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International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

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International Journal of Coal Geology


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Coal seam correlation of an Indian Gondwana coaleld: A palaeobotanical perspective


A.K. Srivastava , Deepa Agnihotri
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow 226007, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 31 December 2011
Received in revised form 13 June 2012
Accepted 23 June 2012
Available online 1 July 2012
Keywords:
Gondwana
Palaeobotany
Glossopteris ora
Permian
India

a b s t r a c t
Coal in India mainly belongs to Gondwana coalelds of Damodar-Koel, Son-Mahanadi, Wardha-Godavari,
Narmada and Satpura Basins. The associated carbonaceous shales and sandstones exposed in these coalelds
contain a variety of plant fossil assemblages of Glossopteris ora. The name of the ora is derived from the
dominant presence of Glossopteris leaves having a tongue shape, entire margin, distinct midrib and reticulate
venation pattern. Apart from the leaves of Glossopteris, the ora is known by related leaf types, variety of male
female fructications, seeds, sporangia and spore-pollen of the Glossopterid group of plants. The fossils of other
groups of plants viz., Bryophytes, Lycophytes, Pteridophytes, Coniferophytes, and Ginkgophytes are also discovered
in association with the ora. The coal bearing sequence of the Indian Gondwana coalelds is subdivided into a
number of geological formations of the Permian Period i.e. Talchir, Karharbari, Barakar, Barren Measures, and
Raniganj.
Each formation contains characteristic plant fossil assemblages. The coal is being exploited from the workable coal
seams of the Karharbari, Barakar and Raniganj formations.
The palaeobotanical investigation of plant fossils recovered from four different coal seams of Pench, Kanhan and
Pathakhera coalelds of the Satpura Gondwana Basin, of central India, indicates the presence of different types of
assemblages in different coal seams. The ora of Lower Barakar coal seams demonstrates the frequent occurrence
of Gangamopteris, Noeggerathiopsis, Buriadia, Botrychiopsis, various types of fructication Ottokaria, Arberia, seeds,
and leaves of Glossopteris. In distinction the assemblage of the upper Barakar seams show the homogeneity of
ora, with dominance of Glossopteris-species and different types of glossoptrid leaves e. g. Rhabdotaenia,
Maheshwariphyllum, fructication Plumsteadia, Partha, Scutum and fertile and sterile fronds of Neomariopteris.
Present study for the rst time demonstrates the usefulness of plant fossil data in the correlation of coal seams
in the Gondwana coalelds of India.
The oristic analysis of the Raniganj Coaleld of eastern India also shows the evidence of specic distributions of
plant fossils in different coal seams of Early Permian Barakar Formation.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Coal occurs in different layers in intermittent sequences of carboniferous shale or sandstone.
The exposed layer of coal within a particular rock sequence is recognized as the coal seams and its limit and extension varies from place to
place (Van Kravelen, 1961). The number and nature of the coal seams depend on the source material, sedimentological and palaeogeographical
characteristics of the coaleld. In comparison to coal of the northern
hemisphere, which belongs to the Carboniferous Period and formed
from autochthonous mode of deposition, Gondwana coal occurs in different coal bearing sequences of the Permian Period and is derived
from drifted plant material deposited in basins or valleys i.e. the coal is
allochthonous in nature (Krishnan, 1982; Navale, 1974, 1976, 1978).
Corresponding author at: Intergral University, Kursi Road, Lucknow-226026, India.
Tel.: +91 522 2740008/2738305; fax: +91 522 2740485/2740098.
E-mail addresses: ashwini_bsip@yahoo.com,
srivastava019@gmail.com (A.K. Srivastava).
0166-5162/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.coal.2012.06.009

Coals of the Angarian Realm (Siberia) are mostly Permian and the plant
material is both auto and allochthonous. The coal bearing sequences
are known by the Karharbari, Barakar and Raniganj formations of the
Lower Gondwana System and each formation is known by its typical
plant fossil assemblages (Srivastava, 1997).
Coal seams in different coalelds are formed depending upon the
source material and coalication process (Casshyap, 1979). Sudden
inux of sediments or retrieval of vegetal matter in the formation of
coal seams result in coal seams that are split which are difcult to correlate the coal seams. In order to resolve the problem, Sahni (1940)
suggested the use of palaeobotanical knowledge to correlate coal
seams in Indian Gondwana coalelds. Following this idea, Bharadwaj
(1971) and others (Bharadwaj and Prakash, 1972; Bharadwaj and
Salujha, 1964; Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 1973; Bharadwaj and Tiwari,
1977) comprehensively studied the sporepollen assemblages for the
correlation of coal seams in different coalelds of India. However, the
distribution of plant mega fossils have not yet been characterized to
identify or correlate the different coal seams, mainly because it is difcult
to get fossils from a single seam coal mines. In view of this fact, we

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

investigated the Pench, Kanhan and Pathakhera coalelds of the Satpura


Gondwana Basin in central India. Each coaleld contains 3 to 4 coal
seams, and coal is being exploited from single seam open cast or underground mines. Fortunately, the underlying and overlying carbonaceous
shale samples of the colliery have yielded well preserved plant fossils.
The study of plant fossil assemblages from different seams of the Barakar
Formation of the Raniganj coaleld (Srivastava, 1992) has demonstrated
that palaeobotanical data can be used to correlate the different coal
seams.
Plant fossil samples were collected from a single seam coal mines
with the help of coal geologists of Western Coalelds Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited. A large number of fossils (around 1000 in

89

number) were recovered from open cast and underground mines of


the Pench, Kanhan and Pathakhera coalelds of the Satpura Gondwana
Basin. This discovery suggests the explicit distribution of fossils in different coal seams of the Barakar Formation belonging to Early Permian
sequence of Gondwana System because of the fact that each coal seam
in all likeness is derived from individualistic association of plant
material.
The distribution of plant fossils in Lower Gondwana sediments
indicates that the earliest elements of Glossopteris ora appear suddenly in the early Early Permian sequence of Talchir Formation represented
by the species of Gangmopteris-Noeggerathiopsis, with few records of
Paranocladus, Arberia and seeds. The Gangamopteris-Noeggerathiopsis

Fig. 1. A. Shows the distribution of different Gondwana basins in Peninsular India. (after Ghosh et al., 2004). B. Outline of geological map of Satpura Gondwana Basin that shows the
locations of the different coalelds i.e. Pench, Kanhan and Patahkhera. (after Ghosh et al., 2004).

90

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

complex diversied with the addition of Glossopteris-species during


late-early part of Early Permian Karharbari Formation. During this
period ora also shows the distinct presence of Botrychiopsis, Buriadia,
Euryphyllum and Rubidgea. Recently, these elements have been
reported from the ora of Lower Barakar Formation (Singh et al., 2006a,

2006b; Srivastava, 1996). The ora of Early Permian Barakar Formation


characteristically demonstrates the continuation of Karharbari oral
elements at lower stage but during Early Permian stage of upper
Barakar most of earlier forms disappear and the dominance of
Glossopteris-species along with Neomariopteris and Lelstotheca is noticed

Fig. 2. Generalized lithostratigraphy of Gondwana successions in Satpura Basin.

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

in the assemblage. The early Late Permian sequence of Barren Measures


Formation shows the steady decline of genera and species mainly attributed due to severe aridity as the formation contains the red bed sequence.
The presence of lycopsid genus, Cyclodendron is typical of the ora,
together with the species of Glossopteris. The Late Permian Raniganj
Formation represents the zenith of Glossopteris ora represented
by number of genera and species of Glossopterid leaves, fructications
and pteridophytes (Lele, 1976; Maheshwari, 1976; Srivastava, 1996,
1997). The end phase of Permian Period i.e. Bijori, Kamthi and Pachhwara

91

formations demonstrates the declining stage of Glossopteris ora before


its extinction in early or middle part of Triassic Formation (Srivastava
and Agnihotri, 2010). The evolutionary pattern of dominant group
of plant Glossopterid indicates that the glossopterid leaves and
fructications have dichotomous mode of developmental pattern.
The leaves are classied under reticulate and non reticulate types
and both the forms evolved successively with alteration and modication at different stratigraphic levels. Similarly glossopterid fructications recognized as two types e.g. multiovulate and branched type,

Fig. 3. Detailed geological maps of different coalelds of Satpura Gondwana Basin showing the fossil site. (after Singh and Shukla, 2004). A. Pench Valley Coaleld. B. Kanhan Valley
Coaleld. C. Pathakhera Coaleld.

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A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

Fig. 3 (continued).

signify the evolutionary pattern through reduction of ovule and


ovule bearing organ at different stratigraphic levels (Srivastava,
1986, 2004).

2. Material and method: Satpura Gondwana Basin


The eastwest aligned Satpura Gondwana Basin is located in the
heart of the Indian peninsula along the southern ank of the Narmada
Valley (Fig. 1A). This rhomb shaped master Gondwana Basin is delineated in the north by the Son-Narmada fractured zone, which denes
a major geo-fracture in the peninsular craton (Chakraborty and
Ghosh, 2008). It is 200 km long and 60 km wide. The basin covers
an area of 12000 km 2 and is situated between 22 06 N-22 28
latitude and 77 4879 00 longitude (Fig. 1B). It extends south
of Narmada plains of Hoshangabad and includes the hilly region of
southern Hoshangabad, northern Chhindwara and north-eastern
Betul (Raja Rao, 1983). Satpura Gondwana Basin is unique amongst
all of the Indian Gondwana basins because it has the largest range
stratigraphically spanning from Permian to Cretaceous (Crookshank,
1936). There are three major coalelds within the basin: the Pench,
Kanhan and Pathakhera. The Barakar formation represents the coal
bearing horizon in the basin.
Gondwana sediments of the Satpura Basin are estimated to have a
thickness of more than 5000 m. There are number of stratigraphic
units which are found only in this Basin, including the Motur, Bijori,
Almod, Denwa and Bagra formations. The Motur and Bijori formations
have been correlated with the Lower Gondwana sequences of the
Barren Measures and Raniganj formations of the Damodar Basin,
whereas, beds of the Pachmarhi, Denwa and Bagra belong to Late Triassic
and Jurassic. Early Triassic beds of the Middle Gondwana are absent in
Satpura Gondwana basin. The Jabalpur sequence is assigned to the
Lower Cretaceous and represents the Upper Gondwana (Srivastava and
Agnihotri, 2009). Precambrian basement rocks are overlain unconformably by the Talchir, Barakar, Motur and Bijori sediments, and the contact

between Bijori and Pachmarhi formations marks the boundary between


the Lower and Upper Gondwana subdivisions (Srivastava and Agnihotri,
2009). Ghosh et al. (2001) have proposed a stratigraphic succession in
Satpura Gondwana Basin (Fig. 2).
3. Coalelds of the Satpura Gondwana Basin
On the basis of the occurrence of coal, the Satpura Gondwana Basin
is divided into four coalelds: The Pench Valley Coaleld, Kanhan Valley
Coaleld, and Pathakhera Coaleld.
3.1. Pench Valley Coaleld
The Pench Valley Coaleld is named after the river Pench, covers the
southern portion of the Satpura Gondwana Basin in the Chhindwara
district of Madhya Pradesh between longitude 7838790 and latitude 22092224 (Figs. 1B, 3A). It extends over the length of about
32 km from Sukri in the west and Haranbhata in the east. Talchir,
Barakar, Motur and Bijori formations of the Lower Gondwana group
and the Jabalpur Formation of the Upper Gondwana group followed
by the Deccan Traps, are exposed in Pench Valley.
Talchir is the lowest member of the group (Fig. 2), which unconformably overlies the Archean rocks, and is exposed along the southern
portion of the Barakar Formation which occurs in a long strip trending
eastwest, but exposures of Barakar Formation are generally met only
in the sections of river tributaries.
The Barakar coal measures are exposed in narrow disconnected
patches. Barakar rocks are comprised of medium to coarse-grained
sandstone, carbonaceous shale and coal seams in the Pench Valley.
The Barakar and Talchir boundary is faulted. The coal measures of
Pench Valley have a regional northerly dip of 515. The Pench Valley
region has a maximum covering of the Barakars by the Deccan Traps.
Motur rocks occupy the 3/4th part of the coaleld, and consist of
yellowish sandstone and mottled clay beds. They are devoid of any

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

93

coal seam. Motur is followed by the rocks of the Jabalpur stage and
Deccan Trap rocks (Chandra, 1971).
In the coaleld, the coal seams occur in a thick sequence (250 m)
of Barakar sediments. There are four coal-seams in a sequence of
5080 m, are numbered from I (top) to IV (bottom). Only seam no I
(top) has the mineable thickness (3.56.5 m) throughout the area.
The rest of the seams are thin, discontinuous, occur in patches and
have a workable thickness only in the eastern part of the Coaleld.
The coal seams have the tendency to split (Singh and Shukla, 2004).
The beds of Bijori are exposed in Denwa river section and near the
villages Tamia and Bijori (Srivastava and Agnihotri, 2010).

network of strike faults and oblique faults constitutes the main structural
features (Raja Rao, 1983).
Only three coal seams have been identied in this coaleld, of
which only the youngest seam (Top seam) is well developed, which
is 1.24.8 m thick. In the Tandsi area, seam III has a workable thickness and is being mined at present. In the Mohan area seam, III and
seam II are under production. Towards the western side (Tandsi
area), seam III has been affected by magmatic activity, particularly
towards the south (Raja Rao, 1983).

3.2. Kanhan Valley Coaleld

Pathakhera Coaleld is also known as Tawa Valley Coaleld, after


the river Tawa. Pathakhera Coaleld is the western-most extension
of Pench-Kanhan-Tawa Valley coalelds and is situated in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh between 2206: 7810 (Fig. 3C). The metamorphics and Talchir Formation are exposed in the south-western
and south-eastern parts of the coalelds. Barakar Formation occupies
the central part of the coaleld and covers an area of 42 km 2. On the
basis of lithological assemblage the Barakar Formation is divided into
three sub-divisions. The upper part of the formation, which is about
100110 m thick, is composed of medium to coarse-grained sandstone with occasional shale bands. The middle part is about 120 m
thick and consists of sandstone, shale and their intercalations and
the coal seams. The lower part of the Formation is about 250 m
thick and is composed of ne-grained garnetiferous sandstone with

The Kanhan Valley Coaleld is situated between latitude 2211


2212 and longitude 78257840. The coaleld named after the
river Kanhan, area stretches for about 25 km from the western end
of the Pench Valley to the Tandsi area in the west (Fig. 3B). Geologically, the Kanhan Valley Coaleld is similar to the Pench Valley Coaleld. Archean rocks are underlain by the Talchir Formation, which is
followed by the coal bearing Barakar Formation and Motur Formation
of the Lower Gondwana. Motur is overlain by rocks of the Jabalpur
stage and Deccan Traps. In this area, the beds strike eastwest and
usually dip towards the north with dips varying from 5-12. Local
variations in the dip direction have also been noted. These variations
are due to the tilting of faulted blocks as recorded in Pench area. A

3.3. Pathakhera Coaleld

Fig. 4. Lithocolumn of different coalelds of Satpura Gondwana Basin showing different coal seams. A. Pench Valley Coaleld. B. Kanhan Valley Coaleld. C. Pathakhera Coaleld.

94

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

few thin shale and coal bands. The thicker coal horizons of the coaleld are conned in the middle section of about 120 m of the formation. The Motur occupies the major part of the coaleld in the north,
and is predominantly arenaceous in nature, consisting of medium to
coarse-grained sandstone with greenish clay bands. The upper part
of the Motur formation, however, contains pink and chocolate colored
clay beds. The presence of dolerite dykes in Pathakhera coaleld has
been established on the basis of both surfaces (exposures along
Tawa river) as well as underground workings (Raja Rao, 1983).
In the Pathakhera Coaleld, the seams occur at depths of 25100 m.
Four major coal seams are found in the coaleld. The seams are the IA
Seam, Bagdona Seam, Lower Workable Seam and Upper Workable
Seam, in ascending order. The younger two seams, i.e. the Lower Workable Seam and Upper Workable Seam are by far the most consistent.
The Bagdona Seam is generally workable in the central and eastern
parts of the coaleld and is generally unworkable in the southern and
western parts of the coaleld. The lower most seam, i.e. IA Seam, is
mostly unworkable in the central part of the coaleld, but has attained
workable thickness in the western and eastern part of the coaleld.

4. Plant fossil assemblages vis a vis coal seams distribution


There are four coal-seams in Pench Valley coaleld in a sequence of
5080 m, numbered as I (top) to IV (bottom) (Fig. 4A). Only seam no I
(top) has a workable thickness (3.56.5 m) throughout the area. The
rest of the seams are thin, discontinuous, occur in patches and have a
workable thickness only in the eastern part of the Coaleld. The coal
seams have the tendency to split in the eastern part of the coaleld
(Singh and Shukla, 2004).
The plant fossils from Pench Valley Coaleld are collected from the
following open cast projects (ocp) and underground mines (u/g):
(Table 1)
New Sethia ocp
Shivpuri ocp
Vishnupuri u/g
Chhinda ocp
Ganpati u/g
Thisgora u/g
Mathani u/g
Naheria u/g

Seam IIII
Seam IIIII
Seam IIIII
Seam IIIII
Seam IV
Seam IV
Seam IV
Seam IV

The ora of the Pench Valley Coaleld is known by the species of


Cyclodendron (1 sp.), Phyllotheca (1 sp.), Botrychiopsis (1 sp.),
Neomariopteris (1 sp.), Euryphyllum (1 sp.), Gangamopteris (16 spp.),
Glossopteris (18 spp.), Rhabdotaenia (2 spp.), Arberia (1 sp.), Ottokaria
Table 1
Details of coal seams of different coalelds of Satpura Gondwana Basin.
Coaleld

Strata

Pench valley (after Raja Rao, 1983)

Seam I
Inter-burden
Seam II
Inter-burden
Seam III
Inter-burden
Seam IV
Seam III (top)
Inter-burden
Seam II (middle)
Inter-burden
Seam I (bottom)
Upper workable seam
Inter-burden
Lower workable seam
Inter-burden
Bagdona seam
Inter-burden
Seam IA

Kanhan Valley (after Raja Rao, 1983)

Pathakhera Coaleld (after Raja Rao, 1983)

Table 2
List of plant fossils collected from different Coalelds of Satpura Gondwana Basin.
Name of genera/species

Genus Cyclodendron Krausel 1928


Cyclodendron leslii Krausel 1928
Genus Lelstotheca Maheshwari 1972
Lelstotheca striatus Maheshwari and
Srivastava 1986
Genus Phyllotheca Brongniart 1828
Phyllotheca indica Bunbury 1861
Genus Botrychiopsis (Feistmantel)
Archangelsky and Arronoda 1971
Botrychiopsis valida (Feistmantel) Archangelsky
and Arronoda 1971
Genus Neomariopteris Maithy 1974
Neomariopteris hugesii Maithy 1974
Genus Euryphyllum Feistmantel 1879
Euryphyllum elongatum Srivastava 1992
Genus Gangamopteris McCoy 1860
Gangamopteris angustifolia, McCoy 1861
Gangamopteris buriadica, Feistmantel 1879
Gangamopteris sp cf. G. clarkeana,
Feistmantel 1890.
Gangamopteris cyclopteroides, Feistmantel 1876
Gangamopteris brosa, Maithy 1965
Gangamopteris gondwanensis, Maithy 1965
Gangamopteris intermedia, Maithy 1965
Gangamopteris karharbariensis, Maithy 1965
Gangamopteris kashmirensis, Seward 1905
Gangamopteris major, Feistmantel 1879
Gangamopteris mucronata, Maithy 1965
Gangamopteris obliqua, McCoy 1861
Gangamopteris rajaensis Srivastava 1992
Gangamopteris spathulata, Feistmental 1882
Gangamopteris satpuraensis Srivastava &
Agnihotri 2010
Gangamopteris sethiaensis Srivastava &
Agnihotri 2010
Gangamopteris sp.
Genus Glossopteris Brongniart 1828
Glossopteris angusta Pant and Gupta 1971
Glossopteris angustifolia Brongniart 1828
Glossopteris arberi Srivastava 1956
Glossopteris browniana, Brongniart 1828
Glossopteris churiensis Srivastava 1978
Glossopteris communis Feistmental 1879
Glossopteris decipiens Feistmantel 1879
Glossopteris erehwonensis Gee 1989
Glossopteris feistmantelii Rigby 1964
Glossopteris brosa Pant 1958
Glossopteris gigas Pant and Singh 1971
Glossopteris indica Schimper 1869
Glossopteris karanpurensis Kulkarni 1971
Glossopteris longicaulis Feistmental 1879
Glossopteris nimishea Chandra and Surange 1979
Glossopteris sp. cf G. nakkarea Chandra and
Surange 1979
Glossopteris sp. cf G. saksenae Chandra and
Surange 1979
Glossopteris stricta Bunbury 1861
Glossopteris subtilis Pant and Gupta 1971
Glossopteris tenuifolia Pant and Gupta 1968
Glossopteris varia Pant and Gupta 1968
Glossopteris zeilleri Pant and Gupta 1968
Genus Rhabdotaenia Pant 1958
Rhabdotaenia danaeoides (Royle) Pant 1958
Rhabdotaenia pantii Srivastava and Agnihotri 2010
Genus Arberia White 1908
Arberia surangei Chandra and Srivastava 1981
Genus Ottokaria Zeiller 1902
Ottokaria biharensis Srivastava 1977
Ottokaria sp.
Genus Arberiella Pant and Nautiyal 1960
Arberiella like sporangium Pant and Nautiyal 1960
Genus Pantolepis Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012

Kanhan Pathakhera
Pench
Coaleld
Valley
Valley
Coaleld Coaleld
+

+
+

+
+
+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896
Table 2 (continued)
Name of genera/species

Pench
Kanhan Pathakhera
Valley
Valley
Coaleld
Coaleld Coaleld

Pantolepis indica Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012


Genus Penchiolepis Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012
Penchiolepis gondwanensis Srivastava and
Agnihotri 2012
Penchiolepis indica Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012
Genus Surangelepis Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012
Surangelepis ambarai Srivastava and Agnihotri
2012
Surangelepis elongatus Srivastava and
Agnihotri 2012
Genus Utkaliolepis Tiwari, Deeba and Chauhan
2009
Utkaliolepis indica Tiwari, Deeba and Chauhan
2009
Genus Cheirophyllum Pant and Singh 1978
Cheirophyllum sp. cf. C. lacerata (Feistmantel)
Pant and Singh 1978
Genus Cordaites Unger 1850
Cordaites sp.
Genus Noeggerathiopsis Feistmantel 1876
Noeggerathiopsis elongata, Anderson and
Anderson 1985
Noeggerathiopsis hislopii, Bunbury 1861
Noeggerathiopsis spathulata (Dana) Maithy 1965
Genus Buriadia heterophylla Seward and Sahni
1920
Buriadia heterophylla Seward and Sahni 1920
Genus Alatocarpus Lele 1969
A. indicus Lele 1969
Genus Carpolithus Sternberg 1925
Carpolithus circularis Walkom 1935
Carpolithus striatus Walkom 1935
Genus Cordaicarpus Geinitz 1848
Cordaicarpus gigas sp. nov.
Cordaicarpus sp. cf C. karharbarense Maithy 1965
Cordaicarpus minutus sp. nov.
Cordaicarpus ovatus Walkom 1935
Cordaicarpus zeilleri Maithy 1965
Genus Samaropsis Goppert 1864
Samaropsis dolianitii Millan 1977
Samaropsis feistmantelii Maithy 1965
Samaropsis ganjrensis Saxena 1956
Samaropsis gigas De Souza and Iannuzzi 2007
Samaropsis goraiensis Singh and Lele 1956
Samaropsis milleri Seward 1917
Samaropsis rugata Bernardes- De- Oliviera et al.
2007
Genus Vertebraria Royle 1933
Vertebraria indica Royle 1933
Equisetalean axes
Simple axes

+
+
+

95

have also been recovered from lower seams exposed in the following
mines: Shivpuri (Nos. IIIII), Thisgora (No. IV), Mathani (No. IV),
Naheria (No. IV), Vishnupuri (IIIII), Chhinda (II), Ganpati (Nos. IIIII).
The assemblages are comparable to the Early Permian ora of
Karharbari Formation.
Only three coal seams have been identied in Kanhan Valley coaleld, of which only the youngest seam (top seam) is well developed
(Fig. 4B).
Plant fossils have been collected from following collieries of Kanhan
Valley Coaleld:

+
+

+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+

+
+

+
+
+
+

+
+

+
+
+

Top and bottom seam


Bottom seam
Bottom seam
Top and bottom seam
Bottom seam
Middle seam
Bottom seam
Top seam
Top seam
Top seam

The ora of Kanhan Valley Coaleld is known by the presence of


Cyclodendron (1 sp.), Lelstotheca (1 sp.), Phyllotheca (1 sp. ),
Gangamopteris (9 spp.), Glossopteris ( 15 spp.), Scale leaves Penchiolepis
(2spp.), Surangelepis (1 sp.), Noeggerarthiopsis (2 spp.), Buriadia (1 sp.),
seeds of Carpolithus (2 spp.), Cordaicarpus ( 4 spp.) and Samaropsis
(5 spp.) (Table 2).
There are only three coal seams in the area and they are numbered
in ascending order from I to III, and are locally known as the Top, Middle
and Bottom seams (Table 1). The comparison of the assemblages indicates that they are similar to the ora of lower seams of the Pench Valley
Coaleld belonging to coal seams IIIIV.
In Pathakhera Coaleld, the seams occur at the depths of 25100 m.
Four major coal seams are found in the coaleld. The seams are IA Seam,
Bagdona Seam, Lower Workable Seam and Upper Workable Seam in ascending order (Fig. 4C).
Fossils are collected from the following collieries:

+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

+
+
+

Ambara ocp
Ghorawari incline
Ghorawari ocp
Ghorawari 16/17 ocp
Ghorawari 6A, 6B ocp
Damua ocp
Datla ocp
Rakhikhol incline
Rakhikhol Bansi Patch
Tandsi u/g

(2 spp.), Arberiella (1 sp.), Vertebraria (1 sp.), scale leaves of Pantolepis


(1 sp.), Surangelepis (1 sp.), Utkaliolepis (1 sp.), Cheirophyllum (1 sp.),
Cordaites (1sp.), Noeggerathiopsis (3 spp.), Buriadia (1 sp.), seeds of
Cordaicarpus (4 spp.), and Samaropsis (6 spp.) (Table 2).
The top seam (No I) is quite thin and exposed only on the top part
of Sethia mine, whereas, the number II and III seams are exposed in
the open cast mine of Sethia, Shivpuri, Chhinda and underground
mines of Vishnupuri, Ganpati and Pench River section. The lower
seam IV is distributed in underground mines of Thisgora, Mathani and
Naheria.
The topmost seam (No. I) is exposed only in the Sethia mine, which
contains a typical assemblage of Cyclodendron, Neomariopteris and
Rhabdotaenia in association with the leaves of Gangamopteris and
Glossopteris. In contrast, the ora of the no. II seams is dominated by species of Gangamopteris and Glossopteris, and lower seams show the presence of glossopterid leaves, fructication, scale leaves, Noeggerathiopsis,
Buriadia, seeds of Cordaicarpus and Samaropsis. Similar assemblages

Tawa mine-1
Tawa mine-2
Pathakhera mine-1
Pathakhera mine-2
Shobhapur min
Satpura mine-2
Sarni mine
Chattarpur mine-1
Chattarpur mine-1

Lower Workable seam


Lower Workable seam
Lower Workable seam
Lower Workable seam
Upper Workable seam
Upper Workable seam
Upper Workable seam
Lower Workable seam
Lower Workable seam

The ora consists of Gangamopteris (11 spp.), Glossopteris (5 spp.),


Noeggerathiopsis (1 sp.), scale leaves Penchiolepis (1 sp.), Pantolepis
(1 sp.), Utkaliolepis (1 sp.), and seeds of Carpolithus (2 spp.), Cordaicarpus
(3 spp.) and Samaropsis (4 spp.) are collected (Table 2). In comparison to
Pench and Kanhan coalelds, the number of genera and species are less,
but the fossils are very characteristically distributed. Floristically, the assemblage represented by the leaves of Gangamopteris, Glossopteris,
Noeggerathiopsis and seeds, are similar to the ora of lower coal seams
of Pench and Kanhan coalelds.

5. Floristic correlation of lower and upper coal seams


The plant fossils recovered from Lower Barakar coal seams of
Pench, Kanhan and Pathakhera coalelds (Table 2) show the presence of different species of Cyclodendron, Lelstotheca, Phyllotheca,
Botrychiopsis, Neomariopteris, Euryphyllum, Gangamopteris, Glossopteris,
Rhabdotaenia, Arberia, Ottokaria, Arberiella, Pantolepis, Penchiolepis,
Surangelepis, Utkaliolepis, Cheirophyllum, Cordaites, Noeggerathiopsis,

96

A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 8896

Buriadia, Alatocarpus, carpolithus, Cordaicarpus, Samaropsis and


Vertebraria.
It has been observed that the assemblage represented by Buriadia,
Noeggerathiopsis, Gangamopteris and Botrychiopsis in lower seams
(IIIIV) of the Satpura Gondwana Basin is similar to the lower Barakar
plant fossils of South Karanpura (Kulkarni, 1971), South Rewa Gondwana
Basin (Chandra and Srivastava, 1982), Auranga (Srivastava, 1977;
Srivastava and Tewari 1996), Srivastava (1992) and IbRiver Coaleld
(Singh et al., 2006b). The comparative stratigraphical distribution of fossils suggests a similarity to the underlying ora of the Karharbari Formation of Giridih (Maithy, 1965), Daltonganj (Maithy, 1969) and South
Rewa Gondwana Basin (Chandra and Srivastava, 1982; Chandra and
Srivastava, 1991).
The ora of Upper Barakar coal seams (IIIII) recovered from the
Sethia mine shows the presence of typical elements of its own i.e.
Cyclodendron and Rhabdotaenia in association with the fossils of the
Karaharbari Formation i.e. Noeggerathiopsis, Buriadia, Gangamopteris,
Glossopteris and seeds. The distribution of Cyclodendron and Rhabdotaenia
in different Lower Gondwana formations suggests that they are normally
associated with the ora of the Barren Measures and Raniganj formations
(Pant, 1958; Pant and Verma, 1963; Surange, 1975), but their presence in
the older horizon of Satpura Gondwana Basin suggests their early
ancestry in the Lower Gondwana ora of India.
The presence of Phyllotheca and Lelstotheca in association with the
typical plant fossils of Karharbari Formation is similar to the ora of
Lower Barakar Formation of the Raniganj Coaleld (Srivastava, 1992)
and such assemblages are also known from the IbRiver Basin (Singh et
al., 2006a), Nand Coaleld, Wardha Basin (Singh et al., 2005). However,
the presence of sterile and fertile axes of Cyclodendron, pinnule of
Neomariopteris and glossopterid leaf of Rhabdotaenia in the top most
seam of the Sethia mine, makes the ora distinct from other coalelds
of the Satpura Gondwana Basin. Such variation in the ora is correlated
with the apparent change in Glossopteris ora from lower to upper
seams.
The distribution of plant fossils in a number of collieries of Pench,
Kanhan and Pathakhera coalelds of Satpura Gondwana Basin having
lower and upper coal seams of Early Permian Barakar Formation demonstrates that plant fossils have distinct prototypes in lower and
upper coal seams and it is possible to identify and correlate different
coal seams in the Gondwana coalelds of India on the basis of plant
fossil allocation.

Acknowledgment
We thank Dr. N. C. Mehrotra, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of
Palaeobotany, Lucknow for his kind permission to attend and to present
paper in the TSOP meeting, Halifax, Canada. One of the authors (DA)
thank The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) and organizers for providing the student travel award and all logistic facilities to attend the
28th Annual meeting of TSOP, Halifax (NS), Canada. We express
our sincere thanks to Dr. P.K. Mukhopadhaya (Muki) and Mike Avery
for their help and cooperation. We also thank the editor, guest editors
of the journal and reviewers for their valuable suggestions.

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