Petrography and Provenance Study of South-Central Part of Kaladgi Basin, Belgaum, Karnataka, India

Abstract

The area under investigation covers the south-central part of Kaladgi series comprising of sedimentary rocks, mainly quartzarenites. From the geological point of view the study area comprises southcentral part of Kaladgi basin covering around 54 km2 which encompasses rocky hills of moderate height, showing three types of facies i.e., argillaceous, arenaceous and rudaceous. Among these three, arenaceous facies is more prominent in the area. These sedimentary rocks rest unconformably over gneisses. Detailed study of the rocks exposed are done by studying the petrological aspects of the rock samples which were subjected to microscopic studies, bifurcating different minerals and counting each parameter of the minerals which is plotted in the QFR ternary diagram and further illustrating the tectonic provenance of the area. Present work mainly focuses on the studies related to petrological, diagenesis and provenance of the study area where the rocks exposed in the vicinity are quartz arenites indicating that these sediments were deposited in a riverine condition.