note the organization of medium to very fine sand and silt grains into multiple inversely graded layers with pin stripes in between. Also note the excellent roundness of the sand grains. The sand grains are often limonite coated. The scale bar is 500 ␮m.

then the aeolian sediments identified in the Gulcheru Formation are amongst the oldest Palaeoproterozoic aeolian sediments of the world and may be compared with the Karutola Formation (Palaeoproterozoic?) in India (Chakraborty and Sensarma, 2008), the Mount Isa Inlier (1.8–1.74 Ga) in Australia (Eriksson and Simpson, 1998), the Makgabeng Formation (1.9–1.7 Ga) in South Africa (Callaghan et al., 1991), the Magondi Supergroup (2.1 Ga) in Zimbabwe (Master, 1991), the Maguse Member of the Kinga Formation (2.45–2.1 Ga) in Canada (Aspler and Chiarenzelli, 1997) and the Moodies Group (3.2 Ga) in South Africa (Simpson et al., 2012). Inline Supplementary Figure S5 can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.03.011. The prevalent aeolian depositional regime was often punctuated by sudden rainstorm events of varying magnitudes. This influenced the sedimentation in two ways. Firstly, ephemeral streams (wadis) were originated in the provenance highland and sediment gravity flows were induced in the canyons near the basin margin. Availability of abundant loose detritus produced high grain/water ratio in the flows originated initially. Consequently, proximal fan cohesionless debris flow deposits (Facies A) and middle fan hyperconcentrated flood flow deposits (Facies B) mainly occur at the base of the sedimentary succession near the basin margin. The distal fan sheetflood deposits (Facies D) were laid further inside the basin. Therefore, the sediments of Facies D occur interstratified with the aeolian sediments. As time elapsed, the availability of pre-existing loose detritus became limited with more and more of them being consumed by successive debris flows. This resulted in lowering of grain/water ratio in subsequent flows and hyperconcentrated flood flows were evolved during later rainstorm. Occurrence of hyperconcentrated flood flow deposits (Facies B) directly above the debris flow deposits (Facies A) bears evidence of it. Occasionally, the hyperconcentrated flood flows were bulked through erosional incision (Sohn et al., 1999) during downslope movement over previously deposited unconsolidated fine sediments, and the flows were transformed into cohesionless debris flows. The ungraded clast supported conglomerate with scoured bases in Facies C (Fig. 3) exemplifies such flow transformation. Rarely, ephemeral streams of exceptionally high magnitude, originating in the provenance highland, flowed quite long distances over the sandy substrate before being eventually lost into the sands or flooding the low-lying areas inside the basin. These ephemeral streams, characterized by marked high and low discharge stages, were essentially coarseload in the beginning, but experienced rapid loss of stream power due to flow expansion (mainly vertical) or infiltration of water into the open framework gravel or porous sandy substrate. Low

channel-bank stability in loose sand resulted in broad and shallow channels with abundant bedload, and in turn facilitated braiding. The rare occurrence of the braided bar succession (Facies E and F, Fig. 5) interstratified with the aeolian sediments (Fig. 2b) substantiates it. Secondly, the rain water, in general, rapidly percolated down through the mud-free clean, dry and porous sandy substrate producing a wide area of wet sand inside the basin and elevated the water table temporarily. This inhibited dune development but facilitated deposition of sand sheets (Facies J, Fig. 10). Sometimes, ephemeral streams were originated even within the dune field and incised into or flowed over the dunes and/or dried-up interdune/overbank-interdune (Langford and Chan, 1989) deposits. These streams reworked abundant loose sand available in the dune field and also ripped-up laminated shale from the interdune/overbank-interdune areas. Transportation of these reworked sediments took place mainly as large 3D-ripples. As the stream power reduced, the sediments were deposited as lensoidal channel-fill trough cross-stratified sandbodies (Facies G, Figs. 6 and 7). Occasionally, the stream water got stagnated in interdune/overbank-interdune areas forming ephemeral lakes/ponds. Overbank-interdune sediments (Facies L) were deposited as sandstone-shale couplets in those ephemeral lakes/ponds. Polygonal cracks were developed on the bedding surface of muddy sediments as the stagnant water dried up. Large polygonal mudcracks (Fig. 11d) in the interlayered shale-silt-sand unit (Facies L), sandwiched between the tabular aeolian sandstones, are convincing evidence of overbank-interdune deposits. It is being reported for the first time from the Gulcheru Formation. Further sinking of the basin paved the way for marine transgression over these sediments (Basu et al., 2007). Low cratonic freeboard allowed considerably large area of the dune field to be inundated. A shallow marine depositional regime was initiated and established inside the basin over previously deposited fluvio-aeolian sediments, whereas the fluvio-aeolian regime continued in the leftover part of the dune field. The existing dune morphology was destroyed and the sediments were extensively reworked during the transgression. Plausibly slower rate of sinking (or sea-level rise) enabled development of a wide and gentle beach profile. 6.2. Palaeoclimate The fluvio-aeolian deposits in the lower part of the Gulcheru Formation indicate the existence of semiarid and warm palaeoclimatic

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Fig. 10. (A) Field photograph of sand sheet deposits in Facies J. Note the presence of discontinuous pea-size pebble lags and isolated high-index granule ripples in zibar (B) Enlarged view of high-index granule ripple. The marker pen is 14 cm and the scale bar is 7 cm long.

condition in the Cuddapah Basin region and beyond during the Palaeoproterozoic time. The warm palaeoclimatic condition and vegetation-free (pre-Silurian) landscape were conducive to formation of supermature quartzose aeolian deposits. Extreme textural

maturity of the sediments attests to protracted aeolian abrasion (Pettijohn et al., 1972) or multicyclic history (Suttner et al., 1981). Lack of quartz grains with abraded overgrowth indicates reworking of loose detritus in the aeolian domain. Noticeable mineralogical

Fig. 11. Field photographs. (A) Planar tabular cross-stratification with asymptotically sweeping down foresets in Facies K. Note the flattening of the foreset near the toe and erosional nature of the lower bounding surface. Palaeo-transport direction is due E. The pen is 15 cm long. (B) Planar tabular cross-stratification with grainflow and grainfall laminae in Facies K. Note the concentration of coarser grains near the top as well as toe of the grainflow laminae (double arrow). Fine-grained thin grainfall laminae (single arrow) alternate with grainflow strata. Foresets dip due W. The pen is 14 cm long. (C) Foreset wedge (toe region) of very large cross-stratification in Facies K. The foresets indicate due S palaeo-transport direction. The boy (facing N) is 160 cm tall. (D) Mudcracks in Facies L. The largest dimension of the polygons range from 12 cm to 39 cm. Surface exposure of this facies is rare. The marker pen is 14 cm long.

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Fig. 12. (A) 3D block model showing the palaeogeography of the Papaghni subbasin soon after the initial subsidence. Palaeogeographic extent of the subbasin is modified after Sen and Narsimha Rao (1967). Palaeogeography is reconstructed by considering the spatial distribution of the schist belts and granitoids (Acharyya, 1998; Chadwick et al., 2000; French et al., 2008), major NW-SE and NE-SW lineaments (Bhattacharji, 1987; Venkatakrishnan and Dotiwalla, 1987) and distribution of the different sedimentary facies (present study). (B) Generalized section showing the distribution and mutual relation amongst the different facies recognized from the lower part of the Gulcheru Formation along the southwestern part of the Cuddapah Basin (between Kanampalli and Madyalabodu).

maturity of the sediments is also indicative of aeolian abrasion. According to Odom (1975), aeolian abrasion also helps in attaining exceptional compositional maturity through selective reduction of the size of feldspar. The importance of aeolian abrasion in producing Precambrian supermature quartz arenites has now been increasingly accepted (Dott, 2003). It might be mentioned here that on the basis of high Th/K and low Th/U ratios, Basu et al. (2009) interpreted aeolian condition of deposition for the sediments of the lower part of the Gulcheru Formation. They attributed the fluctuations in Th/U values to the availability of water from ephemeral streams generated during occasional rainstorm, and therefore inferred semiarid palaeoclimatic condition. The presence of fluvial deposits within the aeolian sediments signifies the role of ephemeral streams during sedimentation and thus indicates warm and semiarid palaeoclimatic condition. The presence of halites and gypsum casts (Phansalkar et al., 1991) in the dolostone of the overlying Vempalle Formation (Fig. 1b) may also signify semiarid and warm palaeoclimatic condition.

7. Conclusion • Sedimentation of the Palaeoproterozoic Gulcheru Formation took place initially in aeolian domain under warm and semiarid palaeoclimatic condition. • The aeolian regime was often punctuated temporarily by fluvial input from ephemeral streams originated during occasional rainstorm. • Presence of wadi fan deposits at the base along the basin margin, and channel sandstone or coarse-load braided channel deposits inside the basin bears evidence of ephemeral fluvial activity. • Amongst the aeolian bedforms, translatent strata and sand sheet facies dominate to the west, while massive beds and dunes with well-developed slipfaces dominate to the east.

• The spatial variation and distribution of the aeolian bedforms indicates the development of erg apron to the west and dune field (erg) to the east. • The aeolian sediments identified in the Gulcheru Formation may be considered to be amongst the oldest Palaeoproterozoic aeolian sediments of the world. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to Dr. Randall Parrish for encouraging editorial handling. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments that helped immensely to improve the presentation of the manuscript. An early version of this manuscript was reviewed by Dr. Prabir Dasgupta, Presidency University, Kolkata. His suggestions helped a lot to improve the quality of the manuscript. Dr. Samiran Mahapatra, Durgapur Government College, is duly acknowledged for helpful discussions on the sedimentological features of braided bars. This study is a part of the ongoing PhD work by Himadri Basu. References Acharyya, S.K., 1998. Geological Map of India, seventh ed. Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad. Anand, M., Gibson, S.A., Subba Rao, K.V., Kelley, S.P., Dickin, A.P., 2003. Early Proterozoic melt generation processes beneath the intra-cratonic Cuddapah basin, Southern India. J. Petrol. 44, 2139–2171. Aspler, L.B., Chiarenzelli, J.R., 1997. Initiation of ca. 2.45–2.1 Ga intracratonic basin sedimentation of the Hurwitz Group, Keewatin Hinterland, Northwest Territories, Canada. Precambrian Res. 81, 265–298. Basu, H., 2007. Geological and geochemical aspects of the Gulcheru Formation in the southwestern margin of the Cuddapah Basin and its potentiality for uranium mineralization. J. Geol. Soc. India 70, 686–688. Basu, H., Gangadharan, G.R., Kumar, S., Sharma, U.P., Rai, A.K., Chaki, A., 2007. Sedimentary facies of Gulcheru Quartzite in the southwestern part of the Cuddapah Basin and their implication in deciphering the depositional environment. J. Geol. Soc. India 69, 347–358.

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