Recent Publication Highlights

Prof Pankaj Srivastava and his team in a research article in Sedimentology provides insights on terminal Cretaceous palaeoclimatic variability. Based on micromorphological, clay-mineralogical, geochemical and stable carbon-isotopic (organic matter) data of calcretes during their formation. These calcretes/calcareous palaeosol profiles are largely characterized by alpha-fabric with the development of some biogenic features indicating predominantly evaporation/evapotranspiration driven carbonate precipitation with minor biochemically induced precipitation, respectively. Strontium isotopic compositions of the carbonate fraction of these calcretes indicate derivation of calcium from the Precambrian Mahakoshal Group marbles. This climatic variability broadly aligns with the recently suggested changes in eruptive dynamics in the neighbouring Malwa Plateau of the Deccan volcanic province.[Click here to read the research paper]

Prof Pankaj Srivastava and his team in an article in Applied Geochemistry provides soil geochemistry of the entire Ganga Basin in 31 pedons developed over the last 13.5 ka. It is shows that the parent material derived from Himalayas in the western part (Pedons 1-25) of basin with a large input of cratonic flux in the eastern part (Pedons 26-31) of the basin. It provides varied extent of chemical weathering during pedogenesis along 2000 km transect of the basin. Chemical weathering during pedogenesis shows increase of CIA and CALMAG indices. [Click here to read the research paper]

Prof Pankaj Srivastava and his team in a research article in Sedimentology highlights weathering and paleopedogenesis in overbank sediments of the Siwalik Group, Himalayan Foreland Basin from 12 Ma to 5.4 Ma.  The paleopedogenesis from 12 to 5.4 Ma is characterized by 4 pedofacies i.e., Type-A, Type-B, Type-C, and Type-D showing strongly developed pedofeatures to incipient stages of pedogenesis. The 6 major paleopedogenic events identified from 12 Ma to 5.4 Ma show variation in weathering conditions, climate, and stability of the landscapes, which correspond to global CO₂, sea level, and temperature fluctuations. The stable isotope composition of the pedogenic calcium carbonates showing prevalence of C3 vegetation throughout 12 Ma to 5.4 Ma in these paleosols shows no shift to C4 vegetation at ~7 Ma. [Click here to read the research paper]

Dr Ashima Saikia and team reported the occurrence of a potential siderite deposit in the intermediate-felsic volcanic sequence and sedimentary rocks of the Abor volcano-sedimentary sequence in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India in a research article in Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch). [Click here to read the research paper]

Rahul Dixit and team, in a recent publication in the Tectonophysics journal, present a detailed structural analysis of the Munsiari and Vaikrita/Main Central thrust zones in the Garhwal Himalayas. Using a shear zone framework, they mapped these thrust zones in a core and damage zone architecture, offering new insights into their structural anatomy. [Click here to read the research paper]

Employing detailed field investigations and U-Pb zircon geochronology, Rahul Dixit and team recently published a research paper in the Gondwana Research journal. They argue that the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS), Dhauliganga Valley, Garhwal Himalayas, could be a Cambro-Ordovician terrane boundary. [Click here to read the research paper]

A recent research paper in Lithos by Dr Ashima Saikia and team reports the age of an ophiolitic anorthosite for the first-time from the ophiolite occurrences of India. Magmatic zircons from the anorthosite yielded an age of 93.2 ± 1.0 Ma representing the time of ophiolite formation. [Click here to read the research paper]

With the help of thermodynamic modelling, Dr. Anindita Dey and her team show how the combination of multiple factors like unavailibility of fluid, element mobility, and rapid exhumation results in the formation of complex reaction textures like corona in a recent research paper published in the Journal of Petrology. [Click here to read the research paper]