A DISCONTINUOUS EPHEMERAL STREAM TRANSPORTING MUD AGGREGATES IN A CONTINENTAL RIFT BASIN: THE LATE TRIASSIC MALERI FORMATION, INDIA

摘要

Finer-grained components of fluvial sediments are usually deposited in overbank environments, and their preservation in the rock record is generally subordinate to that of the coarser-grained channel fills. However, though the fossil record and lithological characteristics of the Late Triassic Maleri Formation, Gondwana Supergroup of the Pranhita-Godavari continental rift basin, India, indicate that it is a fluvial deposit, the formation is characterized by thin sandstone bodies vertically separated by thicker fine-grained sediments. With the help of petrographic and sedimentological features, this study characterizes the fluvial system that produced a deposit dominated by fines. These syn-rift sediments provide valuable clues towards understanding the spectrum of fluvial processes operating in continental rift-basins.