The First Report of Gangamopteris rajaensis from Rajmahal Gondwana Basin (Jharkhand, India)

Year 2021, , 267 - 276, 29.06.2021

Arun Joshı , Raj Kumar Prıya

https://doi.org/10.25288/tjb.854704

Abstract

The present study deals with the systematic description of macro and miofloral analysis of Gangamopteris rajaensis and Glossopteris indica from the carbonaceous shale-coal bearing sequences of the Rajmahal Open Cast Mine, Rajmahal Basin, Jharkhand, India. The floral diversity, age correlation, and the paleoenvironment of the Barakar Formation were well described. Morphological analysis revealed the reticulate venation pattern, anastomosing of veins, and the absence of the midrib in Gangamopteris rajaensis. The recovered megafloral assemblages of Gangamopteris rajaensis and Glossopteris indica suggest a late early Permian (Artiskian-Kungurian) age for the Barakar strata of Rajmahal coal mine and the prevalence of a moderately warm climate during their deposition. Earlier the species was reported from the Barakar Formation of Damodar and Mahanadi Gondwana basins in India. However, this is the first detailed systematic investigation of this species from the Rajmahal Gondwana Basin, Jharkhand, India.

Keywords

Barakar Formation, Early Permian, Gangamopteris rajaensis, Rajmahal Gondwana

Supporting Institution

Sikkim University

Project Number

CSIR-Scientists’ Pool Scheme: 13(9125-A)/2019

Thanks

We are grateful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) India for providing financial assistance under Scientists’ Pool Scheme: 13(9125-A)/2019-Pool; to the administrators of the Eastern Coalfield Limited for granting permission to visit the colliery and for providing necessary help during the field trip. We would also like to acknowledge the Principal of S.G.R.R. (P.G.) College, Dehradun, and the Head of Department, Sikkim University, Gangtok for his kind cooperation to carry out this research work.

References

• Ball, V. (1877). Geology of Rajmahal Hills. Mem. Geol. Surv. India, 13(2), 1- 94.
• Brongniart, A. (1828). Histoire des Vegetaux Fossiles ou Recherches Botaniques sur les Vegetaux Renfermes dans les Diverses Couches du Globe. Paris 1, 1-136.
• Chandra, S. & Chandra, A. (1988). Vegetational changes and their climatic implications in coal-bearing Gondwana. Palaeobotanist, 36, 74-86.
• Chandra, S. & Surange, K. R. (1979). Revision of the Indian Species of Glossopteris. Monograph 2. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, pp. 1- 291.
• Dolianiti, E. (1954). A flora de Gondwana inferior em Santa Catarina 5, O. Genero Gangamopteris –Div. De. Geol. E. Min. Notas Preliminares E Estudos, 8, 1-12.
• Feistmantel, O. (1890). Coal and plant bearing beds of Paleozoic and Mesozoic in Eastern Australia and Tasmania with special reference to fossil flora. Mem. Geol. Surv. New South Wales. Palaeontology, 3, 1-183.
• Goswami, S. (2006). Record of Lower Gondwana megafloral assemblage from Lower Kamthi Formation of lb River Coalfield, Orissa, India. Indian Academy of Sciences, Journal of Bioscience, 31(1), 115-128.
• Goswami, S., Singh, K.J. & Chandra, S. (2006). Palaeobotany of Gondwana basins of Orissa State, India: A bird’s eye view. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 28, 218-233.
• Joshi A.,Tewari R. & Agnihotri D. (2014). Plant diversity of the Kamthi Formation of India- A review. The Palaeobotanist, 63(2), 127-136.
• Joshi, A., Tewari R., Agnihotri D., Pillai S. S. K. & Jain R. K. (2015). Occurrence of Vertebrariaindica (Unger) Feistmantel, 1877 – an evidence for coal-forming vegetation in Kothagudem area, Godavari Graben, Telangana. Current Science, 108 (3), 330-333.
• Joshi, A. (2018a). In situ occurrence of Vertebrariaindica from the Rajmahal Open Cast Mine, Rajmahal Basin, India: an evidence for coal forming vegetation. Journal of Terrestrial and Marine Research, 2(1), 12-16.
• Joshi, A. (2018b). Singhisporites rajmahalensis sp. nov. - A new megaspore species from Barakar Formation, Rajmahal Basin, Jharkhand. Species, 19, 36-40.
• Joshi A. (2020). Dispersed Permian megaspores from Rajmahal Basin, Jharkhand. Species, 21, 281-285.
• Lawrence, G. H. M. (1955). An Introduction to plant Taxonomy. The Macmillan Company New York.
• Lele, K. M. (1976). Palaeoclimatic implications of Gondwana flora. Geophytology, 6, 207-229.
• Maheshwari, H. K. & Bajpai, U. (1992). Ginkgophyte leaves from the Permian Gondwana of Rajmahal Basin. Palaeontographica, 224B, 131–149.
• Maheshwari, H. K. & Prakash, G. (1965). Studies in the Glossopteris flora of India 21. Plant megafossils from the Lower Gondwana exposures along Bansloi River in Rajmahal hills, Bihar. Palaeobotanist,13, 115–128.
• McCoy, F. (1847). On the fossil Botany and Zoology of rocks associated with the coal of Australia; The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 20(1), 145-147; 20: (3-4), 298-312.
• Melville, R. (1969). Leaf venation patterns and the origin of the angiosperms. Nature, 224, 121–125.
• Mukhopadhyay, G., Mukhopadhyay, S. K., Roychowdhury, M. & Parui, P. K. (2010). Stratigraphic correlation between different Gondwana basins of India. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 76, 251-266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-010-0097-6
• Pant, D. D. & Singh, K. B. (1968) On the genus Gangamopteris McCoy. Palaeontographica, 124B, 83-101.
• Pant, D. D. & Singh, R. S. (1974). On the stem and attachment of Glossopteris and Gangamopteris leaves. Part II. Structural features. Palaeontographica, 147, 42–73.
• Pillai, S. S. K., Mathews, R., Murthy, S., Goswami, S., Agrawal, S., Sahoo, M. & Singh, R. K. (2020). Palaeofloral Investigation Based on Morphotaxonomy, Palyno- morphs, Biomarkers and Stable Isotope from Lalmatia Coal Mine of Rajmahal Lower Gondwana Basin, Godda District, Jharkhand: An Inclusive Empirical Study. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 96(1), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-020-1503-3
• Prasad, B., Shukla, V. D. & Maithy, P. K. (1987). Megafossils of the lower Gondwana succession in Pachhwara Coalfield, Bihar. Gondwana Geological Magazine, 2, 17-29.
• Prasad, B. & Pundir, B.S. (2017). Gondwana biostratigraphy of the Purnea Basin (eastern Bihar, India), and its correlation with Rajmahal and Bengal Gondwana basins. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 90, 405-427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0735-3
• Prasad, B. & Pundir, B. S (2020) Gondwana biostratigraphy and geology of West Bengal Basin, and its correlation with adjoining Gondwana basins of India and western Bangladesh. Journal Earth System Science, 129, 22.
• Schimper, W. P. (1869). Traite de Paleontologie Vegetal ou la Flore du Monde Primitif dans ses rapports avec les formations Geologiques et la Flore du Monde Actual. Balliere, Paris, 1-740.
• Singh, S. M. (2000). Glossopteris flora from the Early Permian of Karanpura and Bokaro Coalfields, India. Geophytology, 29, 69-80.
• Singh, K. J., Goswami, S. & Chandra, S. (2006). First Report of Genus Gangamopteris from Gondwana Sediments of Ib- River Coalfield, Orissa. Journal of the Geological Society of India, 68: 251-266.
• Srivastava, A. K. (1992). Plant fossil assemblages from the Barakar Formation of Raniganj Coalfield, India. Palaeobotanist, 39, 281–302.
• Srivastava, A. K. (1997). Late Palaeozoic floral succession in India. In: Proceeding XIII, International Congress of Carboniferous and Permian (pp. 264–272). Krakow, Poland.
• Srivastava, A. K. & Agnihotri, D. (2010). Morphological consequence of Gangamopteris McCoy in Glossopteris flora. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 39(6), 760-769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.04.033
• Tewari, R. (2007) The Glossopteris flora from the Kamptee Coalfield, Wardha Basin, Maharashtra, India. Palaeontographica, 277(B), 43–64.
• Tewari, R. (2008) The genus Glossopteris Brongniart from the Kamthi Formation of Camp IV area, Wardha Valley Coalfield, Wardha Basin, Maharashtra, India. Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 53(1), 19–30.
• Tewari, R. & Srivastva, A. K. (2000). Plant fossils assemblage from the Talchir Formation, Auranga Coalfield, Bihar, India. Palaeobotanist, 49, 23–30.
• Tewari R., Chatterjee S., Agnihotri D. & Pandita S. K. (2015). Glossopteris flora in the Permian Weller Formation of Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, Antarctica: Implications for paleogeography, paleoclimatology and biostratigraphic correlation. Gondwana Research, 28, 905–932.
• Tewari R., Joshi A. & Agnihotri D. (2017). The Glossopteris flora of Manuguru Area, Godavari Graben, Telangana, India. Palaeobotanist, 66 (1), 17-36.