International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96

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International Journal of Coal Geology

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Coal seam correlation of an Indian Gondwana coalfield: A palaeobotanical perspective

A.K. Srivastava ⁎, Deepa Agnihotri
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow 226007, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Coal in India mainly belongs to Gondwana coalfields of Damodar-Koel, Son-Mahanadi, Wardha-Godavari,
Received 31 December 2011 Narmada and Satpura Basins. The associated carbonaceous shales and sandstones exposed in these coalfields
Received in revised form 13 June 2012 contain a variety of plant fossil assemblages of Glossopteris flora. The name of the flora is derived from the
Accepted 23 June 2012
dominant presence of Glossopteris — leaves having a tongue shape, entire margin, distinct midrib and reticulate
Available online 1 July 2012
venation pattern. Apart from the leaves of Glossopteris, the flora is known by related leaf types, variety of male–
Keywords:
female fructifications, seeds, sporangia and spore-pollen of the Glossopterid group of plants. The fossils of other
Gondwana groups of plants viz., Bryophytes, Lycophytes, Pteridophytes, Coniferophytes, and Ginkgophytes are also discovered
Palaeobotany in association with the flora. The coal bearing sequence of the Indian Gondwana coalfields is subdivided into a
Glossopteris flora number of geological formations of the Permian Period i.e. Talchir, Karharbari, Barakar, Barren Measures, and
Permian Raniganj.
India Each formation contains characteristic plant fossil assemblages. The coal is being exploited from the workable coal
seams of the Karharbari, Barakar and Raniganj formations.
The palaeobotanical investigation of plant fossils recovered from four different coal seams of Pench, Kanhan and
Pathakhera coalfields of the Satpura Gondwana Basin, of central India, indicates the presence of different types of
assemblages in different coal seams. The flora of Lower Barakar coal seams demonstrates the frequent occurrence
of Gangamopteris, Noeggerathiopsis, Buriadia, Botrychiopsis, various types of fructification Ottokaria, Arberia, seeds,
and leaves of Glossopteris. In distinction the assemblage of the upper Barakar seams show the homogeneity of
flora, with dominance of Glossopteris-species and different types of glossoptrid leaves e. g. Rhabdotaenia,
Maheshwariphyllum, fructification Plumsteadia, Partha, Scutum and fertile and sterile fronds of Neomariopteris.
Present study for the first time demonstrates the usefulness of plant fossil data in the correlation of coal seams
in the Gondwana coalfields of India.
The floristic analysis of the Raniganj Coalfield of eastern India also shows the evidence of specific distributions of
plant fossils in different coal seams of Early Permian Barakar Formation.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Coal occurs in different layers in intermittent sequences of carbonifer-
ous shale or sandstone.
The exposed layer of coal within a particular rock sequence is recog-
nized as the coal seams and its limit and extension varies from place to
place (Van Kravelen, 1961). The number and nature of the coal seams de-
pend on the source material, sedimentological and palaeogeographical
characteristics of the coalfield. In comparison to coal of the northern
hemisphere, which belongs to the Carboniferous Period and formed
from autochthonous mode of deposition, Gondwana coal occurs in dif-
ferent coal bearing sequences of the Permian Period and is derived
from drifted plant material deposited in basins or valleys i.e. the coal is
allochthonous in nature (Krishnan, 1982; Navale, 1974, 1976, 1978).
⁎ Corresponding author at: Intergral University, Kursi Road, Lucknow-226026, India.
Tel.: +91 522 2740008/2738305; fax: +91 522 2740485/2740098.
E-mail addresses: ashwini_bsip@yahoo.com,
srivastava019@gmail.com (A.K. Srivastava).
Coals of the Angarian Realm (Siberia) are mostly Permian and the plant
material is both auto and allochthonous. The coal bearing sequences
are known by the Karharbari, Barakar and Raniganj formations of the
Lower Gondwana System and each formation is known by its typical
plant fossil assemblages (Srivastava, 1997).
Coal seams in different coalfields are formed depending upon the
source material and coalification process (Casshyap, 1979). Sudden
influx of sediments or retrieval of vegetal matter in the formation of
coal seams result in coal seams that are split which are difficult to corre-
late the coal seams. In order to resolve the problem, Sahni (1940)
suggested the use of palaeobotanical knowledge to correlate coal
seams in Indian Gondwana coalfields. Following this idea, Bharadwaj
(1971) and others (Bharadwaj and Prakash, 1972; Bharadwaj and
Salujha, 1964; Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 1973; Bharadwaj and Tiwari,
1977) comprehensively studied the spore–pollen assemblages for the
correlation of coal seams in different coalfields of India. However, the
distribution of plant mega fossils have not yet been characterized to
identify or correlate the different coal seams, mainly because it is difficult
to get fossils from a single seam coal mines. In view of this fact, we

0166-5162/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.coal.2012.06.009
 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96 89

investigated the Pench, Kanhan and Pathakhera coalfields of the Satpura
Gondwana Basin in central India. Each coalfield contains 3 to 4 coal
seams, and coal is being exploited from single seam open cast or under-
ground mines. Fortunately, the underlying and overlying carbonaceous
shale samples of the colliery have yielded well preserved plant fossils.
The study of plant fossil assemblages from different seams of the Barakar
Formation of the Raniganj coalfield (Srivastava, 1992) has demonstrated
that palaeobotanical data can be used to correlate the different coal
seams.
Plant fossil samples were collected from a single seam coal mines
with the help of coal geologists of Western Coalfields Limited, a subsid-
iary of Coal India Limited. A large number of fossils (around 1000 in
number) were recovered from open cast and underground mines of
the Pench, Kanhan and Pathakhera coalfields of the Satpura Gondwana
Basin. This discovery suggests the explicit distribution of fossils in dif-
ferent coal seams of the Barakar Formation belonging to Early Permian
sequence of Gondwana System because of the fact that each coal seam
in all likeness is derived from individualistic association of plant
material.
The distribution of plant fossils in Lower Gondwana sediments
indicates that the earliest elements of Glossopteris flora appear sudden-
ly in the early Early Permian sequence of Talchir Formation represented
by the species of Gangmopteris-Noeggerathiopsis, with few records of
Paranocladus, Arberia and seeds. The Gangamopteris-Noeggerathiopsis

Fig. 1. A. Shows the distribution of different Gondwana basins in Peninsular India. (after Ghosh et al., 2004). B. Outline of geological map of Satpura Gondwana Basin that shows the
locations of the different coalfields i.e. Pench, Kanhan and Patahkhera. (after Ghosh et al., 2004).
90 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96

complex diversified with the addition of Glossopteris-species during
late-early part of Early Permian Karharbari Formation. During this
period flora also shows the distinct presence of Botrychiopsis, Buriadia,
Euryphyllum and Rubidgea. Recently, these elements have been
reported from the flora of Lower Barakar Formation (Singh et al., 2006a,
2006b; Srivastava, 1996). The flora of Early Permian Barakar Formation
characteristically demonstrates the continuation of Karharbari floral
elements at lower stage but during Early Permian stage of upper
Barakar most of earlier forms disappear and the dominance of
Glossopteris-species along with Neomariopteris and Lelstotheca is noticed

Fig. 2. Generalized lithostratigraphy of Gondwana successions in Satpura Basin.

 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96 91

in the assemblage. The early Late Permian sequence of Barren Measures
Formation shows the steady decline of genera and species mainly attrib-
uted due to severe aridity as the formation contains the red bed sequence.
The presence of lycopsid genus, Cyclodendron is typical of the flora,
together with the species of Glossopteris. The Late Permian Raniganj
Formation represents the zenith of Glossopteris flora represented
by number of genera and species of Glossopterid leaves, fructifications
and pteridophytes (Lele, 1976; Maheshwari, 1976; Srivastava, 1996,
1997). The end phase of Permian Period i.e. Bijori, Kamthi and Pachhwara
formations demonstrates the declining stage of Glossopteris flora before
its extinction in early or middle part of Triassic Formation (Srivastava
and Agnihotri, 2010). The evolutionary pattern of dominant group
of plant Glossopterid indicates that the glossopterid leaves and
fructifications have dichotomous mode of developmental pattern.
The leaves are classified under reticulate and non reticulate types
and both the forms evolved successively with alteration and mod-
ification at different stratigraphic levels. Similarly glossopterid fructifi-
cations recognized as two types e.g. multiovulate and branched type,

Fig. 3. Detailed geological maps of different coalfields of Satpura Gondwana Basin showing the fossil site. (after Singh and Shukla, 2004). A. Pench Valley Coalfield. B. Kanhan Valley
Coalfield. C. Pathakhera Coalfield.
92 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96
Fig. 3 (continued).
signify the evolutionary pattern through reduction of ovule and
ovule bearing organ at different stratigraphic levels (Srivastava,
1986, 2004).
2. Material and method: Satpura Gondwana Basin
The east–west aligned Satpura Gondwana Basin is located in the
heart of the Indian peninsula along the southern flank of the Narmada
Valley (Fig. 1A). This rhomb shaped master Gondwana Basin is delin-
eated in the north by the Son-Narmada fractured zone, which defines
a major geo-fracture in the peninsular craton (Chakraborty and
Ghosh, 2008). It is 200 km long and 60 km wide. The basin covers
an area of 12000 km 2 and is situated between 22° 06′ N-22° 28′
latitude and 77° 48′–79° 00′ longitude (Fig. 1B). It extends south
of Narmada plains of Hoshangabad and includes the hilly region of
southern Hoshangabad, northern Chhindwara and north-eastern
Betul (Raja Rao, 1983). Satpura Gondwana Basin is unique amongst
all of the Indian Gondwana basins because it has the largest range
stratigraphically spanning from Permian to Cretaceous (Crookshank,
1936). There are three major coalfields within the basin: the Pench,
Kanhan and Pathakhera. The Barakar formation represents the coal
bearing horizon in the basin.
Gondwana sediments of the Satpura Basin are estimated to have a
thickness of more than 5000 m. There are number of stratigraphic
units which are found only in this Basin, including the Motur, Bijori,
Almod, Denwa and Bagra formations. The Motur and Bijori formations
have been correlated with the Lower Gondwana sequences of the
Barren Measures and Raniganj formations of the Damodar Basin,
whereas, beds of the Pachmarhi, Denwa and Bagra belong to Late Triassic
and Jurassic. Early Triassic beds of the Middle Gondwana are absent in
Satpura Gondwana basin. The Jabalpur sequence is assigned to the
Lower Cretaceous and represents the Upper Gondwana (Srivastava and
Agnihotri, 2009). Precambrian basement rocks are overlain unconform-
ably by the Talchir, Barakar, Motur and Bijori sediments, and the contact
between Bijori and Pachmarhi formations marks the boundary between
the Lower and Upper Gondwana subdivisions (Srivastava and Agnihotri,
2009). Ghosh et al. (2001) have proposed a stratigraphic succession in
Satpura Gondwana Basin (Fig. 2).
3. Coalfields of the Satpura Gondwana Basin
On the basis of the occurrence of coal, the Satpura Gondwana Basin
is divided into four coalfields: The Pench Valley Coalfield, Kanhan Valley
Coalfield, and Pathakhera Coalfield.
3.1. Pench Valley Coalfield
The Pench Valley Coalfield is named after the river Pench, covers the
southern portion of the Satpura Gondwana Basin in the Chhindwara
district of Madhya Pradesh between longitude 78°38′–79°0′ and lati-
tude 22°09′–22°24′ (Figs. 1B, 3A). It extends over the length of about
32 km from Sukri in the west and Haranbhata in the east. Talchir,
Barakar, Motur and Bijori formations of the Lower Gondwana group
and the Jabalpur Formation of the Upper Gondwana group followed
by the Deccan Traps, are exposed in Pench Valley.
Talchir is the lowest member of the group (Fig. 2), which uncon-
formably overlies the Archean rocks, and is exposed along the southern
portion of the Barakar Formation which occurs in a long strip trending
east–west, but exposures of Barakar Formation are generally met only
in the sections of river tributaries.
The Barakar coal measures are exposed in narrow disconnected
patches. Barakar rocks are comprised of medium to coarse-grained
sandstone, carbonaceous shale and coal seams in the Pench Valley.
The Barakar and Talchir boundary is faulted. The coal measures of
Pench Valley have a regional northerly dip of 5°–15°. The Pench Valley
region has a maximum covering of the Barakars by the Deccan Traps.
Motur rocks occupy the 3/4th part of the coalfield, and consist of
yellowish sandstone and mottled clay beds. They are devoid of any
 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96
coal seam. Motur is followed by the rocks of the Jabalpur stage and
Deccan Trap rocks (Chandra, 1971).
In the coalfield, the coal seams occur in a thick sequence (250 m)
of Barakar sediments. There are four coal-seams in a sequence of
50–80 m, are numbered from I (top) to IV (bottom). Only seam no I
(top) has the mineable thickness (3.5–6.5 m) throughout the area.
The rest of the seams are thin, discontinuous, occur in patches and
have a workable thickness only in the eastern part of the Coalfield.
The coal seams have the tendency to split (Singh and Shukla, 2004).
The beds of Bijori are exposed in Denwa river section and near the
villages Tamia and Bijori (Srivastava and Agnihotri, 2010).
3.2. Kanhan Valley Coalfield
The Kanhan Valley Coalfield is situated between latitude 22°11′–
22°12′ and longitude 78°25′–78°40′. The coalfield named after the
river Kanhan, area stretches for about 25 km from the western end
of the Pench Valley to the Tandsi area in the west (Fig. 3B). Geologi-
cally, the Kanhan Valley Coalfield is similar to the Pench Valley Coal-
field. Archean rocks are underlain by the Talchir Formation, which is
followed by the coal bearing Barakar Formation and Motur Formation
of the Lower Gondwana. Motur is overlain by rocks of the Jabalpur
stage and Deccan Traps. In this area, the beds strike east–west and
usually dip towards the north with dips varying from 5°-12°. Local
variations in the dip direction have also been noted. These variations
are due to the tilting of faulted blocks as recorded in Pench area. A
Fig. 4. Lithocolumn of different coalfields of Satpura Gondwana Basin showing different coal seams. A. Pench Valley Coalfield. B. Kanhan Valley Coalfield. C. Pathakhera Coalfield.
93
network of strike faults and oblique faults constitutes the main structural
features (Raja Rao, 1983).
Only three coal seams have been identified in this coalfield, of
which only the youngest seam (Top seam) is well developed, which
is 1.2–4.8 m thick. In the Tandsi area, seam III has a workable thick-
ness and is being mined at present. In the Mohan area seam, III and
seam II are under production. Towards the western side (Tandsi
area), seam III has been affected by magmatic activity, particularly
towards the south (Raja Rao, 1983).
3.3. Pathakhera Coalfield
Pathakhera Coalfield is also known as Tawa Valley Coalfield, after
the river Tawa. Pathakhera Coalfield is the western-most extension
of Pench-Kanhan-Tawa Valley coalfields and is situated in Betul dis-
trict of Madhya Pradesh between 22°06′: 78°10′ (Fig. 3C). The meta-
morphics and Talchir Formation are exposed in the south-western
and south-eastern parts of the coalfields. Barakar Formation occupies
the central part of the coalfield and covers an area of 42 km 2. On the
basis of lithological assemblage the Barakar Formation is divided into
three sub-divisions. The upper part of the formation, which is about
100–110 m thick, is composed of medium to coarse-grained sand-
stone with occasional shale bands. The middle part is about 120 m
thick and consists of sandstone, shale and their intercalations and
the coal seams. The lower part of the Formation is about 250 m
thick and is composed of fine-grained garnetiferous sandstone with
94 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96

few thin shale and coal bands. The thicker coal horizons of the coal- Table 2
field are confined in the middle section of about 120 m of the forma- List of plant fossils collected from different Coalfields of Satpura Gondwana Basin.

tion. The Motur occupies the major part of the coalfield in the north, Name of genera/species Pench Kanhan Pathakhera
and is predominantly arenaceous in nature, consisting of medium to Valley Valley Coalfield
coarse-grained sandstone with greenish clay bands. The upper part Coalfield Coalfield

of the Motur formation, however, contains pink and chocolate colored Genus Cyclodendron Krausel 1928
clay beds. The presence of dolerite dykes in Pathakhera coalfield has Cyclodendron leslii Krausel 1928 + +
Genus Lelstotheca Maheshwari 1972
been established on the basis of both surfaces (exposures along
Lelstotheca striatus Maheshwari and +
Tawa river) as well as underground workings (Raja Rao, 1983). Srivastava 1986
In the Pathakhera Coalfield, the seams occur at depths of 25–100 m. Genus Phyllotheca Brongniart 1828
Four major coal seams are found in the coalfield. The seams are the IA Phyllotheca indica Bunbury 1861 + +
Seam, Bagdona Seam, Lower Workable Seam and Upper Workable Genus Botrychiopsis (Feistmantel)
Archangelsky and Arronoda 1971
Seam, in ascending order. The younger two seams, i.e. the Lower Work-
Botrychiopsis valida (Feistmantel) Archangelsky +
able Seam and Upper Workable Seam are by far the most consistent. and Arronoda 1971
The Bagdona Seam is generally workable in the central and eastern Genus Neomariopteris Maithy 1974
parts of the coalfield and is generally unworkable in the southern and Neomariopteris hugesii Maithy 1974 +
Genus Euryphyllum Feistmantel 1879
western parts of the coalfield. The lower most seam, i.e. IA Seam, is
Euryphyllum elongatum Srivastava 1992 +
mostly unworkable in the central part of the coalfield, but has attained Genus Gangamopteris McCoy 1860
workable thickness in the western and eastern part of the coalfield. Gangamopteris angustifolia, McCoy 1861 + + +
Gangamopteris buriadica, Feistmantel 1879 + +
Gangamopteris sp cf. G. clarkeana, + + +
4. Plant fossil assemblages vis a vis coal seams distribution Feistmantel 1890.
Gangamopteris cyclopteroides, Feistmantel 1876 + + +
Gangamopteris fibrosa, Maithy 1965 +
There are four coal-seams in Pench Valley coalfield in a sequence of Gangamopteris gondwanensis, Maithy 1965 +
50–80 m, numbered as I (top) to IV (bottom) (Fig. 4A). Only seam no I Gangamopteris intermedia, Maithy 1965 + + +
(top) has a workable thickness (3.5–6.5 m) throughout the area. The Gangamopteris karharbariensis, Maithy 1965 + +
Gangamopteris kashmirensis, Seward 1905 +
rest of the seams are thin, discontinuous, occur in patches and have a
Gangamopteris major, Feistmantel 1879 + + +
workable thickness only in the eastern part of the Coalfield. The coal Gangamopteris mucronata, Maithy 1965 + +
seams have the tendency to split in the eastern part of the coalfield Gangamopteris obliqua, McCoy 1861 + + +
(Singh and Shukla, 2004). Gangamopteris rajaensis Srivastava 1992 + +
The plant fossils from Pench Valley Coalfield are collected from the Gangamopteris spathulata, Feistmental 1882 +
Gangamopteris satpuraensis Srivastava & +
following open cast projects (ocp) and underground mines (u/g):
Agnihotri 2010
(Table 1) Gangamopteris sethiaensis Srivastava & + + +
Agnihotri 2010
New Sethia ocp Seam I–III Gangamopteris sp. + +
Shivpuri ocp Seam II–III Genus Glossopteris Brongniart 1828
Vishnupuri u/g Seam II–III Glossopteris angusta Pant and Gupta 1971 + +
Chhinda ocp Seam II–III Glossopteris angustifolia Brongniart 1828 + + +
Ganpati u/g Seam IV Glossopteris arberi Srivastava 1956 +
Thisgora u/g Seam IV Glossopteris browniana, Brongniart 1828 + +
Mathani u/g Seam IV Glossopteris churiensis Srivastava 1978 +
Naheria u/g Seam IV Glossopteris communis Feistmental 1879 + + +
Glossopteris decipiens Feistmantel 1879 + +
The flora of the Pench Valley Coalfield is known by the species of Glossopteris erehwonensis Gee 1989 +
Cyclodendron (1 sp.), Phyllotheca (1 sp.), Botrychiopsis (1 sp.), Glossopteris feistmantelii Rigby 1964 +
Glossopteris fibrosa Pant 1958 +
Neomariopteris (1 sp.), Euryphyllum (1 sp.), Gangamopteris (16 spp.),
Glossopteris gigas Pant and Singh 1971 + + +
Glossopteris (18 spp.), Rhabdotaenia (2 spp.), Arberia (1 sp.), Ottokaria Glossopteris indica Schimper 1869 + + +
Glossopteris karanpurensis Kulkarni 1971 + +
Glossopteris longicaulis Feistmental 1879 +
Table 1
Glossopteris nimishea Chandra and Surange 1979 +
Details of coal seams of different coalfields of Satpura Gondwana Basin.
Glossopteris sp. cf G. nakkarea Chandra and +
Coalfield Strata Surange 1979
Glossopteris sp. cf G. saksenae Chandra and +
Pench valley (after Raja Rao, 1983) Seam I Surange 1979
Inter-burden Glossopteris stricta Bunbury 1861 + +
Seam II Glossopteris subtilis Pant and Gupta 1971 + +
Inter-burden Glossopteris tenuifolia Pant and Gupta 1968 + +
Seam III Glossopteris varia Pant and Gupta 1968 + +
Inter-burden Glossopteris zeilleri Pant and Gupta 1968 +
Seam IV Genus Rhabdotaenia Pant 1958
Kanhan Valley (after Raja Rao, 1983) Seam III (top) Rhabdotaenia danaeoides (Royle) Pant 1958 +
Inter-burden Rhabdotaenia pantii Srivastava and Agnihotri 2010 +
Seam II (middle) Genus Arberia White 1908
Inter-burden Arberia surangei Chandra and Srivastava 1981 +
Seam I (bottom) Genus Ottokaria Zeiller 1902
Pathakhera Coalfield (after Raja Rao, 1983) Upper workable seam Ottokaria biharensis Srivastava 1977 +
Inter-burden Ottokaria sp. +
Lower workable seam Genus Arberiella Pant and Nautiyal 1960
Inter-burden Arberiella like sporangium Pant and Nautiyal 1960 +
Bagdona seam Genus Pantolepis Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012
Inter-burden
Seam IA
 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96 95

Table 2 (continued)
have also been recovered from lower seams exposed in the following
Name of genera/species Pench Kanhan Pathakhera mines: Shivpuri (Nos. II–III), Thisgora (No. IV), Mathani (No. IV),
Valley Valley Coalfield
Naheria (No. IV), Vishnupuri (II–III), Chhinda (II), Ganpati (Nos. II–III).
Coalfield Coalfield
The assemblages are comparable to the Early Permian flora of
Pantolepis indica Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012 + +
Karharbari Formation.
Genus Penchiolepis Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012
Penchiolepis gondwanensis Srivastava and +
Only three coal seams have been identified in Kanhan Valley coal-
Agnihotri 2012 field, of which only the youngest seam (top seam) is well developed
Penchiolepis indica Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012 + + (Fig. 4B).
Genus Surangelepis Srivastava and Agnihotri 2012 Plant fossils have been collected from following collieries of Kanhan
Surangelepis ambarai Srivastava and Agnihotri +
Valley Coalfield:
2012
Surangelepis elongatus Srivastava and +
Agnihotri 2012 Ambara ocp Top and bottom seam
Genus Utkaliolepis Tiwari, Deeba and Chauhan Ghorawari incline Bottom seam
2009 Ghorawari ocp Bottom seam
Utkaliolepis indica Tiwari, Deeba and Chauhan + + Ghorawari 16/17 ocp Top and bottom seam
2009 Ghorawari 6A, 6B ocp Bottom seam
Genus Cheirophyllum Pant and Singh 1978 Damua ocp Middle seam
Cheirophyllum sp. cf. C. lacerata (Feistmantel) + Datla ocp Bottom seam
Pant and Singh 1978 Rakhikhol incline Top seam
Genus Cordaites Unger 1850 Rakhikhol Bansi Patch Top seam
Cordaites sp. + Tandsi u/g Top seam
Genus Noeggerathiopsis Feistmantel 1876
Noeggerathiopsis elongata, Anderson and + +
Anderson 1985 The flora of Kanhan Valley Coalfield is known by the presence of
Noeggerathiopsis hislopii, Bunbury 1861 + + +
Cyclodendron (1 sp.), Lelstotheca (1 sp.), Phyllotheca (1 sp. ),
Noeggerathiopsis spathulata (Dana) Maithy 1965 +
Genus Buriadia heterophylla Seward and Sahni Gangamopteris (9 spp.), Glossopteris ( 15 spp.), Scale leaves Penchiolepis
1920 (2spp.), Surangelepis (1 sp.), Noeggerarthiopsis (2 spp.), Buriadia (1 sp.),
Buriadia heterophylla Seward and Sahni 1920 + + seeds of Carpolithus (2 spp.), Cordaicarpus ( 4 spp.) and Samaropsis
Genus Alatocarpus Lele 1969 (5 spp.) (Table 2).
A. indicus Lele 1969
There are only three coal seams in the area and they are numbered
Genus Carpolithus Sternberg 1925
Carpolithus circularis Walkom 1935 + + in ascending order from I to III, and are locally known as the Top, Middle
Carpolithus striatus Walkom 1935 + + and Bottom seams (Table 1). The comparison of the assemblages indi-
Genus Cordaicarpus Geinitz 1848 cates that they are similar to the flora of lower seams of the Pench Valley
Cordaicarpus gigas sp. nov. +
Coalfield belonging to coal seams III–IV.
Cordaicarpus sp. cf C. karharbarense Maithy 1965 + + +
Cordaicarpus minutus sp. nov. + + +
In Pathakhera Coalfield, the seams occur at the depths of 25–100 m.
Cordaicarpus ovatus Walkom 1935 + Four major coal seams are found in the coalfield. The seams are IA Seam,
Cordaicarpus zeilleri Maithy 1965 + + + Bagdona Seam, Lower Workable Seam and Upper Workable Seam in as-
Genus Samaropsis Goppert 1864 cending order (Fig. 4C).
Samaropsis dolianitii Millan 1977 + +
Fossils are collected from the following collieries:
Samaropsis feistmantelii Maithy 1965 + +
Samaropsis ganjrensis Saxena 1956 + + +
Samaropsis gigas De Souza and Iannuzzi 2007 + Tawa mine-1 Lower Workable seam
Samaropsis goraiensis Singh and Lele 1956 + + + Tawa mine-2 Lower Workable seam
Samaropsis milleri Seward 1917 + + Pathakhera mine-1 Lower Workable seam
Samaropsis rugata Bernardes- De- Oliviera et al. + + Pathakhera mine-2 Lower Workable seam
2007 Shobhapur min Upper Workable seam
Genus Vertebraria Royle 1933 Satpura mine-2 Upper Workable seam
Vertebraria indica Royle 1933 + + + Sarni mine Upper Workable seam
Equisetalean axes + + + Chattarpur mine-1 Lower Workable seam
Simple axes + + + Chattarpur mine-1 Lower Workable seam

The flora consists of Gangamopteris (11 spp.), Glossopteris (5 spp.),

(2 spp.), Arberiella (1 sp.), Vertebraria (1 sp.), scale leaves of Pantolepis
(1 sp.), Surangelepis (1 sp.), Utkaliolepis (1 sp.), Cheirophyllum (1 sp.),
Cordaites (1sp.), Noeggerathiopsis (3 spp.), Buriadia (1 sp.), seeds of
Cordaicarpus (4 spp.), and Samaropsis (6 spp.) (Table 2).
The top seam (No I) is quite thin and exposed only on the top part
of Sethia mine, whereas, the number II and III seams are exposed in
the open cast mine of Sethia, Shivpuri, Chhinda and underground
mines of Vishnupuri, Ganpati and Pench River section. The lower
seam IV is distributed in underground mines of Thisgora, Mathani and
Naheria.
The topmost seam (No. I) is exposed only in the Sethia mine, which
contains a typical assemblage of Cyclodendron, Neomariopteris and
Rhabdotaenia in association with the leaves of Gangamopteris and
Glossopteris. In contrast, the flora of the no. II seams is dominated by spe-
cies of Gangamopteris and Glossopteris, and lower seams show the pres-
ence of glossopterid leaves, fructification, scale leaves, Noeggerathiopsis,
Buriadia, seeds of Cordaicarpus and Samaropsis. Similar assemblages
Noeggerathiopsis (1 sp.), scale leaves Penchiolepis (1 sp.), Pantolepis
(1 sp.), Utkaliolepis (1 sp.), and seeds of Carpolithus (2 spp.), Cordaicarpus
(3 spp.) and Samaropsis (4 spp.) are collected (Table 2). In comparison to
Pench and Kanhan coalfields, the number of genera and species are less,
but the fossils are very characteristically distributed. Floristically, the as-
semblage represented by the leaves of Gangamopteris, Glossopteris,
Noeggerathiopsis and seeds, are similar to the flora of lower coal seams
of Pench and Kanhan coalfields.
5. Floristic correlation of lower and upper coal seams
The plant fossils recovered from Lower Barakar coal seams of
Pench, Kanhan and Pathakhera coalfields (Table 2) show the pres-
ence of different species of Cyclodendron, Lelstotheca, Phyllotheca,
Botrychiopsis, Neomariopteris, Euryphyllum, Gangamopteris, Glossopteris,
Rhabdotaenia, Arberia, Ottokaria, Arberiella, Pantolepis, Penchiolepis,
Surangelepis, Utkaliolepis, Cheirophyllum, Cordaites, Noeggerathiopsis,
96 A.K. Srivastava, D. Agnihotri / International Journal of Coal Geology 113 (2013) 88–96
Buriadia, Alatocarpus, carpolithus, Cordaicarpus, Samaropsis and
Vertebraria.
It has been observed that the assemblage represented by Buriadia,
Noeggerathiopsis, Gangamopteris and Botrychiopsis in lower seams
(III–IV) of the Satpura Gondwana Basin is similar to the lower Barakar
plant fossils of South Karanpura (Kulkarni, 1971), South Rewa Gondwana
Basin (Chandra and Srivastava, 1982), Auranga (Srivastava, 1977;
Srivastava and Tewari 1996), Srivastava (1992) and Ib–River Coalfield
(Singh et al., 2006b). The comparative stratigraphical distribution of fos-
sils suggests a similarity to the underlying flora of the Karharbari Forma-
tion of Giridih (Maithy, 1965), Daltonganj (Maithy, 1969) and South
Rewa Gondwana Basin (Chandra and Srivastava, 1982; Chandra and
Srivastava, 1991).
The flora of Upper Barakar coal seams (II–III) recovered from the
Sethia mine shows the presence of typical elements of its own i.e.
Cyclodendron and Rhabdotaenia in association with the fossils of the
Karaharbari Formation i.e. Noeggerathiopsis, Buriadia, Gangamopteris,
Glossopteris and seeds. The distribution of Cyclodendron and Rhabdotaenia
in different Lower Gondwana formations suggests that they are normally
associated with the flora of the Barren Measures and Raniganj formations
(Pant, 1958; Pant and Verma, 1963; Surange, 1975), but their presence in
the older horizon of Satpura Gondwana Basin suggests their early
ancestry in the Lower Gondwana flora of India.
The presence of Phyllotheca and Lelstotheca in association with the
typical plant fossils of Karharbari Formation is similar to the flora of
Lower Barakar Formation of the Raniganj Coalfield (Srivastava, 1992)
and such assemblages are also known from the Ib‐River Basin (Singh et
al., 2006a), Nand Coalfield, Wardha Basin (Singh et al., 2005). However,
the presence of sterile and fertile axes of Cyclodendron, pinnule of
Neomariopteris and glossopterid leaf of Rhabdotaenia in the top most
seam of the Sethia mine, makes the flora distinct from other coalfields
of the Satpura Gondwana Basin. Such variation in the flora is correlated
with the apparent change in Glossopteris flora from lower to upper
seams.
The distribution of plant fossils in a number of collieries of Pench,
Kanhan and Pathakhera coalfields of Satpura Gondwana Basin having
lower and upper coal seams of Early Permian Barakar Formation dem-
onstrates that plant fossils have distinct prototypes in lower and
upper coal seams and it is possible to identify and correlate different
coal seams in the Gondwana coalfields of India on the basis of plant
fossil allocation.
Acknowledgment
We thank Dr. N. C. Mehrotra, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of
Palaeobotany, Lucknow for his kind permission to attend and to present
paper in the TSOP meeting, Halifax, Canada. One of the authors (DA)
thank The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) and organizers for pro-
viding the student travel award and all logistic facilities to attend the
28th Annual meeting of TSOP, Halifax (NS), Canada. We express
our sincere thanks to Dr. P.K. Mukhopadhaya (Muki) and Mike Avery
for their help and cooperation. We also thank the editor, guest editors
of the journal and reviewers for their valuable suggestions.
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