THE AGE OF THE TIKI FORMATION: WITH REMARKS ON THE MIOFLORAL SUCCESSION IN THE GONDWANAS OF

HARI K. MAHESHWARl, K. P. N. KUMARAN & M. N. BOSE Birbal Salmi Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow-226007, India

ABSTRACT

The age of the Tiki Formation in the South Rewa Gondwana Basin has been discussed. Available data on the vertebrate fauna, megaflora and palynoflora of the Tiki Formation havc bcen cvaluated. It is concluded that the Tiki Forma• tion sensu lala (i.e. including the Nidhpuri beds) ranges in age from Anisian through Norian and possibly extends into the Rhaetian. On the basis of available palynological data an attempt has been made to establish the miofloral succession in the Triassic Gondwanas of India. Presently nine successive palynological zones have been rccognized. Howevcr, possibility of existence of some more palynological zones is also not ruled out.

INTRODUCTION The Triassic Gondwanas, charc::cterized by the so-called Dicroidium Flora, are fairly well-developed in the Sa tpura and South Rewa basins and the Damodar and Wardha• IndiaGondwanacomprisesSequencefresh-wa terof rocksdepositsin THEranging in age from Lo\ver Godavari valleys. A generalized succession to Lower (inclusive). The whole of rock for:mations in the Triassic System of sequence is divided into two or three divi- peninsular India is tabulated below.

BijoriRaniganjFm Fm WARDHA-GODAVARIDenwa/BagraTikiMaleriSATPURADaigaonKamthiPachmarhiBhimaramDAMODARSOUTHRaniganjHirapurSupraFmFmREWAFmBedsBASINPanchetsSstFmVALLEYFmFm DharmaramVALLEY Fm Mangali Bcds Kota Fm Upper-Middle Triassic Maitur Fm Nidhpuri(PaliBASINBeds)Beds Yerrapalli Fm Lower Triassic UpperParsoraPermianFm Lower

sions on the basis of distribution of major The Tria ssic System is best da ted in the fossil . The groups in trip;: rtite divi• Wardha-Godav2ri Valley due to aV2ilability sion roughly correspond to the Permian, of characteristic vertebrate fossils. The Triassic and Jurassic-Cretaceous systems of Lower Triassic in the Damodar Valley is European geological time scale. The three also well-established on the basis of reptilian groups, usually called 2S Lower, Middle and fauna. The succession in the South Rewa Upper Gondwanas, are characterized by the Basin, though not satisfactorily dated so far, presence of the Glossopteris Flora, the is the best known due to the occurrence of Dicroidium Flora and the Ptilophyllum well-preserved fossils. Further the car• Flora respectively. bonaceous facies is known only in this regiOn. ~54 MAHESHWARI et at. - THE AGE OF THE TIKI FORMATIO 255

W,hile the pl<.:nt fossils of the Parsora Gondwams of India. In the following pages Formation have been known for quite some these two studies are further elaborated. time (see Bose, 1974, p. 287) it is only in recent years that a carbonized megaflora THE TIKI FORMATION he:s been recognized 3nd described from the Nidhpuri beds (see Bose, 1974, p. 287). The Tiki (23°56'N. lat.: 81°22'E. long.) is a Tiki Forma tion has yielded only Dicroidium small village, about 12 kilometres south of hughesii and a Taeniopteris (R2o in Krish• Beohari, Shahdol District, Madhya Pradesh. nan, 1958). T. W. H. Hughes, while surveying the South The lithology of the P;;rsora Formation Rewa Gondwana Basin in 1879, r.oticed is not suit3ble for p31ynologic31 studies. reptilb n fossils nea r this villa ge. Some A mioflora h3s been described from the more reptilian rema ins were collected from Nidhpuri beds by Bharad,wilj and Srivastava the area by G. de P. Cotter during his (1969). The Tiki For-mation h2s only survey work in 1916. These reptile-contain• very recently been studied pdynologically. ing beds were formally named 2S Tiki A rich and diversified assembl3ge of micro• , St2ge' by Fox (1931, p. 230). spores, megaspores and pollen grains has Aiyengar (1936, p. 405) found that the Tiki been reported and described by Banerji, rocks could be divided into two lithological Kunnran and Maheshwari (1978), Kumaran units. The lower unit is chiefly composed and M::heshw3ri (in press) and Maheshw3ri of red and green clays with subordinate and Kumaran (in press). sandstones. The S8r.dstones at pIaces con• The fossil d3ta availe:ble now provide ta in cla y bdls. The unit con ta ins reptili2 n enough clues to evaluate the 2ge of the fossils, fresh-wa ter molluscs and fossil wood. Tiki Forma tion and to work out a rough The upper unit mostly comprises hard palynological succession in the Tri3ssic ferruginous sandstones and some shales.

MAP 1 - Showing the type areas of Tiki, Maleri and Bagra-Denwa formations. 256 THE PALAEOBOTANtST

The known distribution of the Tiki rocks correspond to the Maleri Formation of the is in the low lying vast tract between Pranhita-Goda vari Valley. Tiki and Somarkoini (23°37'N. lat.: 81°10'E. long.). According to a recent view (Roy• FAUNA OF TIKI FORMATION Chowdhury et al., 1975) the Nidhpuri beds are equivalent of the basal part of the The ani,mal fossils in the Tiki Formation Tiki Formation. have been found only in the red clays Dutta and Ghosh (1972, p. 232) do not occurring south of Tiki. The vertebrate recognize the Tiki Formation as a separate fauna comprises a metoposaur (Metoposaurus entity but would rather place it as the malerirmsis), a rhynchosaur (Paradapedon upper part of what they term as 'Pali h~txleyi) and a phytosaur (ParasuCh2tS sp.). Formation '. According to them the rocks Scutes similar to Typothorax have also been around Tiki and Pali are lithologically very found. Invertebrates are represented by similar and based on their spatial rela tion• Unio sp. This fauna is almost identical with ship form a single lithostratigraphical unit. that of the Maleri Formation senS~t stricto However, it would seem that these authors (Chatterjee & Roy-Chowdhury, 1974, p. 105). ha ve not taken into account the occurrence The Maleri 'Formation' sensu lato of of carbonaceous facies in the Tiki Formation, King (1881) h2s yielded two successive zones particularly in the Janar Stream and the of vertebrate fauna. The term Maleri For• Gopad River. The carbonaceous facies is mation is now restricted to the upper part very characteristic of the Tiki Formation of the succession which has yielded a and as far as we know it has not been typical Malcri fauna. The lower part of the reported in any other Triassic formation in succession with a different fauna was named India. On the basis of lithological data as the Yerrapalli Formation by Jain, Robin• a t hand we are rather inclined to trea t Son and Roy-Chowdhury (1964). The two Tiki Formation as separate from the Pali form2-tions, Yerra palli and Maleri, are sepa• beds, the latter possibly being equivalent rated by a sandstone called as Bhimaram of the Raniganj Formation of the Damodar Sandsto!1e. According to Kutty (1969, p. 37), Valley. the age of the Yerrapalli Formation is late While discussing the relationship of the Lower or early Middle Triassic and that of Pali beds and the Tiki Formation one must the Maleri Formation is early Upper Triassic also not loose sight of the striking differences (Carnian through orian). in their megafloral contents. The floral Faunistically the Denwa Formation was assemblage from the Pali beds (Daigaon earlier correlated with the Tiki and Maleri Stage of Lele, 1964) has a typical Upper forma tions. However, this correIa tion may Permian impress particularly at Karkati, not be tenable now in view of new studies. Salaia and Daigaon. On the other hand Chatterjeeand Roy-Chowdhury (1974, p.105) the Tiki megaflora almost exclusively con• are of the opinion that the Denwa beds sists of Dicroidiu,m with rare occurrence of may be older than the Tiki-Maleri beds and Pachypteris-like forms. The vertebrate fa una are probably equivalent of the Yerrapalli of the Ti:ki Formation is also indicative of Formation. an Upper Triassic age (Chatterjee & Roy• Thus the available faunistic evidence Chowdhury, 1974, p.108). Thus there seems seems to suggest tha t the age of the Tiki• to be a time gap spanning a period from Maleri fauna is Carnian through Middle Scythian to Carnian between the Pali and Norian. the Tiki formations. The rocks of the Tiki Formation have a MEGAFLORA OF TIKI FORMATION typical Maleri aspect (Pascoe, 1959, p. 972). The rocks of the Maleri Formation occur Fossil wood has been reported associated about 575 km south of Tiki area. The with the vertebrates in the Tiki Formation, Maleri Formation comprises broad spreads of south of Tiki. One such wood was named red clays with white or pale grey sandstones 2-SMesembrioxylon malerianum by B. Salmi and lenses of lime pellet rocks. A similar (1931). There is no evidence that the wood lithology also characterizes the Denwa For• is in Sit2t in the Tiki Formation. According mation of Satpura Basin. The Denwa to M. R Salmi and R30 (1956), the wood Formation has usually been taken to roughly was probably derived from the younger beds. MAHESilWAid et at. - TilE AGE OF THE TiKI FORMATioN 257

In situ calcified and partly carbonized shale bands. Satsangi (1964), who first fossil wood is known to occur in the Tiki discovered plant fossils in these beds da ted beds on the east bank of Son River near these as Triassic. Bharadwaj and Srivastava Ghiar (23°50' N. lat.: 81°16'30" E. long.). (1969, p. 146) surmised tha t the Nidhpuri beds This wood is poorly preserved and does not were the upper part of the Panchet' Stage' show any identifiable features. However, (' Daigaon Stage ') which is faunistically Saksena (1962) reported a dicotyledonous dated as Scythian. Bharadwaj (1969, p. 89) wood, Gondwanoocylon ghiarii from the same 2ssumed that the palynoflora of the Parsora locality. Evidently there seems to have t Stage' too would not have been much been some mixup of material and Saksena's different from that of the Nidhpuri beds. wood in all probabilities seems to have been However, none of the above two views derived from the overlying intertrappeans. were accepted by Maheshwari (1975, p. 241). Nageswara Rao (in Krishnan, 1958, p. 12) The Panchet beds are much older than the recorded the presence of Thinnfeldia sp. Nidhpuri beds as unlike the latter they (= Dicroidium sp.) and Taeniopteris sp. have an almost Upper Permian megaflora from the green shale bands of Tiki Forma• which 12cks the genus Dicroidiu:m. Further tion exposed near Ghiar. Singh (in Sastry the Panchet palyr.oflora, particularly of et al., 1977, p. 73) has now reported the occur• the upper part, is cha.racterized by the rence of Dicroidium, Pachypteris, Noeggera• abundance of pteridophytic spores, both thiopsis and Taeniopteris from the same mega- and micro-, whereas the Nidhpuri locality. Our collection from the Ghiar loca• palynoflora is mostly w,mposed of saccate lity, too, includes a fragmentary Noeggera• pollen. The Parsora Formation is mega• thiopsis-like leaf in a clay ball. However, floristically younger than the Nidhpuri beds unlike to Permian Noeggerathiopsis leaves, as it almost lacks the genus Glossopteris the Ghiar leaf has a very fragile cuticle. which is a characteristic Permian holdover Thinnfeldia (= Dicroidium) hughesii fronds in the Nidhpuri beds. Bharadwaj and were also reported from the Tiki Formation Tiwari (1977, p. 45) noM'agree that the Nidh• exposed in the Janar Stream between puri mioflora is younger as co,mpared to the Bijouri and Harai by Nageswara Rao (ibid). Pa nchet mioflora. In our collection there are carbonized The presence of thin carbonaceous shale leaves of Dicr(Jidium/Lepidopteris which bands with Dicr,Oidi'um in the Nidhpuri possibly belong to more than two species. exposure reminds one of similar carbonaceous The occurrence of the genus Dicroidium shale bands with Dicy,oidifU,l1t in the Tiki in the Tiki Formation is a pointer of Forma tion exposed in the Janar Stream. Triassic age. The genus Pac/typteris is Therefore, ROyrChowdhury et al. (1975) known in India so far only from the Jurassic seem to have been correct in placing the sedimentary rocks. The genus Dicroidium Nidhpuri beds as equivalent to the base is also abundant only in the Nidhpuri beds of the Tiki Formation. In that light the and the Parsora Formation of Middle age of the Nidhpuri beds would be near Triassic and Rhaetic age respectively. As about Lower Anisian. the genus Dicroidium is not known to The Tiki Formation in the type area persist above the Pars ora Formation (except has only very recently been studied palyno• probably in Jurassic of Vema'V'aram, Jain, logically from three localities, viz., Thari• 1968, p. 153) its association with the genus pathar, Ghiar and Bijouri-Harai (Sundaram Facltypteris may be regarded as an indicator et al., 1977; Banerji, Ku,'maran & Mahesh• of an Upper Triassic age. wari, 1978; Kumaran & Maheshwzri, in press; Maheshwari & Kumaran, in press). PALYNOFLORA OF TIKI FORMATION The miofloras from Tharipathar alid Ghiar exposures ha ve following str2 tigre phica lly The first ever record of the palynoflora important species: A ulisporites ast1:gmosus from the Tiki Formation is from the Nidh• (Leschik) KIC'us1960, Enzonalasporites densus puri beds by Bharadwaj and Srivastava (Leschik) Dolby 1976, E. ignacii (Leschik) (1969). The exposure from which this M8heshwari & KUllarC'n 1978, E. vigens palynoflora has been recorded shows striking Leschik 1955, Rimaespo1'1'tes potoniaei Les• lithological resemblance to the Raniganj chik 1955, Samaropollenites stPecios~lsGOt:bin Formation in having thin carbonaceous 1965, Ca'rnerosporites secatus Le~chik 1955 258 THE PALAEOBOTANIST and Duplicisporites gra1tulatus Leschik 1955 Hammen ex Potonie 1956. The megaspore along with pollen of the genus Staurosaccites assemblage as such is more akin to the Dolby 1976. Maheshwari and Kumaran (in Rhaetic- Liassic assembla ges from Gondwana• press) compare these miofloras with the land rather than to the Permian-Lower Tri• Samaropollenites speciosus zone of the Onslow assic or the Jurassic-Cretaceous assemblages. Microflora. The S. speciOS2tS zone is of The Janar Stream megaspore assemblage probable Carnian age (Dolby & Balme, 1976). also shows a close SImilarity with the The stratigraphically important species Keuper megaspores from Germany ar.d the in the Janar Stream (Bijouri-Harai) mioflora R.haetic megaspores from Poland. are: Aulisporites asMgmosus, ApVculatisporis Marcinkiewicz (1971), while summ8rizing globosus (Leschik) Playford & Dettmann the distribution pa Hem of megaspore species 1965, Convolutispor:a microrugulata Schulz in Europe, observed tha t (i) Banksisporites 1967, Camarozonosporites ntdis KIa us 1960, pinguis (Ranis) Dettm2J,Jl m2Y be regarded Leschikisporis aduncus (Potonie) Bhar2 dwaj as the index species for the l~h<..etIc, (ii) & Singh 1964, Carnisporites mesozoicus Horstisporites areolatus (H8lTis) Potonie and (Klaus) Madler 1964, Dictyophyllidites mor• Nathorstisporites hopliticus JULg are ch8rac• tonii (de Jersey) Playford & Dettmann teristic of Liassic sediments. As all the 1965, Clavatisporites ha1ll,~nenii (Herbst) de three species are present in the Janar Jersey 1971, Lycopodiacidites kuepperi Klaus Stream assemblage, it would be natural to 1960, Conbaculatisporites mesozoicus KIa us presume that its age is somewhere a t the 1960, Neoraistrickia taylorii Playford & Rhaetic-Liassic boundary. A compaative Dettmann 1965, Uvaesporites verrucows (de distribution of some of the important mega• Jersey) Hel by in de Jersey 1971, Disci• spore species in different countries (Chart 1) sporites psilatus de Jersey 1964, Rimae• also seems to confirm this view. sporites potoniaei, St1tmaropollenites speciosus, Thus while the mioflora of the Janar Lunatisporites rhaeticus (Schulz) Kumaran & Stream exposure has Carnian-Nori8n affi• Maheshwari 1979 and Pseudoenzonalasporites nities, the megaspores have a clear Rhaetian summus Scheuring 1970. The mioflora also aspect. In the absence of characteristic contains specimens referable to the genera Rhaetian miospores, viz., Rhaetipollis, Ricci• Conipollenites Cameron 1974, Infernopol• isporites, Gliscopollis, Staplinisporites, Tr• lenites Scheuring 1970 and Equisetosporites iancoraesporites, Zebraspontes, Limbosporites Daugherty 1941 along with the characteristic etc., we are more inclined to accept a genus Staurosaccites. Norian age for these beds. None of the above taxa occur below the . On the other hand, some THE A'GE OF THE TIKI FORMATION of the above species, viz., Apiculatisporis globosus, Camarozonosporites rudis, Clavati• In the preceding pages we have evaluated sporites hammenii, Convolutispora microrugu• three different palaeontological parameters, lata, Lunatisporites rhaeticus and Ly,copodi• viz., vertebrate fauna, megaflora and palyno• acidites kuepperi range even in the Liassic. flora for deciding the age of the Tiki The mioflora has a clear affinity with the Formation sensu lato. Onslow Microflora of Carnarvon B8sin, The faunistic evidence is available only (Dolby & Balme, 1976) in the for the lower part of Tiki Formation sensu characteristic occurrence of the genus·Stauro• stricto (i.e. excluding the Nidhpuri beds). saccites which is not known from anywhere It gives an age from Carnian through else. The age of the Onslow Microflora is Middle Norian. from Carnian to Norian. The megafloral evidence is not very The Janar Stream micro flora also contains instructive. The Nidhpuri beds seem to be a diversified assemblage of megaspores younger than the Scythian Panchet Group (Banerji, Kumaran & Maheshwari, 1978). of Damodar Valley but definitely older than In this assemblage megaspores referable to the Tiki Forma tion proper, the la tter ha ving the genus Banksisporites Dettmann 1961 indications of an Upper Triassic flora in the dominate both in number of species and dominance of Dicroidium, and the presence specimen counts. Other important mega• of Pachypteris. spore genera are H orst1'sport'tes Potonie 1956, The palynoflora is more indicative of a tNahorstispor1'tes Jung 1958 and Verrutr11etes definite age to the Tiki Formation sensu MAHESHWARI et al. -l'HE AGE OF THE TIKI FOR:\L\TION 25~

..... :...... TRIASSIC---RHAETICGONDWANENSISS/NUOSUSOBSCURUSPANCHETENS/SARE-OLATUSLIASSICLRVAR/AB/lIS.HOPLlTICUS- BANKS/SPORITE S ------ossembloge_---..,..... BANKS/SPOR/TESHUGHES/SPOR/TESPINGU/SHORSTISPORITES 1-'-,-'-'-'-'--. -_x-x-Species found___in presenl" )( liex x '1" )(l( " )( ...._...... •...... _ ..._ ...... NATHORSTISPOR /TES - f------_. VERRUTRILETES :-x BANKS/SPOR/TES BANKSISPORITES

...... AUSTRALIA POLAND

GERMANY -lC- - ROMANIA ••• " •••• 1•• ( .• '

GREENLAND ~ SWEDEN

INDIA & PAKISTAN

CHART 1 - Showing distribution of some important megaspor e species recovered from the Jnar Nala samples in the Triassic-Liassic strata.

stricto, though it has little to contribute to ments of Peninsular India than ever before. the age of the Nidhpuri beds. In the Tiki On the basis of available palynological data Formation proper, the Tharipathar-Ghiar we may now attempt to establish the section is possibly of Carnian age whereas the miofloral succession in the Triassic of Penin• Janar Stream section is possibly of Norian sular India. Maheshwari (1975) discerned age, probably extending into the Rhaetian. five palynological zones in the Indian Thus the Tiki Formation (including the Triassic. Recently acquired data show that Nidhpuri beds) seems to have ranged from the number of palynological assemblages is Anisian through Norian as also suggested by at least nine, may be more as part of the Roy-Chowdhury et al. (1975). It possibly extended into the Rhaetian too. Indian Triassic sediments has yet to be palynologically examined. The presumed stratigraphic position of seven of these MIOFLORAL SUCCESSION IN TRIASSIC assemblages are shown in Chart 2. OF PENINSULAR INDIA 1. Klausipollenites schaubergeri Assemblage We now have a lot more information This assemblage is known only in the about the palynology of the Triassic sedi- subsurface of the Damodar Valley (Purnea 0•l-.:> DAMODAR KOEL REWA SATPURA IGODAVARIIMAHANADI 0- NORTH RAMKOLA-

COALFIELDRANIGANJ IKARANPURACOALFIELD COALFIELDAURANGA I TATAPANICOALFIELD ISIDHI·SHAHOOL

LR. JURASSIC CHAUGAN Flil KOTA Fm e u. -0IIIa: :~~C.· ':"'-'-.- "0' > :>• UJ >o :~:;:.<\~:.:.:....:.':. >• UJ -i .. Cl I• UJ SCYTHIAN J: U Z ~

.UPPER PERMIANI RANIGANJ RANIGANJ RANIGANJ RANIGANJ RANIGANJ BIJORI I

CHART 2 - Showing the probable locations of 7 of the known 9 Triassic palynological assemblages in peninsular India. 1"':':'-' ](,1 2(,2

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_ Venkatachala & Rawat, 1974; Borehole other important species are Divaripunctites NCRD 6: Assemblage 2 - Bharadwaj & globosus Kar (incl. D. plicatus Kar), Rima• Tiwari, 1977). Like the underlying Upper spora plicata Kar and Protohaploxypinus Permian Raniganj Formation, this assem- varius (Bharadwaj) Balme (= Striatopiceites I bIage, too, has a predominance of striate• clarus Kar). Assemblages II and III are bisaccate pollen. But, at the same time also of Scythian age as dated by vertebrate the pteridophytic spores are rather much fossils. more diverse. Besides Klausipollenites schaubergeri (Potonie & Klaus) Jansonius, IV. Weylandites indicus Assemblage other important species are Lunatisporites ovatus Goubin (= L. rhombicus Bharadwaj & The stratigraphical position of the beds Tiwari), L. pellucidus (Goubin) Mahesh~ari which have yielded this assemblage is & Banerji (= L. diffusus Bharadwa] & controversial. These beds, exposed in the Tiwari), Alisporites landianus Balme (= A. Gopad River near Nidhpuri, Madhya Pra• grobus Bharadwaj & Tiwari), Tigrisporites desh unconformably overlie the Raniganj playfordii de Jersey & Hamilton and Play• Formation and are overlain by alluvium. fordiaspora cancellosa (Playford & Dettmann) Two miofloral assemblages have been des• Maheshwari & Banerji. This assemblage is cribed from this area and both have been within the Scythian Stage of European assigned a Triassic age. However, the standard scale. assemblage reported by Trivedi and Misra (1969) has all the characteristic features II. Playfordiaspora cancellosa Assemblage of the Raniganj mioflora and definitely is of Upper Permian age. The other assemblage, This assemblage is represented in the described by Bharadwaj and Srivastava Maitur Formation (basal Panchet Group) (1969), has also been a subject of contro• of the Damodar Valley (Raniganj Coalfield versy. Balme (1970) and Venkatachala _ Maheshwari & Banerji, 1975; Banerji & (1976) are of the opinion that this assem• Maheshwari, 1977; Borehole NCRD 6: As• blage too has Permian affinities. However, semblage 3 - Bharadwaj & Tiwari, 1977; it is quite unlikely as the palyniferous Auranga Coalfield - Banerji & Maheshwari, horizon contains the characteristic Triassic 1975). Here too, the bisaccate-striate pollen genera Dicroidium and Pteruchus. These continue to be important but are associated two genera are not known from the Scythian with a quantitatively significant and well or older beds of India. Therefore, the diversified pteridophytic spore flora. Nidhpuri. beds presumably are Anisian or Besides the characteristic presence of younger m age. Playfordiaspora cancellosa, other significant The most characteristic elements of Assem• species are Punctatisporites maiturensis blage-IV of course is the genus Weylandites Maheshwari & Banerji, Verrucosisporites with 5 species. Other important taxa are: morulae Klaus, Kraeuselisporites wargalensis Nidipollenites monoletus Bharadwaj & Sri• Balme, Lundbladispora sp., Densoisporites vastava, Falcisporites nidpurensis (Bharad• complicatus Balme, F alcisporites stabilis waj & Srivastava), F. triassicus (Bharadwaj Balme, Platysaccus queenslandi de Jersey & Srivastava) and Praecolpatites nidpurensis and Lunatisporites pellucidus. Bharadwaj & Srivastava.

III. Decisporis variabilis Assemblage V. Staurosaccites tharipatharensis Assemblage This assemblage comes from the Hirapur This assemblage is known from the Thari• Formation (upper Panchet Group) and is pathar exposure (Maheshwari & Kumaran, represented in the subsurface only of the in press). Characteristic elements of this Damodar Valley (Borehole RO l(B) - Shri• assemblage are Staurosaccites tharipatharensis, vastava & Pawde, 1962; Borehole RE 9• Samaropollenites speciosus Goubin, Falci• Kar, 1970; Borehole RE 1 - Sarbadhikari, sporites stabilis Balme, Rimaesporites poto• 1972). The assemblage is dominated by niaei Leschik, Aulisporites astigmosus (Les• pteridophytic spores (71-80 per cent). chik) Klaus, Camerosporites secatus Leschik, Besides Decisporis variabilis Kar (incl. D. Duplicisporites granulatus Leschik and En• panchetensis Kar and D. rudis Kar), the zonalasporites densus (Leschik) Dolby. This 264 'THE PALAEOBOTAN1ST

assemblage 1S indicative of Upper Carnian Scheuring, L. rhaeticus (Schulz), Tikisporites age. balmei and T. complicatus.

VI. Rimaesporites potoniaei Assemblage VIII. Shumarwali Miospore Assemblage

This assemblage is known from the Ghiar This assemblage is imperfectly known exposure (Maheshwari & Kumaran, in press). from the subsurface in an exploratory well It is rather poor in pteridophytic spores. near Shumarwali area, Rajasthan (Tikku, Lukose, Singh, Misra, Gupta & Abbasi, Important elements are Rimaesporites poto• 1976). The reported forms include Glisco• niaei, F alcisporites stabilis, Lycopodium• pollis, Staplinisporites, Tigrisporites, Rugu• sporites sp., Densoispotites sp. and Enzonala• latisporites, Gutlatisporites, Lundbladispora, sporites spp. This assemblage seems to be slightly younger than the previous assem• Ovalipollis, Lunatisporites and Samaropol• lenites. The age of the assemblage is blage, but may not be younger than Upper Carnian. supposed to be Late Triassic-Rhaetian. IX. Rhaetipollis germanicus Assemblage VII. Tikisporites balmei Assemblage This assemblage, too, is imperfectly known This is one of the best known Triassic in subsurface from the Banni well-2 of assemblages from India. It has a highly Kutch (Koshal, 1975). Besides Rhaetipollis diversified pteridophytic microflora com• germanieus, the assemblage contains Diet yo• prising both micro- and megaspores (Banerji, Phyllidites, Klausipollenites, Lunatisporites Kumaran & Maheshwari, 1978; Kumaran & rhaeticus, F aleisporites-complex, Lundbladi• Maheshwari, in press). The age of the spora sp., Aeq'uitriradites minor Midler, assemblage is more likely to be Norian, Coneavisporites sp., Gliseopollis-Classopollis may be even younger. complex, Convolutispora mierorugulata Schulz The most important element of the assem• andPoreellispora (= Naiadita). This assem• blage is the genus Infernopollenites. Other blage has been dated as of Rhaetic-Liassic characteristic taxa are Convolutispora micro• age on the basis of palynomorphs. rugulata Schulz, Camarozonosporites rudis The above miofloral assemblages cover Klaus, Clavatisporites hammenii (Herbst) de almost whole of the Triassic succession of Jersey, DictyoPhyllidites mortonii (de Jersey) peninsular India. However, even now a Playford & Dettmann, Lycopodiacidites kuep• big palynological gap exists between Late peri Klaus, Playfordiaspora cancellosa (re• Anisian and Late Carnian. Also in other appearance of the taxon), N eoraistrickia stages there may be present many more taylorii Playford and Dettmann, Carni• assemblages. The dating of some of the sporites mesozoicus (Klaus) Midler, Uvae• assemblages, e.g. I, IV, VIII and IX is only sporites verrucosus (de Jersey) Helby, Chorda• provisional as no independent palaeonto• sporites australiensis de Jersey, Rimaesporites logical control is available. potoniaei, Samaropollenites speciosus, Stauro• The miofloral succession in the Triassic of saccites spp., Lunatisporites acutus (Leschik) Peninsular India is depicted in Chart 3.

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