C’retaceous Research (1987) 8, l-l 4

Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds (Late

Cretaceous) at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh,
India: Soils and Biotas of a Semi-arid
Alluvial Plain

M. E. Brookfield
Department of Land Resource Science, Guelph University, Guelph Ontario NlG 2W1, Canada

and A. Sahni
Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Punjab University, Candigarh 160014, India

Received 12 March 1985, accepted in revised form7 &4prill986

R/I. E. Broofield and A. Sahni. Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds (Late Cretaceous) at
Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh, India: Soils and Biotas of a Semi-arid Alluvial Plain. Cretaceous
Research (1987) 8, l-14. The late Cretaceous Lameta Group consists of sandstones, marls
and limestones which have variously been interpreted as marine or continental. The choice
affects views on the late Cretaceous paleogeography of India, and the mode of life and life
habitats of Indian dinosaurs. New sedimentological and paleoecological observations indicate
that the Lameta Group sediments were deposited in an arid terrestrial environment with a
through flowing river. Point bar sandstones are succeeded by marls with pedogenic calcrete
nodules and two layers of massive calcrete (the “limestones”). Vertebrate-bearing lenses are
associated with probable shallow floodplain drainage channels, and in one instance with a
more permanent standing body of water-possibly a meander cut-off lake. Thus, the
vertebrates recorded inhabited an arid environment, with probably only shrub cover near the
main stream.

Department of Land Resource Science, Guelph University, Guelph, Ontario NlG 2W1,
Canada.

Centre of Advanced Study in Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India

KEY WORDS: Cretaceous; Soils; Biotas; India.

1. Introduction
The Lameta Group consists of sandstones, marls and limestones of late
Cretaceous age, whose type area is around the town of Jabalpur, Madhya
Pradesh (Figure 1). Their depositional environment has been controversial,
ranging from non-marine for most palaeontologists (Matley, 1921; Sahni
and Mehrotra, 1974; Sahni, 1972; 1983) to marine for many sedimentologists
(Chanda, 1967; Kumar and Tandon, 1977; 1978; 1979; Singh, 1981; Singh et
al., 1983). The non-marine interpretation is based on the absence of marine
fossils and the presence of freshwater and terrestrial faunas, such as dinosaur
bones and eggs, freshwater molluscs, ostracods and charophytes. The marine
interpretation is based mainly on petrography and structure-the maturity
019556671/87/010001 f 14 $03.00/O NT]1987 Academic Press Inc. (London) Limited
 Deccan Traps.

q1.1.1.:
....... Lameta qroup

Figure 1. Location map. Inset-central India with Deccan Basalt outcrop and location of Jabalpur (J) and
Bombay(B). I and II on Jabalpur mapare main localities (I-quarries on Chui Hill; II-roadcuts on
Bara Simla).

of the sediments, “glauconite ” in sandstones, algal textures in limestones,

and crab burrows in sandstones and marls.
We believe that the marine interpretation is wrong because the marine
indicators have been misidentified or misinterpreted. The maturity of the
sediments is due to weathering and transportation in a semi-arid alluvial
plain environment-similarly mature sediments occur even in intermontane
basins, where intense weathering and periodic transport operate (Williams,
1970; Albritton, 1958). The “glauconite” present in the Green Sandstone
unit is problematical. X-ray analysis indicates a poorly envolved green
smectite (glauconitic smectite of Odin and Matter, 1981) or ferric illite. The
“glauconite” occurs as grain coatings and disseminated with muscovite
along cross-laminations in the Green Sandstone. It has neither the form,
structure nor habit of true glauconite, and until it is finally properly identified
cannot be used as an environmental indicator. The “algal” structures
recorded by Chanda (1967) in the “limestones” are pedogenic carbonate
structures in calcareous paleosols and calcretes. The “crab” burrows are, in
most cases, pedogenic calcrete nodules and associated rootlet horizons: those
burrows which may be genuine can as well be terrestrial burrows in soils.
Such burrows are common in any semi-arid environment and are produced
by lizards, mice, scorpions and other animals.
The entire Lameta Group consists of semi-arid Piedmont deposits,
extensively modified both during and after deposition by pedogenic pro-
cesses. There is no sign of any marine influence during deposition. Similar
environments can be seen forming today along the banks of the Narbada
river, south of Jabalpur, and in other major river systems of peninsula India.
 Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds 3

2. Stratigraphy and depositional environment

A section of the Lameta Group at Jabalpur is shown in Figure 2. The best
sections occur in the old and new quarries at Chui Hill and in the Bara Simla
roadcuttings. Most of our observations are from these two localities. The
terminology of Singh et al. (1983) is followed here: it differs only slightly
from Matley’s (1921) original terminology.

Deccon trop

Upper
sondstone

Upper
lImestone

Nodular

Beds

-Dinosaur egg clutches

Lower
Green cloy lenses with
limestone I .- ~.
rrogrnenrory mlcroverreorares

.orge dlnosour fragments

Green
sondstone

Jobalpur cloy
I.

fl Cross- bedded sandstone q Mixed sand/silt/cloy

q Nodulor colcrete q Chert, jasper, colcrete pebbles

q Well-cemented corbonote q Pedotubule horizons

Figure 2. Vertical section of Lameta beds at Chui Hill, with locations of fossils (some transferred from
equivalent horizons at Chota and Bara Simla).
2.1. Green sandstone
This rests sharply on the Jurassic-early Cretaceous Jabalpur Clay. At Chui
Hill, it overlies a buried soil profile with preserved rootlets (Chanda and
Bhattacharaya, 1966). The lower part of the Green Sandstone has small
channels or layers filled with mudstone pebbles, is often bleached, and is
poorly carbonate cemented (Singh et al., 1983). The central part consists of
coarse to medium grained well-sorted sandstones, with occasional mudstone
pebbles, arranged in low angle cross-bedded unit, which themselves show
internal cross-lamination (Figure 3). This section shows the most abundant
green colour. The top of the Green Sandstone is transitional with the Lower
Limestone and consists of lovv angle festoon cross-bedded and parallel
laminated sandstone: much of this part shows extensive carbonate cemen-
tation. This horizon is the main source of the large dinosaur bones at Bara
Simla.
Singh (1981) considered the Green Sandstone a tidal sand body of an
estuarine channel, while Kumar and Tandon (1979) considered it a river
point bar sequence. Singh’s (1981) opinion was based on “glauconite”,
variable current directions, and “crab” burrows. The first and last criteria
are now no longer valid. The variable current directions shown by Singh et
al. (1983) can as easily be explained by migration of point bars in a large river,
particularly when no distinction was made between the large-scale cross-
bedded surfaces (the point bar surface) and smaller-scale cross-laminated
units (the migrating megaripples, scour troughs and scroll bars) (cf. Collin-
son, 1978). In view of the other associated sediments and pedogenic features,
a point bar environment is much more likely than a tidal sand body.

2.2. Lower limestone

At Chui Hill, this consists of concretionary, brecciated, granular, sandy,
occasionally laminated, siliceous carbonate, which grades downward into the
Green Sandstone and upwards into the Mottled Nodular Beds. The Lower
Limestone contains extensive root, rootlet and perhaps burrow traces, and
has complicated silica and carbonate replacement fabrics (Figures 4, 5). At
Bara Simla, the Lower Limestone is represented by a partially cemented
sandy layer with pebbles and granules of sandy carbonate, Green Sandstone,
and jasper, resting on variegated nodular marlstone. Here, the irregular top
of the limestone is sharply overlain by the Mottled Nodular Beds.
At this junction a layer of greenish and reddish variegated clays yielded
extensive dinosaur bone fragments, as well as many egg fragments from the
top of the Lower Limestone (Sahni and Gupta, 1982).
Clutches of dinosaur eggs have recently been found in the saddle between
Bara Simla hilltop and Pat Baba hill, resting on top of the Lower Limestone.
These eggs are indistinguishable from those of Hypselosaurus from the
Maastrichtian of Aix-en-Provence, France (Sahni et al. 1984, in
preparation).
The Lower Limestone, far from being a marine deposit (Chanda, 1967),
has all the features of a semi-arid pedogenic calcrete deposit. All the
petrographic features so carefully described by Chanda (1963, 1967) are
typical pedogenic carbonate features (Braithwaite, 1983, Milnes and Hutton,
 Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds 3

Figure 3. (a) section in old quarry of Chui Hill (i) Jabalpur Clay; (ii) Green Sandstone; (iii) Lower
Limestone; (iv) Mottled Nodular Beds. Note low-angle channel-fill cross-bedding in lowermost
Mottled Nodular Beds, and point bar epsilon cross-bedding in Green Sandstones, which is
continuous from uppermost cemented horizon through central uncemented horizon to lowermost
cemented horizon.
(b) Detail of internal cross-laimination of epsilon cross-bedding in central part of Green Sandstones.
New quarry, Chui Hill.
(c) Detail of uppermost layers of Green Sandstone. Note extensive calcification and alteration along
cross-beds, and mottled cementation of top horizontal beds. New quarry, Chui Hill. Hammer handle
is 28 cm long.
Figure 4. (a) Lower Limestone. Detail of intricate carbonate cemrntatlon: note two chert pebbles and
pedotubles (arrowed). New quarry, Chui Hill.
(b) Lower Limestone. Detail of pedotubles (arrowed), probably shrub rhizoliths. New Quarry, Chui
Hill. Cap is 5 cm in diameter.

1983). In fact, the whole lower Mottled Nodular Beds, Lower Limestone,
Green Beds, sequence shows a typical calcrete soil profile (KIappa, 1983)

2.3. Mottled nodular beds

These consist of variegated red and green clayey siltstones with abundant
carbonate nodules, sharp edged or diffuse, scattered in, or concentrated in
layers in, the sediment. At Chui Hill, very low angle bedding in the Mottled
 Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds /

Figure 5. (a) Transition from Lower Limestone to Mottled Nodular Beds. Old quarry, Chui Hill. Kotr
abundant pedotubles (arrowed), faint vertical prismatic structure and possible dinosaur egg (5).
Hammer handle is 28 cm long.
(b) Exhumed surface of Lower Limestone, Old quarry. Chui Hill. Note scattered chert, jasper and
calcrete pebbles and granules, and irregular botryoidal and brecciated surface. Lens cap is 5 cm in
diameter.

Nodular Beds define a broad channel; similar features occur at Bara Simla
Hill. These shallow broad channels are typical floodplain drainage channels,
active only during floods, and filled by erosion of overbank siltstones and
associated pedogenic concretions. In the Mottled Nodular Beds, we can in
fact distinguish in situ pedogenic concretions and reworked pedogenic
concretions in the channels (Figure 6). In addition, groundwater pipes,
probably formed during the after floods, are outlined by reduction pipes in
the sediment [Figure 7(a)]. Small rootlets abound in the beds and occasion-
ally can be related to one horizon. The whole Mottled Nodular Beds
sequence is a beautiful example of an semi-arid floodplain environn- nt. The
“crab” burrows recorded are either coalesced calcrete nodules or terrestrial
animal burrows.

2.4. Upper limestone

Like the Lower Limestone, this is simply another calcrete horizon, and owes
its origin to a more permeable clayey sand deposit-probably an overbank
Figure 6. (a) Section in Old quart), Chul H111. IOO~IIIL: ns)rth-cwt. \ ,rtt’ II,\, -m&l crews-i>~ildctl Mottled
Nodular beds, outlined b> rcwwked calcwtv nodules.
(b) Detail of lonest Slottled Sodular Beds, Bara Sin&. Note OI s~tu nodular calcrrtt palae~aol (S),
01 r&in by reworked, channel-fill sediments. Hammer rests on one of vertical “groundwatr:r pipes”.
(c) Detail of in situ nodular calcrete. I,ens cap is 5 cm in diamrtrr.

sheet-flood-sandwiched between the similar Mottled Nodular and Upper

Sandstone beds (Figure 2). It has produced dinosaur bone fragments.

2.5. Upper sandstone

This consists of sandy marl, similar and with the same origin as, the Mottled
Nodular Beds.

2.6. Features of the palaeosols

The palaeosol units in the Lameta Group section are shown on Figure 2, and
are recognised on the following structures and fabrics of the sediments.
 Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds 9

xe 7. (a) detail of prismatic structure and “groundwater pipe” (X), with pedotubules (arrowed) at
rhizolith horizon at hammer head. Hammer handle is 28cm long.
(b) Dinosaur egg clutch on top of Lower Limestone. Bara Simla. Eggs are outlined. Pen is 13 cm 101‘8.
2.7. Pedotubles
Pedotuble is a general term for all pedological features having a simple or
branching tubular form. The term includes root trace, vertebrate and
invertebrate burrows and even lightening strike features (fulgurites).
Fossil root traces are common at the top of the Jabalpur Clay, and in the
Lower Limestone, Mottled Nodular Beds, Upper Limestone and Upper
Sandstone (Figures 2,4,5). Practically all the rootlet traces are thin (less than
1 cm. diameter) with the exception of some in the Lower Limestone (Figure
4), which resemble shrub roots: there are no large tree root traces. All fossil
root traces are diagnostic of fossil soils regardless of their degree of
pedological development (Retallack, 1983). Unlike burrows, root traces
taper evenly, branch downwards and are very irregular in width: also they
may have clay films due to water flow toward the root during
evaporotranspiration.
Fossil burrows are sometimes difficult to distinguish from fossil root
traces. Many of the “crab” burrows figured by Singh (1981) and Kumar and
Tandon (1979) are fossil root traces; others are probably vertebrate and
invertebrate burrows--but of terrestrial animals-~---not marine ones as they
claim. Although fossil burrows are common in both marine and continental
environments, there are few obvious burrows in the Lameta Group. The
reason may be that burrows tend to collapse soon after they are abandoned.
With further deposition and soil development, they may be obscured by root
growth and groundwater solution and deposition. In fact, only the woody
rootlets of plants survive long enough to get their form preserved: smaller
rootlets can only by distinguished by thin bootlace reduction lines. Criteria
for distinguishing rootlets and burrows are given by Klappa (1980).
Fossil plants, apart from charophytes, have not been recorded from the
Lameta Group. This is not surprising considering the generally oxidizing
conditions indicated from the sediments. Nevertheless, pollen analysis of
some of the less permeable and oxidized claystone may give an indication of
the contemporary flora, which from the root traces seems to have been a
rather scrubby shrub and ground col’er.

2.8. Calcretes
Most of the Mottled Nodular Beds and Upper Sandstone consists of
nodular calcrete, while the Lower and Upper Limestones are massive
calcretes.
In situ nodular calcrete occurs in places towards the base of the Mottled
Nodular Beds where it forms part of a complete pedogenic carbonate
sequence with the Lower Limestone and Green Sandstone below (Figure 2).
The profile approximates to a thick Durorthid soil (USDA) or Calcic
Xerosol (FAO/Unesco) (Fitzpatrick, 1980), m which the petrocalcic horizon
has a continuous, cemented calcrete horizon (Bca horizon) (Ruellan, 1973).
Diagenesis has emphasized the nodules and red colour of the palaeosol, and
solution has probably removed some soluble salts: so a precise comparison in
unwarranted. Nevertheless the general character of the Lameta paleosols is
determinable. Almost identical profiles occur in arid to semi-arid desert
environments with seasonal rains, such as the Kalahari (Figure 2) (Watts,
 Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Reds 11

1980) and may be observed in Rajasthan in the Chirai soil series of the
Jodhpur area (Murthy et al., 1982). In order to emphasize this comparison,
we will describe the appropriate unit in terms of a pedogenic horizon in a soil
profile.
The lower Mottled Nodular Beds, where not eroded by the younger
channel, consist of about 1 m of purplish sandy, clayey siltstone with
abundant coalesced nodules (Figures 5, 6). Relic prismatic structure is
present and relatively abundant rootlets casts and some burrows occur. This
bed may be considered an A2 soil horizon, though with little or no organic
matter, above the petrocalcic Bca horizon of the Lower Limestone below:
thought these distinctions are difficult to apply to tropical soils (Fitzpatrick,
1980). “Pipes”, outlined by reduction along prismatic structure occur in
places [Figure 7(a)]. and may mark the central root area of shrubs. After root
decay, the resulting network of pores allows water to circulate more freely
and concentrates subsoil drainage after rains.
The Lower Limestone is a Bca horizon of carbonate cementation, and
where not exposed by channelling, grades up into the nodular lowermost
Mottled Nodular Beds [Figure 5(a)]. A similar carbonate forms the Upper
Limestone (Figure 2). Both limestones are obviously pedogenic calcretes
containing most of their diagnostic features (Braithwaite, 1983; Nagtegaal,
1969; Goudie, 1973), including complicated and irregular internal structure,
with extensive grain and void cutan development, irregular cement distri-
bution, scattered elastic grains, complicated silica and carbonate replace-
ment fabrics, rootlets and occasional burrows, and complicated internal
brecciation (Figure 4). One of the main attributes of calcretes-particularly
obvious in these limestones-is complexity (Klappa, 1983). Calcrete
thickness is related to calcareous dust deposition or valleys draining
carbonate-rich areas (Goudie, 1973). In the Jabalpur area, abundant carbo-
nate is available from the surrounding Precambrian marbles.
However, the abundance of chert and jasper pebbles and granules, often in
lenses, suggests a pediment deflation surface, which may have controlled
carbonate cementation due to increased permeability. Another indication of
reduced sedimentation at this horizon is the abundant dinosaur eggshells and
eggshell fragments at this horizon around Bara Simla hill.
Downwards, the Lower Limestone calcrete passes into a nodular layer of
the upper Green Sandstone, then into the uncemented middle layer of the
Green Sandstone, representing the C horizon of the profile. In the late
Cretaceous, as now, this middle layer probably acted as a groundwater
aquifer possibly supplying much of the carbonate to cement the upper part of
the profile as well as the diffuse cementation of the lower Green Sandstone,
above the impermeable Jabalpur Clay.
The Upper Limestone and Upper Sandstone form another similar soil
profile, perhaps related to the land surface over which the first Deccan Traps
were erupted.

2.9. Biota
The most interesting and productive fossil horizon is just above the Lower
Limestone. At Bara Simla, a thin horizon consisting of red and green
variegated shales yielded abundant bone fragments. Screen washing resulted
in the recovery of a large number of ostracods and charophyte, together with
microvertebrates including fishes, fragmentary frog ilia, and possible hyp-
silodontid tooth (Sahni, 1984). S’ince Sahni and Gupta (1982) described
dinosaur eggshell fragments, further field work and screening of the beds just
above the Lower Limestone around Bara Simla disclosed a vast field of
sauropod dinosaur eggshells (Sahni et al., 1984). In the saddle between Bara
Simla and Pat Baba temple, were clutches of dinosaur eggs, consisting of
complete, although crushed, eggs ranging from two to nine shells per clutch
[Figure 7(b)]. The outline of individual eggs can be clearly determined.
Dinosaurs are known to have laid their eggs in terrestrial environments
(Erben et al., 1979). The widespread in situ eggs at Bara Simla thus indicate
terrestrial and not marine conditions.
The ostracod fauna from the variegated shale are also freshwater types
such as Candona, Parac_vpretta, Cypvois, Metacyprois. Some ostracods are
gigantic (over 4mm in size) and are well preserved. These ostracods have
been found in freshwater Intertrappean and Infratrappean beds elsewhere
and are known from the fluvio-lacustrine Takli Formation of Nagpur
(Bahatia and Rana, 1984) and from the Asifabad Tntertrappeans (Prasad,
1985) No definite marine forms are known.
Charophytes, though present, are not as abundant as the ostracods. ‘I’he
taxonomy of the Jabalpur charophytes is still being worked out, but easily
recognisable and common forms such as Microchara, Peckichara and
Platychara are present.
Pulmonate gastropods have also been recovered. These include the
ubiquitous Physa (cf. Physa prinsepii), Planorbis and Paludina hislopi. The
latter is also recorded from fine-grained green shales at the top of the Mottled
Nodular Beds at Chui Hill (Sahni, 1972; Sahni and Mehrotra, 1974).
The vertebrates from the Bara Simla section are freshwater-terrestrial
types (Sahni, 1984). Th ese include scales of Phareodus, an osteoglossid fish
common in present day southern hemisphere continents, a broken ilium of
a pelobatid frog, dinosaur teeth and associated large limb bones This
assemblage is similar to one from the Takli Formation around Nagpur
(Gayer et al., 1984).
The only marine forms so far recorded are the foraminifera recorded from
the Mottled Nodular Beds at Bara Simla (Kumar and Tandon, 1977).
However, since these have not been figured or described, and in any case are
propably misidentifications, we have ignored this record.
In a locality about 1.5 kilometres upstream from Lameta Ghat, where the
Lameta Group unconformably overlie Precambrian metamorphic rocks,
large pieces of bone lie on the top surface of the Lower Limestone, together
with chert and jasper pebbles.

3. Conclusion

The combination of sedimentary, palaeosol and fossil evidence clearly shows

that the Lameta Group was deposited in an arid to semi-arid environment
with seasonal rainfall and a large, through flowing river. A direct analogy can
in fact be made with the present Narbada river and its floodplain which flow
just south of Jabalpur. The Green Sandstone represents the point bar
 Palaeoenvironments of the Lameta Beds 13

deposits of such a river. The Mottled Nodular Beds represent the floodplain
clays and silts with pedogenic concretions. These concretions were reworked
into broad depressions representing the floodplain drainage channels, which
were normally only full during the rainy season. The Lower and Upper
Limestones represent pedogenic calcretes, probably localised by small gravel
accumulations either on the floodplain surface or within the broad floodplain
drainage channels. The fish, frogs and other vertebrates recorded, as well as
the ostracods and charophytes, show that at least once, a more permanent
standing body of water must have existed, at least for a short time. This could
have been a meander cut-off channel, full only during floods, but with at least
a few stagnant ponds surviving throughout the year.
Lastly, the seasonal arid to semi-arid environment worked out form the
sediments and fossils have implications for the late Cretaceous terrestrial
dinosaur communities which deserve further study.

Acknowledgments

Field work by M.E.B. was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Council of Canada and the National Geographic Society: he wishes to thank
the C.A.S. in Geology, and particularly Dr S. B. Bhatia and Dr V. J. Gupta,
for arranging a fruitful stay in Chandigarh. A. S.‘s work is part of a
collaboration between C. A. S. in Geology, Chandigarh and Paleontologie
des Vertebres et de paleontologie Humaine, Univ. Paris VI and Institut de
Sciences de l’evolution, Univ. Montpehier, France.

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