NEWS

MEETING REPORT

Field Workshop on the Marwar Supergroup*

Marwar Supergroup (MSG) is one of the introduction to the participants on what Next day contact between the important peninsular Neoproterozoic– they could expect to see in the field. Girbhakar Sandstone and Dhanapa Cambrian successions of India named During field trips conducted on 7 days, Dolomite was seen in Jasawant Sagar after the Marwad region in Rajasthan. the participants were shown 25 outcrops Dam section and various other mine sec- Sedimentary successions of MSG are exposed in Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bikaner and tions around Pundlu. Here, one can see exposed on the Malani Igneous Suite, Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan. Every carbonate rocks of Bilara Group. Pundlu one of the Neoproterozoic (705–750 Ma) day field work was followed by discus- is best place to study depositional history Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) of the sion in the evening. and palaeoenvironment of carbonate world. Discovery of the Cambrian fossils On the first day, participants saw the rocks. Gotan Limestone which emits from the Nagaur Group of MSG has been outcrops representing the basement rocks fetid smell is best exposed in this area. instrumental in attracting experts from and the Sonia Sandstone at the Antenna Many participants felt that the Bilara several fields. MSG was an important Hill and in other sections in and around carbonates may turn out to be an event constituent of Rodinia continent. Pres- Jodhpur. Giant plant-like features pro- bed such as ‘Shuram’ of Oman. Dhanapa ently, it is being extensively explored by fusely developed on bedding planes of Dolomite was observed near Dhanapa several petroleum giants for its hydro- the Sonia Sandstone engaged the atten- village, where the outcrops exhibit stro- carbons potential. On global scale, it is tion of the participants. Their organic/ matolites. Participants collected chert attracting many researchers from the inorganic nature, affinity and taphonomy nodules from here for further palaeobi- geological fraternity to understand the along with depositional environment ological investigation. Another important evolution of LIP and MSG. Understand- were discussed at length. In addition, section was the Tukliyan Sandstone of ing the need for congregation of experts many Ediacaran fossils were also noticed the Nagaur Group well exposed near to discuss and debate various aspects of on the bedding planes. Tukliyan village. These sandstones lack MSG, an international field workshop on On the second day the participants any of the Cambrian elements. the Marwar Supergroup, western Rajast- moved to Artiyan Kalan Section where Following day, the base camp was han was organized. Various groups have lowermost silty unit of the Sonia Sand- shifted to Nagaur about 150 km north of demonstrated the potential of palaeobio- stone is exposed in pits around Artiyan Jodhpur. From here the participants logical, geochronological, chemostrati- Kalan village. This is the classical sec- moved to examine Sonia Sandstone at graphical and sedimentological studies tion from where Raghav et al.1 reported Chhoti Khatu area about 70 km north of on MSG. The scope for such varied stu- the first Ediacaran fossil from MSG. Par- Nagaur. Paliwal2 has reported felsic dies attracted 34 participants from 7 ticipants devoted considerable time to igneous rock from the Chhoti Kahtu area, countries drawn from various universi- search and collect fossils and the section which is sandwiched between underlying ties, institutions and industries to this suitably rewarded them. Microbial mat, Sonia Sandstone and overlying Girbha- workshop. wrinkle structure, Kinneyia, Beltinelli- kar Sandstone and is considered as an Mukund Sharma (Organizing Secretary, formis, Marsonia and other well-preser- important event for constraining the age Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany ved structures were noted from this unit. of the basin. It has been a matter of de- (BSIP)), presented as curtain-raiser, the In the vicinity, another outcrop of the bate whether felsic unit is extrusive or aim and relevance of the workshop. It Sonia Sandstone showed a 1 m thick unit intrusive. Different interpretations were was followed by six invited lectures on of carbonate. This might represent an offered. Participants interested in deter- various aspects of MSG by S. K. important unit, indicating transgressive mining the age of MSG and in palaeo- Bhushan (Hospet), Shuhai Xiao (Vir- event in geological past. Many partici- magnetism made extensive collections. It ginia, USA), Joseph G. Meert (Florida, pants collected samples for carbon iso- is likely that this unit may be useful for USA), Mukund Sharma, Ulf Linnemann tope analysis. Thereafter, they moved to constraining the age and position of (Dresden, Germany) and S. C. Mathur the first section of the Bilara Group rep- MSG. (Jodhpur). These lectures gave a brief resented by the Pondlo Limestone, a Next day the focus was on the Cam- prominent pink coloured band exposed brian site which is exposed in Dulmera *A report on the International Field Work- near Garasani Village on Jodhpur–Asop section about 65 km north of Bikaner. shop on the Marwar Supergroup, western road. Pink colour band of dolomite has From this locality Kumar and Pandey3,4 Rajasthan held during 20–28 January 2014. It its own importance in the Neoproterozoic had first discovered Cambrian trace fos- was organized by the Society of Earth Scien- successions and are considered an event sils from the Nagaur Sandstone. They tists, Lucknow. The workshop was sponsored bed. The present unit of carbonate rock is suggested that this is the first Cambrian by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, recrystallized. Another section of the section recognized in the peninsular part IUGS-International Sub-commission on Edia- cara, International Sub-commission on Cam- Bilara Group was observed in Asawari of India. The ichno-fossil assemblage brian, International Geological Correlation Temple section, where gradational con- observed here consists of Cruziana, Programme-587 and J. N. Vyas University, tact between the Bilara and Nagaur Rusophycus, Palaeophycus, Diplichnites, Jodhpur. Funding was committed by DST, groups is seen. Fault and folds indicating Dimorphychnus, Monomorphichnus, Au- CSIR, BRNS, Mumbai and Baldota Group, tectonic disturbances are present in the lichnites, etc. The participants collected Hospet. area. extensively from this section.

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 107, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2014 169 NEWS

Following day, the participants moved the environment of deposition, litho- 2. Paliwal, B. S., J. Geol. Soc. India, 1998, to Sam, Jaisalmer. On the way they saw facies, structural set-up and microbial 52(1), 81–86. Pokaran Boulder Bed (PBB), considered life in the basin. Palaeontological data 3. Kumar, S. and Pandey, S. K., Curr. Sci., to be the base of MSG. Chauhan et al.5 need support from sedimentological in- 2008, 94, 1081–1085. and Bhatt et al.6 have discussed its origin puts. New macrofossil morpho-forms, 4. Kumar, S. and Pandey, S. K., J. Asian Earth Sci., 2010, 38, 77–85. and lithostratigraphic position. The ori- some of which are enigmatic, can give 5. Chauhan, D. S., Mathur, K. M. and Ram, gin of PBB, i.e. whether it is glacial important clues regarding early multicel- N., J. Geol. Soc. India, 2001, 58(5), 425– deposit or not, is being debated. Partici- lular organisms and their evolution. Fel- 433. pants were unanimous that there is no sic volcanic unit of Chhoti Khatu could 6. Bhatt, D. K., Prasad, S., Jain, R. L. and evidence to consider PBB as a glacial be significant and provide precise age Mathur, A. K., J. Geol. Soc. India, 2005, boulder bed. constraint for the basin. 65, 301–308. During the return journey to Jodhpur All participants appreciated the infor- participants saw the Malani Igneous mative, elegantly prepared field guide Suite in Baukan Section. The valedictory book and the meticulous planning of the session was held at Jodhpur. The oil in- field trip by the scientists from BSIP. S. K. Pandey* and Bandana Dimri, dustry was interested in the sequence Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, stratigraphic framework of the MSG ba- 1. Raghav, K. S., De, C. and Jain, R. L., 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, sin which will be helpful to understand Indian Min., 2005, 59, 23–30. India. *e-mail: [email protected]

Indian Physics Association Awards

The Indian Physics Association Awards significant contributions in the areas of bai), for his significant contributions in 2012 were recently presented by M. K. hydrogen storage in nanomaterials and in the field of magnetism particularly in- Sanyal (President, Indian Physics Asso- the fields of non-crystallized solids. The volving neutron scattering. The award is ciation) at a function organized on 11 award carries a citation, gold medal and given for outstanding contributions in April 2014 at the Multipurpose Hall, cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. terms of innovative experimental tech- BARC Training School Hostel, Anushak- The Buti Foundation Award for 2012 niques or innovative instrumentation. tinagar, Mumbai. was given jointly to Aditi Sen De The award consists of a citation and a R. D. Birla Memorial Award 2012 was (Harish-Chandra Research Institute, cash prize of Rs 100,000. awarded jointly to T. V. Ramakrishnan Allahabad) for contributions to quantum Earlier awardees include, the Nobel (Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Ban- information, quantum optics and founda- Laureates Prof. Abdus Salam and Prof. galore) and Ajay Sood (IISc). Ramakrish- tions of quantum mechanics and V. K. S. Chandrasekhar among others are Prof. nan has made pioneering contributions in Chandrasekar (Bharathidasan University, A. Salam, Prof. B. V. Sreekantan, Prof. the theory of freezing of liquids and in Tiruchirappalli) for the understanding of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Prof. R. the localization of electrons due to disor- the fundamental aspects of nonlinear dy- Ramanna, Prof. Govind Swarup, Prof. der. Sood has researched in the areas of namics and complex systems. The award Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar, Dr. P. Raman spectroscopy and soft matter is given for outstanding contributions in K. Iyengar, Prof. R. Chidambaram, Prof. physics. The award is given once in two the area of theoretical applied physics, G. S. Agarwal, Prof. J. V. Narlikar, Prof. years for excellence in pure physics and astrophysics and biophysics. It carries a Ashoke Sen, Prof. Bikash Sinha and carries a citation, gold medal and cash citation, a gold medal and a cash prize of Prof. P. K. Kaw. prize of Rs 50,000. Rs 25,000. M. M. Chugani Memorial Award for The first P. K. Iyengar Memorial Parul R. Sheth, E-705/706 Kalp Nagri, excellence in applied physics for 2012 Award for excellence in experimental Vaishali Nagar, Mulund (West), Mumbai was awarded to O. N. Srivastava (Bana- physics was awarded to S. M. Yusuf 400 080, India. ras Hindu University, Varanasi) for his (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mum- e-mail: [email protected]

170 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 107, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2014