ORCID

Abstract

The Cauvery Basin is an important rift margin basin on the east coast of India. It's long research history began in the mid-nineteenth century with the pioneering work of H.F. Blanford. While much of the Cretaceous succession in the basin is fault-controlled, some of the recorded events represent global sea level changes, especially in the mid-Cretaceous. Macrofossils (ammonites, bivalves, etc.) and foraminifera are abundant throughout, and there is an important occurrence of fossil wood and ‘log-grounds’ in the Turonian-Coniacian. The basin is sub-divided into a series of sub-basins (known as depressions in the earlier literature) which - in places - have their own distinctive depositional history.The results of our collective fieldwork have provided a re-assessment of the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and the tectono-stratigraphical history of the Ariyalur outcrop. Three sedimentary units have been identified; the syn-rift Gondwana Group (of early Cretaceous age), the syn-rift Uttatur Group (of Albian to Coniacian age) and the post-rift Ariyalur Group (of Santonian to Maastrichtian age). Both microfossil and macrofaunal information have been integrated in order to construct a biostratigraphical framework for the basin and develop a tectono-stratigraphical model. Structures exposed onshore, which have occasionally been interpreted as Albian reefs, are thought to be irregularly shaped, limestone olistoliths and olistostromes produced by significant intra-Cretaceous faulting and slumping within the basin.

Publication Date

2024-06-06

Publication Title

Geological Society Special Publication

Volume

545

Issue

1

ISSN

0305-8719

Acceptance Date

2024-05-16

Deposit Date

2024-06-18

Embargo Period

2025-06-06

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