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Chapter 2
STRATIGRAPHY

Major parts of the land surface of the Krishna-Godavari

basin are covered by alluvium. Sedimentary rocks ranging in
age from the Precambrian to Mio-Pliocene, outcrop as
discontinuous patches along the north western margin of the
basin (figure 1). Outcrop stratigraphy of the basin as
worked out by Kumar (1983) has been given in Table 1. The
subsurface data are mainly taken from ONGC reports.

2.1 OUTCROP STRATIGRAPHY

2.1.1 Precambrian (Basement)
The precambrian comprising of igneous and metamorphic rocks
form the basement over which younger sediments were
deposited. These rocks consisting of gneisses, granites,
garnetiferous gneisses, charncckites, khondalites,
quartzites and pegmatites form the western boundary of
Krishna-Godavari basin. The rocks show the characteristic
Eastern Ghats structural trends (ENE-WSW to NE-SW).
Dharwarian trend (NNW-SSE) is also observed in the area
between Zengareddigudem, Chintalpudi and Paloancha. At
places such as Buchampeta, north of Bhimadolu, the contact
between the basement and sedimentary sequence is faulted.

2.1.2 Chintalpudi Sandstone (Lower Gondwana)

This sedimentary unit is exposed near^western and
northwestern fringes of the basin and is dated as late
 10

Permian on the basis of floral and faunal assemblace. It

consists of conglomerates, ferrugineous sandstones with
interbeds of pink to buff colored siliceous shales and
carbonaceous streaks. Continental Chintalpudi sandstone is
considerably thick, likely to be 2,000 ms in the deepest
part of the basin near Barempalem.

2.1.3 Upper Gondwana

The lower Gondwana sediments are unconformably overlain by
upper Gondwanas exposed in two main areas -
Ellore-Rajahmundary and Ongole-Guntur area. The upper
Gondwana sediments exposed in Ellore- Rajahmundary area are
divisible into three main units.

Gollapalli Formation : Gollapalli formation is the

oldest unit of upper gondwana and is well exposed in Nazid
and Bhimadolu areas. It consists of a conglomerate at the
base followed by white to buff, compact, medium to fine
grained micaceous sandstones. The top most portion is
represented by coarse grained, gritty, ferruginous

Table 1: Outcrop Stratigraphy (Modified after S.P.

Kumar, 1983)
Age Formation Gross Lithology Maximum Environment
thickness
(meters)
Pleistocene Alluvial sands 250 Contine-
and Kankar ntal
- - - - - - - UNCONFORMITY- - - - - -
Miocene to Rajamund- Sandstone 660 Contine-
P1iocene ary ntal
 11
UNCONFORMITY
Early Rajamund- Basalts, marl and 170 Lacustr-
Eocene ary and 1imestones i ne
Intertrappeans
UNCONFORMITY- - - - - -
Palaeocene Infratrap - Grits, Limestone 70 Marine
peans and Sandstone
UNCONFORMITY- - - - - -
[.ate Cret- T i r u p a t i / L ateritised 830 Transi-
aceoi: s Pavalvi Sandstone t i on
Early Cre- Raghvapur - Variegated Shales 12 6 Marine
taceous am/Venaya - and Sandstones
r a m / B u d a v ad a
Go!1apal1 i Gritty and Ferrugi - 27 5 Co ntine -
Formation nous Sandstone nta 1
---UNCONFORMITY. . . .
Late Perm- Chin t a 1o u - Sandstone, Ferrug- 2000 Conti ne-
i an di Fm. inous & Conclcmeratio ntal
---UNCONFORMITY- - - -
Precambrian Metamorphie rocks, Charnockites, Khondalites,
Gneises and Granites

sandstone. It rests unccnformably over the Chintalpudi

sandstone and at places over the gneissic basement. The
available fauna and flora indicate their deposition under
continental environment. Palynofcssils from subsurface core
samples indicate an early cretaceous age for the formation
(Vankatachala, 1977). In the subsurface, this unit is
encountered in shallow wells at Dwarka-Thirumala,
Burgugudem, Errampetta, Todikalapudi and Gopalapuram. The
thickness section met within shallow wells at Dwarka-
Thirumala is 176 meters thick and consists of sandstone and
chioritic clay.

Raghavapuram Formation : Raghavapuram formation largely

 12

consisting of shales, unconformably overlies Gollapalli

formation and occupies a strip between Gopalapuram in the
northeast and Todikalapudi in the southwest. Beyond these
localities, this unit is not exposed. As a result the
succeeding Tirupati sandstone overlies directly on the
Gollapalli sandstone. The best development of this unit is
seen in Yerrakalva section. Early cretaceous shallow marine
environment is indicated from the fossil content.
Palynofossils also indicate early cretaceous age
(Venkatachalla, 1977). The maximum outcrop thickness is
about 167 meters in the Dwarka-Thirumala area. In the
subsurface, tins unit was encountered in the shallow wells
drilled at Dwarka-Thirumala, Todikalapudi, Burgugudem,
Errampeta, Gopalapuram and Chityala. Here it consists of
grey-yellowish to brown and brittle shales, which contain
lenses of brown fine grained compact sandstone and
ferruginous siltstones.

Tirupati Formation : Tirupati sandstone, the youngest

exposed upper gondwana formation.conformably overlies
Raghavapuram shales but at places it directly rests over
Gollapalli sandstone. The outcrops of this formation
consists of thick seauence of bedded sandstone.
i In the
upper part, pebbly sandstone and minor intercalations of
shales are observed. The total thickness of exposed section
is about 830 meters and is largely unfossiliferous. In the
 1o

subsurface.this
7
formation is encountered in the shallow
wells at Todikalapudi, Burgugudain, Gopalapuram, Chi ti ala and
Dudukuru.

2.1.4 Budavada- Vemavaram And Pavalur Formations (Upper Gondwana):

The upper Gondwana sediments exposed in the Budavada-

Vemavaram area are divided into three distinct lithological
units - Budavada Sandstone, Vemavaram Shales and Pavalur
Sandstone. Budavada sandstone comprises mainly of shaly
sandstone and sandy shales. Scanty faunal and floral
assemblage assign an Early Cretaceous age to this unit
(Venkatachala, 1977). The Vemavaram shale conformably
overlies the Budavada sandstone and comprises of
a.
fossiliferous shales. On^faunal and floral basis the
Vemavaram shales are ref err-a-bl e-~4-e early Cretaceous. The
Pavalur sandstone overlies the Vemavaram shales and consists
of pale-brown sandstones at the base, hard greenish-black
calcareous shales in the middle and friable reddish brown
sandstones at the top.

The Budavada sandstone, Vemavaram shales and Pavalur

sandstone, are considered homotaxial with Raghvapuram shale
and Tirupati sandstone.

2.1.5 Trappean Group (Palaeocene To Eocene) :

Tirupati formation is unconfcrmably overlain by the Trappean

group of rocks. Tins group extends from Khateru in the east
to Prakash Raopalayam in the west. Further south, this

group exists under the cover of Rajamundary Formation as

drilling data indicates the presence of trap in a number of
shallow wells. The Trappean group consists of a basal Infra
Trappean Formation, Trap Formation and Inter Trappean Beds.

Infra-Trappean Formation: The Infra-Trappean Formation

consists of grits with occasional bands of fossiliferous
sandstone. These are considered to have been deposited
under littoral to epineretic environments. A slight
unconformity between the Infra-trappean and the basal flow
is considered possible since former appears to have been
partially denuded before traps were errupted.

Trap Formation : On the basis of the surface and subsurface

(shallow wells) data^three trap sequences intervened by
intertrappean beds are identified in this area. The traps
consists of dark green, hard, vesicular basalt. The last
flow appears to be the thickest (67 m in a shallow well near
Chikkala). They were encountered as far south as in wells
Narasapur 1 and 2 and Razole 1.

Inter-Trappean Beds : Inter-Trappean Beds in the type area

south of Duddukuru consists of hard, massive, earthy
limestone with marl at the top. These beds contain fauna
and flora referable to early Eocene to Palaeocene
(Kumar, 1S83). The Inter-Trappean Beds are concluded to
have been deposited under shallow marine conditions.

2.1.6 Eocene Sequence :

This is a subsurface sequence yet to be formally named. It

met within two of the shallow wells drilled in Bhimadolu and
Dendulura, north of Kolleru lake. It consists of sandstones
with shale layers at ttie top. Eocene age is assigned to
this unit on the basis of palynological data.

2.1.7 Rajamundary Formation (Mio-Pliocene) :

This formation consists of sandstone which overlaps all the

older formations and also rests over the basement. It is
ie_c
exposed as small hillocks and occupy comparatively higher
ground in Godavari and Krishna districts. The basal
Rajamundary Formation is marked by a conglomerate bed in
Nazid area. Further south, this formation consists of
sandstones and clays. In the shallow wells the top and the
bottom of the formation is marked by laterites. The exposed
Rajamundary sandstone is largely continental and maximum
thickness is about 660 ms.

2.1.8 Pleistocene-Recent :

Sandy clay, clay and kankar ranging in age from Pleistocene

to Recent unconformably overlies the Rajamundary sandstone.
In the offshore well data this formation is about 1,200 m
thick and mostly it consists of clays deposited under
deltaic conditions.
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2.2 SUBSURFACE STRATIGRAPHY :

Three wellsNarasapur-1, Narasapur-2 and Razole-1 have been
used to generalize the subsurface stratigraphy of the area
as these wells were the first three wells drilled onshore
which reached u-p4-© the upper Cretaceous sediments. The
other offshore wells have not penetrated beyond Miocene
sediments. Narasapur-1 was drilled upto a total depth of
4035 meters. The well could not be drilled deeper because
of gas blowout. Gas flow lias also been observed from
Narasapur-2 and Razole-1 which were drilled to the depth of
3500 meters and 4505 meters respectively. A summary of
lithostratigraphy of these wells is given in table 2.

2.2.1. Narasapur Claystone :

Narasapur Claystone is a pre-trappean claystone intercalated
with minor sandstone. This sequence is overlain by Trappean
basalt. The lower boundary of this unit is not known.
Faunal and lit hic characters indicate that deep outer shelf
to upper bathyal environmental conditions prevailed during
Campanian-Maestrichtian times at these sites. Late
Cretaceous age has been fixed for Narasapur Claystone.
Abath omphalus mayaroensis, Globotruncana qansseris ,
G1obotruncana tricarinata and G1ohotruncana elevata zones
which comprise the Campanian-Maestrichtian interval have
been identified (Govindan et a 1 , 1 983).
 17

Table 2:
Lithostratigraphy of wells Narasapur 1, 2 and Razcle 1,
after Govindan, A. et_a_][, 1983 :
Sandstone Post Early Oligocene
to Recent
UNCONFORMITY
Clays tone Early Oligocene
Sandstone and Middle to Late
Claystone Eocene
Godavari Limestone )
)
Micaceous Sandstone ) Early Eocene
and Silt stone )
)

- - - - - - - - - - - UNCONFORMITY- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Shale Formation Late Palaeocene
Razole Trap and Early Palaeocene
Intertrappean
- - - - - - - - - - - UNCONFORMITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Narasapur Claystone Companion to Maestrichtian
(with minor sandstone) (Upper Cretaceous)
 18
2.2.2 Basaltic Trap Flows:

Three basaltic flows are encountered in Narasapur 1 and 2 ,

named T1, T2 and T3 from base upwards. The faunal evidence
from marine intertrappean indicate that T1 and T2 flows are
Late Maestrichtian in age and T3 flow straddles between Late
Maestrichtian and Early Palaeocene. A T4 flow is also
observed i., R a z o1e 1 w hic h lies above T 3 flow and which is
entirely of Early Palaeocene age.

2.2.3 Shale Formation:

Trap flows are overlain by alternation of shale, silt stone

and micaceous sandstone of Palaeocene age. The argillaceous
sediments predominate over otiier lithotypes.

2.2.4 Early Eocene:

The Early Eocene sequence consists of a succession of

micaceous sandstone and silts tone whie h is overlain by
limestone with minor sandstone alternation. The limestone-
sandstone alternation Si as been formally grouped as Godavari
Limestone (Govindan ejt aj_, 1983). Faunal and lit hie
characters indicate a fluctuatino inner to middle shelf
conditions for the lower part of Early Eocene and shallow

inner shelf conditions for upper part of Early Eocene.

The Eocene sequence contains chiefly a larger foraminiferal

b i o f a c i e s (Nummulites and Discocycl ina) in all t he se wells
(Govindan et al, 1983).

2.2.5 Middle To Late Eocene :

 IS

Middle to late Eocene sediments encountered in the wells

include sandstone and claystone.

2.2.6 Early Oligocene:

A thin veneer of Early Oligocene sediments, claystone (about
■10-50 m) is present in thess wells.

Bicstratigraphic analysis indicate hiatues at the beginning

of Late Maastrichtian, top of Palaeocene and Early Oligocen C
time (Govindan et al , 1983 ) .

In general Campanian and Maestrichtian show a peak

transgression followed by regression during latest
Maestrichtian, coinciding with basaltic flows. Subsequent
transgression was during early to ini dd 1 e Palaeocene time.
This was followed by a regression in late Palaeocene. Th c r\

early Eocene in tins basin experienced a cycle cf

transgression and regression. Finally, a pronounced
regression took place in early Oligocene time.

REFERENCES
Govindan, A., Q a z i , A.A., Ramesh, P., 1S83, Late cretaceous
stratigraphy of Razole-1 well and bicstratigraphic
correlation of Razole-1, Narasapur 1 and 2, Krishna-
Godavari basin, KDMIPE, Oil and Natural Gas Commission,
Dehradun, India.
 ?n

Kumar S.P., 1983, Geology and hydrocarbon prospects of

Krishna- Godavari and Cauvary Basins, Petroleum Asia

Journal, pp. 57-65.

Venkatachala, B.S., 1977, Fossil floral assemblages in the

east coast Gondwanas - A critical review, Journal of

Geological Society of India, v. 18, no. 8.