Anomalous quartzarenites of a Lower Cretaceous rift basin: Wadhwan Formation of Western India

Abstract

The Wadhwan Formation represent, an anomalous quartz-arenite which was deposited in the Lower Cretaceous Saurashtra rift basin. The sandstones plot near the Qt and Qm poles of the standard triangular provenance diagrams of Dickinson (1985). A critical analysis of the various factors that might have modified the original detrital composition ofWadhwan sandstones indicates that tropical weathering under warm and humid conditions and long residence time at the sediment water interface in a shallow marine environment destroyed the labile grains and enriched the sandstones in quartz. Recycling, transportation processes and diagenesis did not modify the original detrital composition significantly.