The succession of lithofacies of a part of the Barren Measures Formation of the Talchir Gondwana basin has been studied by statistical techniques. The lithologies have been grouped under five facies states viz coarse-, medium-, and fine-grained sandstones, shale and coal for statistical analyses. Markov chain analysis indicates the arrangement of Barren Measures lithofacies in the form of fining upward cycles. A complete cycle consists of conglomerate or coarsegrained sandstone at the base sequentially succeeded by medium-and fine-grained sandstones, shales and coal at the top. The entropy analysis puts the Barren Measures cycles into A-4 type cyclicity, which consists of different proportions of lower, upper and side truncated cycles of lithologic states. Regression analysis indicates a sympathetic relationship between total thickness of strata (net subsidence) and number of cycles and an antipathic relationship between average thickness and number of sedimentary cycles. The cyclic sedimentation of the Barren Measures Formation was controlled by autocyclic process which occurred due to the lateral migration of streams triggered by intrabasinal differential subsidence. In many instances, the clastic sediments from the laterally migrating rivers interrupted the cyclic sedimentation resulting in thinner cycles in areas where the number of cycles are more. Principal component and multivariate regression analyses suggest that the net subsidence of the basin is mostly controlled by the thickness of sandstones, shale beds and coal stringers.
Heavy mineral analysis has been carried out in the Barakar Formation of the Talchir Gondwana Bbasin, Orissa. The characteristic heavy minerals are garnet, zircon, tourmaline, rutile, biotite, chlorite, pyroxenes, hornblende, staurolite, sillimanite, apatite, epidote, sphene, spinel and siderite including opaques and leucoxene. These heavy minerals are divisible into four groups on the basis of principal component analysis and suggest derivation of Barakar sediments from pegmatite, acid and basic igneous as well as low-and high-rank metamorphic rocks lying to the south of the Talchir Gondwana Basin. Though the heavy mineral suites of all the sandstone samples are by and large similar, differences have been noticed in the frequencies of many heavy minerals in vertical succession. Cyclic nature and vertical fluctuation of heavy mineral frequencies can be ascribed to variation of the relief of the source area, sudden release of some of the minerals in the source region and/or existence of favourable geochemical condition to escape partial dissolution.
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