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ARE THE MURREE RED-BEDS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYA

MIOCENE IN AGE AND ESTUARINE TO FLUVIAL SILICICLASTICDEPOSITS?

B. P. SINGH

CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY IN GEOLOGY,

BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY, VARANASI-221005

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACTThe Murree red-beds occurring in Jammu and Kashmir, India in continuation with the Murree belt of Pakistan have potential for

interpreting extent of hiatus between the underlying Subathu Formation and them. They too have potential for interpreting beginning of

continentality and intensity of tidal influence during their sedimentation. The Murree Group is characterized by the white sandstone, grey

sandstone, yellow sandstone, laminated siltstone, brown mudstone, brownish yellow mudstone and calcretes. The nature of physical contact

and the occurrence of same lithology in the contact zone everywhere between the underlying Subathu Formation and the overlying Murree

Group in the Jammu area suggest that there has been no major hiatus between the two. The continuum can also be viewed on the basis of

gradual shift in the depositional environment from barrier-lagoon to tidal flat during Subathu sedimentation and beach ridge to estuarine

and fluvial during Murree sedimentation. The Late Eocene-Early Miocene Murree Group containing trace fossils of Skolithos assemblage

deposited in a coastal system with strong tidal influence in the lower part and containing plant fossils deposited in the fluvial system in the

upper part.

Keywords: Miocene, Murree Group, Depositional Environment, Western Himalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, India

INTRODUCTION

Type-locality of the Murree Group occurs in theMurree township of Pakistan which extends on the right

flank of the Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis in India from

Poonch to Basoli along the south of Main Boundary

Thrust (Fig. 1). The coeval sequences in the east of the

Beas river are designated as the Dharamsala Group, and

Dagshai and Kasauli formations. The Murree Group has

been divided into a Lower Murree Formation and an

Upper Murree Formation based on lithological changes

by Karunakaran and Ranga Rao (1979). The Lower

Murree Formation is comprised of mud-pebble

conglomerate, cross-bedded, planar-bedded and ripplecross-laminated sandstones, and laminated siltstone,

mudstone and calcrete. The Upper Murree Formation

is comprised of planar-bedded, cross-bedded and

laminated sandstones and mudstones. Age and

depositional environment of these sequences have been

a matter of debate up till now.

Age of the Murree Group has variously been

interpreted by different workers. An unconformity is

reported between the Eocene succession and the

overlying Murree Formation (so classified in the typearea) by many workers including Pascoe (1964),

Meissner et al. (1974), Pivnik and Wells (1996) in Mari

hills, Pakistan. However, Ranga Rao (1971) extended

the lower age limit of the Murree Group up to latest

Middle Eocene and considered it as ranging from Late

Eocene to Early Miocene (also see Karunakaran and

Ranga Rao, 1979; Klootwijk et al., 1986; Bhatia and

Bhargava, 2006, 2007) with no major hiatus between

the Eocene succession and the overlying Murree Group.

Likewise, environment of deposition has also

been variously interpreted for these sedimentarysuccessions. Oldham (1892), Pilgrim (1910) and Wadia

(1928) considered these as brackish-water deposits in

the absence of definite marine or non-marine fauna.

Ranga Rao (1971) concluded that marine conditions

ceased with the beginning of the Murree sedimentation

whereas Khan et al. (1971) considered these as

transitional deposits between non-marine and marine.

Sharda and Verma (1977) have suggested lagoonal

SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE PALAEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA

No. 5; February, 2014; ISBN: 978-81-926033-2-2; pp. 53-64

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54 B. P. SINGH

environment for the Lower Murree and fluvio-deltaic

for the Upper Murree sequences. Bossart and Otiger

(1989) considered the Murree exposures of the Pakistan

to be deposited under the strong influence of tides. A

detailed investigation comprising lithofacies,

sedimentary structures and bioturbation in Indian part

of the Murree exposures by Singh and Singh (1995),

Singh (2000) and Sudan et al. (2002) emphasized tide-

dominated estuarine environment during the Lower

Murree and river-dominated estuarine/riverine during

the Upper Murree.

Fig. 1. Gelogical maps. A. Map showing exposures of the Paleogene succession in the western Himalaya, B.Detailed geological map of the

Jammu area displaying exposures of various formations, including the Lower Murree Formation and the Upper Murree Formation (modified

after Karunakaran and Ranga Rao, 1979).

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55ARE THE MURREE RED-BEDS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYA MIOCENE IN AGEAND ESTUARINE TO FLUVIAL SILICICLASTIC DEPOSITS?

The present paper highlights the age and

depositional environment of the Murree Group and its

equivalents occurring in the western Himalaya and

enquires about the possible gap of 10 million years that

has been reported in coeval sequences of the Himachal

Pradesh, India.

STRATIGRAPHY AND AGE

In the Mari hills, Pakistan, an unconformity is

reported between the Eocene succession and the Murree

Formation by a number of workers such as Pascoe

(1964), Meissner et al. (1974), Pivnik and Wells (1996).

However, Bossart and Ottiger (1989), and Critelli and

Garzanti (1994) have extended the lower limit of the

Murree Group (including the Balkot Formation) up

to Paleocene with no major hiatus in the western

Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis. Also, Welcomme et al.

(2001) recovered Oligocene-aged fauna from the Bugtihills of Baluchistan, Pakistan and considered that the

sedimentary succession received detritus during

Oligocene. In India, Ranga Rao (1971) has considered

the lower limit of the Murree red beds as the latest

Middlle Eocene, while Klootwijk et al. (1986) have

reported late Eocene-Oligocene and Oligocene-early

Miocene ages for the Murree Group based on

paleomagnetic results. Mehta and Jolly (1989) also

recovered Oligocene artiodactyl near the Sial-Sui village

of the Kalakot area from the basal Murree beds. The

basal Murree succession in the type area (Pakistan) has

been dated as 37 Ma by Na jman et al. (2001).Furthermore, the Murree Formation is bracketed with

the Kamlial Formation in the Chinji type-locality of

Pakistan by Johnson et al. (1985) on the basis of the

order of superposition of the Chinji Formation above

the Murr ee/ Kamlial Formation. The Dagshai

Formation coeval with the Lower Murree Formation has

been dated as younger than 28 Ma and the Kasauli

Formation equivalent to the Upper Murree Formation

has been dated as younger than 22 Ma (Najman et al.,

1997). Later, Najman et al. (2004) and Jain et al.(2010)

fixed the maximum age of the basal Dharmshala/

Dagshai sandstone beds as 312 Ma. This suggests that

a 10 million years hiatus exists between the Subathu

Formation and the Dagshai Formation. However, Bhatia

and Bhargava (2006) rejected the age given by Najman

et al. (1997, 2004) on the pretext that they have dated

the detrital mica, zircon and apatite grains those suggest

the age of the provenance rather than the age of the

formation. Further, they (Bhatia and Bhargava, 2007)

have argued that the Subhathu Formation is conformably

overlain by the Dagshai Formation where the contact is

marked by the occurrence of a purple coloured shale

and marl in almost all the exposures (Passage bed of

Bhatia, 2000) that also contains variety of vertebrate

fossils. The basal sandstone of the Lower Murree

Formation shows either erosional or sharp contact andsimilar is the case for the basal Dagshai white sandstone.

The Murree sequences have faulted contact with the

overlying Lower Siwalik Subgroup on Kalakot-

Sunderbani road in Rajouri district (Jammu and

Kashmir). Although there is a lack of paleontological

data base from the Lower Murree/ Lower Dharmsala

and Dagshai formations, the physical contacts of the

facies associations and the gradual shift in the

depositional set-up suggests that there has been no major

hiatus between the Subathu Formation and the Lower

Murree/ Lower Dhramsala/ Dagshai Formation. Also, agap of 10 million years should have presented an

inverted sequence in the fold-thrust belt where the

Murree/ Dharmsala and Dagshai sequences should have

rested over different formations. Furthermore if one

considers a 10 million years gap, about 2 km thick

succession of the Murree Group with several intervals

of pedogenic calcretes indicating minor gaps in

sedimentation must have deposited in a period of only

10 million years suggesting larger period of non-

deposition than the sedimentation. This may not be

possible in a foreland setting where rate of upliftment

in the hinterland as well as rate of sedimentation in thebasin is commonly high (Miall, 1995). Recent work of

Thoni et al., 2012 suggests that the Higher Himalaya

started uplifting around 40 Ma. This event may coincide

with the first deposition of the sandy detritus in the

Himalayan foreland basin (Singh, 2013). Thus, a hiatus

of the 10 million years may not exist between the

underlying Subathu Formation and the overlying

Murree Group in the Jammu area and the type locality

(Murree hills, Pakistan), which has been considered as

37 Ma old (see Najman et al., 2001). In Shimla hills,

Bera et al. (2008) extended the upper limit of the

Subathu Formation as a result of the occurrence of white

sandstone that signifies its marine origin. It is pertinent

to note here that the main criterion for erecting a

formation is the lithology and the same has been used

by earlier workers, where the occurrence of sandstone

was marked as the beginning of the Dagshai Formation.

Also, signatures of the marine influence are present in

the Lower Murree as well as the Dagshai Formation.

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56 B. P. SINGH

Thus, change in the formational boundary looks

unacceptable, which is against the code of stratigraphic

nomenclature.

LITHOLOGY

The Murree Group commences with the

occurrence of arenaceous and argillaceous lithology red/brown in colour and are named as red beds. The base of

the Murree Group is either erosional showing gutter

casts or sharp (Fig. 3A). The Lower Murree Formation

is either planar-bedded or cross-bedded that are medium-

grained sandstones. These sandstones are white, grey

and brown coloured lithic arenites. There are three bands

of quartz arenite and lithic sandstones in association

with mudstone-siltstone-mudstone (Fig. 3B) and ~10

calcrete bands within the mudstone host forming a total

thickness of 35m (Fig. 3C). Up-section, a 50 m thick

sand body comprising of medium-grained sandstone and

fine-grained sandstone occur in a cyclic manner (Fig.3B). The medium-grained sandstone is grey and the fine-

grained sandstone is light yellow coloured. The white

sandstone shows oppositely directed cross-beds in few

localities (Fig. 4A). The medium-grained sandstone

occurs in the form of planar-bedded and cross-bedded

Fig. 2. Lithologs. A. Litholog showing facies architecture of the lower part of the Lower Murree Formation, B.Litholog showing facies

architecture of the upper part of the Lower Murree Formation, C.Litholog showing facies architecture of the Upper Murree Formation.

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sandstone in association with mud-pebble conglomerate

(Fig. 4B). The cross-bedded sandstone contains here

few oppositely directed cross-beds, while the planar-

bedded sandstone contains wavy bedding, drape laminae

and tidal bundles (Fig.4C). The fine-grained sandstones

contain ripple cross-lamination as internal structure

Fig.3. Field photographs. A. Photograph showing basal Murree

sandstone bed at the contact with the Subathu Formation, B.

Photograph showing architecture of the Lower Murree Formation.

Length of the scale bar is 2 m, C.Close-up view showing detailed

architecture of the lithofacies in the Lower Murree Formation.

Length of the hammer is 30 cm.

with reactivation surfaces, while cuspate ripples and

wrinkle marks occur on the upper surfaces (Fig. 5).

There are several cycles of mud-pebble conglomerate,

medium- and fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, and

mudstone in the Lower Murree Formation above the

basal 85m thick succession. The siltstones are brown

coloured and occur either in laminated or ripple cross-laminated form. The mudstones are again laminated and

are purple and brown coloured.

Fig.4. Field photographs. A.White sandstone showing bidirectional

cross-beds. Diametre of the coin is 2.5 cm, B. Mud-pebble

conglomerate within the cross-bedded sandstone. Diametre of the

lens cover is 5.5 cm, C.Mud drapes and wavy bedding in the thin

bedded sandstone in the basal part of the Murree Group near Jigni.

Length of the pen is 14.0 cm.

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58 B. P. SINGH

The Upper Murree Formation is characterized

by more occurrence of the sandy lithology as compared

to the muddy and absence of the siltstone beds

(Karunakaran and Ranga Rao, 1979). The sandy

lithologies are classified into planar-bedded sandstone,

cross-bedded sandstone and laminated sandstone

alternating with mudstone (Fig. 6A). The planar-beddedand cross-bedded sandstones are grey coloured lithic

arenite. The cross-bedded sandstones are trough-shaped

(Fig. 6B) as well as tabular. The cross-bedded sandstones

mainly reveal southerly flow and ripple laminated

sandstones indicate SSE flow directions towards top

of the sequence. The Upper Murree sandstones show

preservation of tree trunks and the laminated sandstones

(Fig. 6C) show preservation of leaves and their

impressions. The Upper Murree mudstone is brownish

yellow and yellow coloured and it is softer than the

Fig.5. Field photographs. A. Ripple cross-laminated sandstone

exhibiting neap-spring (14 each) tidal bundles and reactivation

surfaces. Diametre of the lens cover is 5.5 cm, B.Ripple laminated

sandstone in the Lower Murree formation. Length of the pen is 14

cm, C. Cuspate ripples on the surfaces of the Lower Murree

sandstones. Length of the pen is 14 cm, D.Wrinkle marks on the

upper surface of the ripple laminated sandstone. Length of the pen

is 14 cm.

Fig.6. Field photographs. A.Photograph showing architecture of

the Upper Murree Formation. Height of the man is 1.75 m, B.

Trough-shaped cross-bed in the Upper Murree Formation. Length

of the hammer is 30 cm, C. Ripple laminated sandstone facies of

the Upper Murree Formation. Length of the pen is 14 cm.

Lower Murree mudstone. The soft nature of this

mudstone is related to high clay content in it. The Upper

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Murree mudstones are weakly bioturbated and mostly

preserve Thalassinoides as trace fossils. In contrast, the

Lower Siwalik mudstone is yellowish brown coloured

and highly bioturbated.

The white sandstone is a quartz arenite that

shows equigranular texture (Fig. 7a). It is largely

composed of quartz grains. In addition, chert andmuscovite grains are also observed. Quartz grains are

both monocrys ta lline and polycr ysta lline where

monocrystalline variety dominates. This sandstone

shows sutured grain contacts (Fig. 7a). The cementing

material is mainly siliceous.

The medium-grained sandstone of the Lower

Murree Formation is a lithic arenite, which largely

possesses subrounded to subangular particles and fewangular ones (Fig. 7b). Grain to grain contacts are mostly

Fig.7. Photomicrographs. a.White sandstone displaying equigranular texture dominantly contains quartz. Also note concavo-convex and

sutured conatacts of the grains, b.Subangular to subrounded particle dominated by quartz mineral and volcanic rock fragments. Carbonate

cement is evident in the thin section, c. Domination of the monocrystalline quartz in the ripple cross-laminated sandstone of the Lower

Murree Formation, d.Siltstone possessing angular quartz grains within the clay matrix, e.Brown mudstone possessing interspersed quartz

grains within the clay dominated fabric, f.Subrounded to rounded particles are cemented with the carbonate cement in the Upper Murree

lithic arenite. Siltstone and mudstone rock fragments are dominant, g.Lithic wacke showing bimodal distribution of the particles in the

Upper Murree Formation, h.Yellowish brown mudstone of the Upper Murree Formation dominantly contains clay along with angular and

small quartz grains.

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60 B. P. SINGH

concao-convex and sharp. In most of the sandstones,

the cement is only of pure calcite with little argillaceous

matrix (Fig. 7b). The chief constituents of the sandstones

are quartz, feldspar, rock fragments and chlorite along

with biotite and muscovite. Majority of the quartz grains

are monocrystalline. Among monocrystalline quartz

grains, a subordinate portion (~10%) shows unduloseextinction. The biotite and muscovite flakes are usually

lesser in proportion as compared to chlorite. The rock

fragments are mainly chert, phyllite and mafic volcanic.

The fine-grained sandstone is a lithic wacke,

which shows bimodal distribution of the framework

particles (Fig. 7c). The matrix forms more than 15% of

the bulk and it is composed of silt-sized quartz grains

and clay-sized particles. The framework grains largely

contain subangular to subrounded monocystalline

quartz, feldspar and rock fragments. Besides, few

muscovite grains are also observed. The rock fragmentsare mainly chert and phyllite.

Laminated siltsone of the Lower Murree

formation shows very fine wavy laminations and thick

and thin lamina couplets of ferruginous and non-

ferruginous minerals. Siltstone shows a texture where

very fine sand and silt-sized quartz grains occur within

the argillaceous/ferruginous matrix (Fig. 7d). Most of

detrital grains are quartz those are subrounded to angular.

The iron minerals are present in a minor amount within

the matrix. Proportion of detritus to matrix varies greatly.

Almost all the quartz grains are monocrystalline and

have non-undulating extinction. The clay minerals andhaematite mark their presence in the matrix of siltstones

(Fig. 7d).

The mudstone under microscopic study reveals

that these contain very few interspersed quartz grains

of size less than 0.1 mm (Fig. 7e). The quartz grains are

mostly angular to subangular and monocrystalline.

Microlaminae are very distinctly seen in some thin

sections. In the thin sections, some very small calcite

minerals and flaky chlorite are present in the matrix.

Some mica flakes along with the other clay minerals

and sericite are also observed in these rocks. In some

cases, ferruginous lamiae and detrital haematite are also

seen.

Similar to the Lower Murree sandstones, the

Upper Murree sandstones are also classified into lithic

arenite and lithic wacke. The medium-grained sandstone

(lithic arenite) shows subangular to rounded shape of

the particles (Fig. 7f). Types of contact between detrital

grains are pointed, straight and concavo-convex, but

mostly former one. The proportion of cement/ matrix

and detrital quartz varies considerably. The major

detrital framework grains of sandstones are quartz

feldspar, rock fragments, chlorites and biotite. Minorconstituents are tourmaline, muscovite, sericite and other

clay minerals. Biotite is foliated and shows bending.

These sandstones contain siltstone, mudstone,chert and

phyllite fragments (Fig. 7f). Distinct corroded margins

of quartz grains are developed due to the presence of

carbonate cement.

The fine-grained sandstone of the Upper Murree

Formation shows bimodal distribution of the particles

(Fig. 7g). The framework particles are angular to

subrounded. Quartz is the main constituent of the

framework grains. Rock fragments such as chert,phyllite, silts tone and mudstone occur within these

sandstones. The matrix forms over 20% of the bulk.

Matrix is mainly composed of silt-sized quartz and clay

minerals (Fig. 7g). The yellow colour of the sandstone

is due to the presence of chlorite as detrital grains as

well as the matrix. Besides, few hematite patches are

also observed in the matrix. In addition, chlorite and

ferruginous coatings around quartz as well as lithic

fragments especially around phylites and mudstones are

seen.

The microscopic observation of the Upper

Murree mudstone thin sections show that minute quartzgrains are dispersed in argillaceous matrix (Fig. 7h). The

quartz grains are mostly fine-grained (0.05 mm) and

angular to subangular. The matrix has more chloritic

composition as revealed from its yellow and brownish-

yellow colour (Fig. 7h). This mudstone is less

ferruginous as compared to that of the Lower Murree

Formation. The major constituents of the matrix are

small flakes of biotite and muscovite, and clay minerals.

Singh et al. (2000) recorded the presence of detrital illite

and chlorite within these mudstones.

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS

Details of the facies, their characteristic,

important trace fossils and depositional environments

are given in table 1 and are discussed below.

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Table 1: Lithofacies characterstics, associated trace fossils and their depositional environments in the Murree Group (modified

after Singh et al., 2009).

Lithofacies Characteristic Features Trace Fossils Depositional

Environments

White Sandstone Planar-bedded, medium-grained, equigranular Beach

quartz arenite ridge

Mud-pebble Conglomerate (Cg) Pebble size mud clasts encased in sandy matrix. Channel

Thalweg

Cross-bedded Sandstone (Sx) Grey coloured, medium-grained. 0.2-1.0m thick Estuarine

Cross-bed cosets with low angle of foresets. Channel

Planar-bedded Sandstone (Sh) Grey, greenish grey, medium-grained thinly Ophiomorpha Estuarine

bedded sandstone. Containing mudflasers channel

and wavy bedding.

Ripple-laminated Yellowish grey, fine-grained sandstone . Thalassinoides Levee

Sandstone(Slr) Symmetrical and asymmetrical ripples, drape (small) crestlamination.

Laminated Siltstone (St) Brown coloured, very f ine sand to silt grain size. Imbrichnus Secondary

Silt and mud alternate laminae,tidal bundles. Skolithos channel

Rich in trace fossils.

Laminated Mudstone (Mb) Purple, brownish yellow and greenish yellow. Thalassinoides Estuarine/

Clay containing silt-size quartz grains, platy (large) Fluvial

and flaggy, non-fissile. Floodplain

Calcrete( P) Variegated colour, profile development, Estuarine/

Carbonate rich part on surface and poor Fluvial

downward. Contains variety of beta fabric, floodplains

including pellets, rhizoliths and Microcodium

Bidirectional cross-beds in the basal part of the

Murree Group may be related to their development

during flood and ebb stages of the tides. This is also

true in case of the white sandstone, containing

bidirectional cross-beds, occurring in the other areas

such as the Shimla hills. The white sandstone with quartz

arenite composition possibly deposited as beach ridge

in the intertidal zone that received higher water level

during storms. The overlying succession containing

unidirectional cross-beds were produced by unimodal

currents in estuarine environment similar to fluvial

environment (Visser, 1980). The general domination

of the southerly flow in the Murree Group is the result

of the southerly flowing river or system of rivers and

thus, indicating a southerly palaeoslope (Singh, 2000).

The subordinate northerly modes associated with the

tidal bundles demonstrate their formation through tides

those were generated in the north Indian Ocean.

Sediment reworking and erosion of the unstable channel

banks produced mud clasts that deposited as channel

lags even between cross-bedded sets and planar sand

bodies. Estauaries are either ocean-dominated or tide-

dominated or wave-dominated or river-dominated

depending upon one or more processes influencing them

(Dalrymple et al.,1992) and rythmic alternations of sand

and mud lamination are characteristic features of high-

energy tidal estuarine deposits (Nichols and Allen,

1992). In the Lower Murree Formation, this feature is

prominent in the sandstones and siltstones indicating

their sedimentation in a high-energy estuary (Fig. 8).

Fourteen neap and fourteen spring tidal events are

recorded by Singh (2000) in the lower part of the Lower

Murree Formation, while in the higher-up the number

of events were recorded less (12-28). The 12-28 tidal

events suggest that these strata possibly developed in a

mixed or a semi-diurnal tidal system and the tidal

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62 B. P. SINGH

amplitude was too weak to reach the depositional site at

neap stage in the semi-diurnal system (Singh, 2013). In

the ripple cross-laminated sandstone, the presence of

ripple marks with asymmetrical and cuspate variety

suggest slightly high energy wave generation and

availability of sufficient fine sand for ripple migration.

The rippled sand and mud sheets developed beyond theestuarine channels as sand flat or muflat (Fig. 8). Weak

reversing current is represented by reactivation surfaces

and mud drapes (Visser, 1980). The reactivation

surfaces and mud drapes in the Lower Murree Formation

indicate their origin through weak reversing currents.

The mud accumulated during tidal slack-water whereas

siltstones with ripple cross-lamination deposited in

secondary channels such as formed in the Mont-Saint-

Michael bay of France (Tessier et al., 1995). Modern

Gironde river estuary in a macrotidal setting (Nichols

and Allen, 1992) suggests the migration of the tides morethan 100 km upstream and macrotidal estuaries can be

viewed within a continuum of coastal depositional

settings influenced by riverine processes, wave regime

and tidal energy (Wright and Coleman,1973; Wright,

1985; Boyd et al., 1992). Thus, the riverine processes,

tidal energy as well as the wave regime influenced the

sedimentation during the Lower Murree Formation. The

pedogenic calcret es developed on the estuarine

floodplains similar to modern fluvial floodplains in the

supratidal zone that was exposed to weathering and

padogeneis for thousands of years. The development of

pedogenic calcretes also suggest subaerial exposure,slow rate of sedimentation, geomorphic stability and

semiarid to arid climatic conditions during their

development.

A relatively high proportion of coarse detritus

(sand) indicates its greater supply from the source terrain

and high energy condition in the basin during the Upper

Murree sedimentation. The absence of siltstone in the

Upper murree Formation suggests that the secondary

channels were absent during the deposition of the Upper

Murree sequences. Furthermore, the absence of tidal

bundles suggests that the influence of tides was less

during the Upper Murree sedimentation. The occurrences

of tree trunks and leaf impressions suggest that the

environment was more continental during the

sedimentation of the Upper Murree. Therefore, it is

envisaged that the Upper Murree sequences either

deposited in a river-dominated estuary or a fluvial system

(Fig. 8). The mud-pebble conglomerate, planar-bedded

and cross-bedded sandstone deposited in channels, while

the ripple laminated sandstone was deposited on the

levee crest. The overlying mudstones of each cycle was

deposited on the floodplains during slack water periods.

The occurrences of palynomorphs of palm and other

varieties suggest tropical climatic conditions during the

sedimentation of the Murree Group (Mathur,1984).

Fig. 8. Cartoon exhibiting depositional model for the Murree Group.

The occurrence of white sandstone and its

deposition as a beach ridge above the supratidal shale

of the Subathu Formation suggests that it formed during

transgression coupled with added subsidence and more

sediment supply from the hinterland (Fig. 8). However,

Bera and Mondal (2013) considered them as formed

during forced regression in shallow marine depositional

environment. Individual cycles containing sandstone-

mudstone-siltstone-mudstone-calcrete within the Lower

Murree Formation and sandstone-mudstone within the

Upper Murree Formation has been regarded as

representing 3rdorder cycles (Singh et al., 2010). These

cycles developed as a result of transgression and

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regression of almost equal magnitude that was governed

by the flexural subsidence of the foreland basin and

phased uplift of the hinterland.

CONCLUSIONS

There is no major hiatus between the Late

Paleocene- Middle Eocene Subathu Formation and theLate Eocene- Early Miocene Murree Group in Jammu

area. This interpretation is based on the nature of the

contact between the two and gradual shift in the

depositional environment from barrier-lagoon to tidal

flat to estuarine and fluvial. The Lower Murree

Formation deposited dominantly in tidally influenced

estuarine environment and the Upper Murree Formation

deposited either in the river-dominated estuarine or

fluvial environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper is a compilation of the work that was

carried out by the author during last two decades. The

author is grateful to Prof. R. P. Tiwari for invitation to

submit this paper. This paper is substantially improved

by the critical review comments of Prof. U. K. Shukla,

Dept. of Geology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

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Grandpre, C.1980. Effects of tides on mixing and suspended

transport in macrotidal estuaries. Sedimentary Geology, 26: 69-

90.

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