Geology of the neoproterozoic - early cambrian marwar supergroup, Rajasthan: A synthesis

Abstract

The Marwar Supergroup of the western India is one the largest Proterozoic sedimentary sequences of peninsular India. Due to its terminal Neoproterozoic- early Cambrian antiquity, these deposits are believed to hold potential clues to our understanding of the Proterozoic ocean, atmosphere, and origin of the complex multicellular life. Numerous paleobiological investigations in these largely fluvial and shallow marine deposits have brought out some intriguing results over the last decade. Similarly, chemostratigraphic studies have correlated the Bilara Group carbonates with Hanseran Group evaporites, and placed the middle and upper Marwar Supergroup alongside a host of late Ediacaran trans-Gondwanan basins. In this review, I have compiled the available lithostratigraphic, paleobiological, chemostratigraphic, and geochronological data from the Marwar Supergroup. In the wake of new age constraints for the Jodhpur Group, some of the trace fossil assemblages might require revisiting whereas new geochronologic data from within the supergroup would come in handy as we continue to look for the evidence of various Neoproterozoic global events in India.