Lithofacies characters and depositional processes of a Middle Miocene Lower Siwalik fluvial system of the Himalayan foreland basin, India

Petrotectonic setting of the provenance of Lower Siwalik sandstones of the Himalayan foreland basin, southeastern Kumaun Himalaya, India

“…Furthermore, the clustering of the data close to Qm apex, along the Qm‐Lt leg of the QmFLt plot suggests a substantially quartzose, and subordinately transitional (between quartzose and lithic), nature of the recycled orogen provenance (Figure b) (Dickinson, ; Dickinson et al, ). As a matter of fact, the sandstone samples analyzed in the present study belong to middle‐distal parts of large rivers (Goswami & Deopa, , ) and thus are excellent predictors of the paleotectonic setting of the provenance for they represent third‐order sands of actualistic sand petrofacies (cf. Ingersoll, Kretchmer, & Valles, ).…”

“…The sediments in the entire Lower Siwalik foreland basin have been deposited by a vast tributary network of southerly flowing braided, meandering and anastomosing river systems (Friend et al, ; Goswami & Deopa, , ; Huyghe et al, ; Nakayama & Ulak, ; Sharma, Sharma, & Singh, ; Shukla et al, ; Willis, ; Zaleha, ). The primary flow of the trunk stream in the western and central portions of this basin was southeasterly directed (Burbank et al, ).…”

“…The primary flow of the trunk stream in the western and central portions of this basin was southeasterly directed (Burbank et al, ). Representing central portion of the vast foreland basin, the Lower Siwalik sequence of the south‐central and southeastern Kumaun Himalaya was deposited in the middle to distal alluvial megafan and interfan areas by a network of rivers of the Himalayan origin (Goswami & Deopa, , ; Shukla et al, ).…”

“…So far, the sedimentology of the Siwalik sequence has been determined only along a few sectors of northwestern Pakistan, northwestern, northern and eastern India, and western and southeastern Nepal (e.g. Behrensmeyer & Tauxe, ; Burbank et al, ; Goswami & Deopa, , ; Khan & Tewari, ; R. Kumar et al, ; Najman, ; Nakayama & Ulak, ; Shukla, Bora, & Singh, ; Tandon, ; Taral & Chakraborty, and references therein). However, most of the studies carried out so far pertained to paleoenvironmental investigations whereas the studies focused on geomorphic, tectonic and lithological aspects of the source area of the detritus have only been limited (e.g.…”

“…Nevertheless, probably because of the dense forest cover, inaccessibility and intense deformation, the sedimentology of many parts of the Siwalik molasse has been ignored. The Lower Siwalik fluvial succession of southeastern Kumaun Himalaya of northern India is one such region, which remained ignored until Goswami and Deopa (, ) presented a systematic account of its depositional processes, channel morphology, hydrology and palaeogeography (Figure ). The present paper is a major supplement of our previous work and pertains to petrographic analyses of the Lower Siwalik sandstones of the area.…”