Palynology and detrital zircon geochronology of the Carboniferous Fenestella Shale Formation of the Tethyan realm in Kashmir Himalaya: Implications for global correlation and floristic evolution

First record of late Carboniferous palynoassemblage from Ganmachidam Formation, Spiti Valley: Implications for age assessment and extent of Glossopterid elements in the Tethyan realm

“…The present study also reveals that none of the palynotaxa is present in the present palynoassemblage as reported by Khanna and Tiwari (1983). Although, the present palynocomposition is correlatable with the palynocomposition of the Fenestella Shale Formation of Kashmir (Agnihotri et al, 2018) in having the dominance of monosaccates, but differs in the absence of the following palynotaxa: Plicatipollenites , Potonieisporites , Virkkipollenites , Vesicaspora , and Microbaculispora . Moreover, the Kashmir palynoflora does not possess the genus Scheuringipollenites which is dominant in the present study.…”

“…Cordaites leaf from the Early Carboniferous Fenestella Shale Formation of Kashmir. Agnihotri et al (2018) provided the absolute age of the Fenestella Shale Formation of Kashmir Basin by a single zircon U–Pb age of 329 ± 16 Ma (late Viséan to early Serpukhovian) which was very much similar to the age as defined by K. J. Singh et al (2013) on the basis of megaplant fossils. Palynodata of the Fenestella Shale Formation comprises many palynomorphs ranging up to the Permian (Table 4; Figure 6) such as Parasaccites korbaensis , P .…”

“…obscures , P . bilateralis , Crucisaccites latisulcatus and Callumispora adensa (radial monosaccate grains), Faunipollenites ( Protohaploxypinus ) varius , Striatopodocarpites sp., and Rhizomaspora indica (bisaccate grains; Agnihotri et al, 2018). Many of these taxa are common in the present findings as well (Table 3).…”

“…Agnihotri et al (2018) described a palynoassemblage from the early Carboniferous (late Viséan to Serpukhovian) Fenestella Shale Formation of the Kashmir Basin with the dominance of five monosaccate pollen genera (represented by 11 species) namely: Crucisaccites latisulcatus , Parasaccites korbaensis , P . bilateralis , P .…”

“…In contrast to the above‐mentioned works, studies from the Indian subcontinent are far too scanty. In India, hitherto, only two miofloral studies have been done from the Carboniferous sequences—one is the work done by Khanna and Tiwari (1983) from the Spiti Valley and the other is by Agnihotri et al (2018) from the Kashmir Valley. Similarly, few palynological studies are reported from the Permo‐Carboniferous sequences in the contemporaneous western extension of Tethyan Himalaya, that is, from the Salt Range, Pakistan (Jan, 2014; Stephenson, Jan, & Al‐Mashaikie, 2013).…”