Research Projects

The proposed study involves a detailed provenance analysis of the sedimentary succession in the Jaisalmer Basin, Rajasthan. Siliciclastic rocks exposed in the pericratonic basin would be studied for reconstructing the palaeodrainage pattern and plate tectonic evolution of western India. A broad consensus exists that the detrital sediments of the basins in the western India were derived from the Meso-Proterozoic Aravalli highlands to the east (Ahmad and Bhat, 2006; Mandal et al., 2016; Ahmad et al., 2019). Recent work on detrital zircon U-Pb dating of Mesozoic sedimentary succession of the Kutch Mainland in western India revealed previously unknown source rocks equivalent to the Pan-African (500-650 Ma) and Bhimphedian (400-500 Ma) orogenies (Chaudhuri et al., 2020). Subsequently, U-Th-total Pb dating of detrital monazite from the Cambay Basin and detrital zircon and monazite from the Saurashtra Basin supported the Pan-African source (500-650 Ma) (Rajak et al., 2023, 2024). Excepting a few isolated cases, outcrops of Pan-African and Bhimphedian age are nearly absent in western and north-western India (Sinha-Roy et al., 1998; Rathore et al., 1999; Cawood et al., 2016; Myrow et al., 2016). According to the Late Jurassic plate tectonic reconstruction, rocks of the Pan-African orogeny are present in the southern granulite terrain in India as well as Madagascar and Seychelles. However, the dominant paleocurrent direction in western India during the Mesozoic was south-westerly implying source area to the east of the basins, i.e., north and north-west India (Beaumont et al., 2019, 2023; Rajak et al., 2022). The paucity of outcrops (in the source area) calls for a relook on the plate tectonic reconstruction of eastern Gondwana in a larger context. From this perspective, the proposed research aims at improving the understanding of the provenance and paleogeography of western India. The petroliferous Jaisalmer Basin formed during the break-up of the Gondwanaland. Thus, it is likely to preserve clues to the tectonic evolution of this region. In the current project, a comprehensive approach would be adopted involving – (i) sampling and paleocurrent data collection, (ii) thin-section petrography, heavy mineral separation, their automated identification, and quantification using a machine-learning approach (iii) single-grain mineral chemistry, (iv) whole-rock geochemistry (v) detrital geochronology and (vi) data processing, interpretation, and preparation of manuscripts. While majority of the work will be done in the PI’s host institute, some analyses would be done in collaboration with other institutes (India and Germany). Apart from refining the geological understanding of western India and eastern Gondwanaland, the results of the heavy mineral analysis would contribute in reservoir characterisation and correlation as part of the petroleum system as well as identification of potential mineral deposits.