Journal of Palaeogeography, 2017, 6(1): 69e83 (00114)

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Lithofacies palaeogeography and sedimentology

Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin,

India and their correlation with global
signatures e A review
R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy *

Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai, 600025, India

Abstract The present review is aimed at correlating major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin with
analogous global episodes. The Cauvery Basin came into existence due to Gondwana break up during Late
JurassiceEarly Cretaceous by taphrogenic rift process. The first marine transgression close to Aptian/Albian
boundary at the western margin of the basin terminates the syn-rift tectonic phase, which is also precise in
adjoining Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin. Two regional tectonic episodes are well documented in the basin which
have global significance viz. (1) A major basinal uplift during late Turonian caused by Marion hot mantle plume
resulted in widespread subaqueous volcanism in the southern part of the Cauvery Basin. This uplift also led to
relative sea level (RSL) fall of about 100 m in Cauvery and KG Basins and an unconformity of a magnitude of
2.3 Ma. The RSL fall closely correlates with global sea level fall. This volcanic episode also resulted in
Madagascar detachment from India. (2) The reunion hot mantle plume that led to Deccan volcanism in central
India resulted in EeSE tilt of the Cauvery Basin during upper Maastrichtian (CF1-CF3 zones). This tilt caused a
sea level fall of about 80 m and lateral withdrawal of sea by about 50 km developing a major erosional un-
conformity ranging in magnitude of ~1.8e30 My. The magnitude of RSL correlates well with global sea level
fall. This sea level fall caused widespread development of canyon features in the Cauvery Basin resulting in
differential subaqueous erosion. The globally significant ocean anoxic events viz. OAE-1b, OAE-1d, OAE-2 and
OAE-3 are fairly discernible in the Cauvery Basin. The new isotopic palaeotemperature data suggests that
southern India and Madagascar were located apparently in middle latitudes within the tropical-subtropical
climatic zone during Albian and early Maastrichtian. The magnitude of hiatus across KePg boundary varying
from 0 to 30 Ma is estimated based on planktic foraminifera for subsurface sections. The magnetostratigraphy
of outcrop sediments with rich fossil evidences reveals that magnetic polarity reversals consist of 13 mag-
netozones in the Late Cretaceous sedimentary strata.
Keywords Cauvery Basin, Correlation, Geologic events, Global episodes

© 2016 China University of Petroleum (Beijing). Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China
University of Petroleum (Beijing). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Received 1 August 2016; accepted 12 September 2016; available online 1 November 2016

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: geonag@gamil.com (A. Nallapa Reddy).
Peer review under responsibility of China University of Petroleum (Beijing).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jop.2016.09.002
2095-3836/© 2016 China University of Petroleum (Beijing). Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Petroleum
(Beijing). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
70
1. Introduction
Cauvery Basin is a peri-cratonic basin extending
over 50,000 km2 both in on land and offshore up to
2000 m bathymetry. More than 6000 m pile of sediments
belonging to Permian to recent age is well preserved in
the basin. These sediments are drilled through in the
basin in pursuit of establishing hydrocarbon resources
(Raju and Reddy, 2016; Reddy et al., 2013). The basin
has well-preserved AptianePalaeocene sediments
exposed in its western margin in Ariyalur district (Fig. 1)
of TamilNadu state straddled by major and minor un-
conformities. The architecture of these sediment
strata in their entirety can be well observed in mine and
quarry sections excavated for mining of clays and
limestone (Nagendra et al., 2011). The basin has simi-
larity in its tectonic evolution, stratigraphy, and sea
level trends with central European basins viz. Danish,
North Sea, North German and Northern Gulf of Mexico
basins (Nagendra et al., 2011). The present study at-
tempts to correlate major geologic events that
occurred in the Cauvery Basin with those of global
nature.
2. Rifting process and basin evolution
The initiation of the Cauvery Basin along the
eastern passive margin of India and consequent sedi-
mentation are attributed to the fragmentation of
eastern Gondwana and opening up of the Indian Ocean
which began in Late Jurassic (~160 Ma ago) (Rangaraju,
1993). The early sheared rift extensional faulting
initiated during Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous
(Scotese, 1997; Shyam Chand and Subrahmanyam,
2001), and was followed by a progressive rift that
seems to have continued until the end of the Turonian
(Watkinson et al., 2007). The end of the syn-rift phase
in Lower Cretaceous (late Aptian 112 Ma) is inferred
primarily on the basis of chronology of various events:
the breakup unconformity and first marine trans-
gression at the western basin margin (Reddy et al.,
2013). The Cauvery Basin configured morphologically
into six half-graben blocks trending in NE-SW sepa-
rated by horsts. The exposed Cretaceous system of the
Cauvery Basin consists of a complete marine sequence
rich in faunal assemblages ranging from Albian to
Maastrichtian. The non-marine syn-rift sediments are
represented by three isolated outcrops (Teranipalyam,
Kalpadi, Neykulam and Terani plant beds) along the
western margin of the Ariyalur area. The Archaean
basement is characterized by structural highs and
R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy
lows, evidenced by strong tectonic activity affecting
the basin since its inception. Four major tectonic and
sedimentary phases are recorded. (1) The first is
taphrogenic rifting and associated block movement
along the dominant NE-SW trend during Upper
JurassiceLower Cretaceous, resulting in morphotec-
tonic humps and deep slopes. (2) Post-rift thermal
subsidence during Albian to Maastrichtian led to
deepening of the basin accommodating thick marine
carbonates and clastics. A major uplift caused by
Marion hot mantle plume ca.88e90 Ma, resulted in
widespread volcanism in the southern part of the
Cauvery Basin. Detachment of Madagascar from India
is also linked to this volcanic episode (Gerta Keller
et al., 2016). Post uplift event, subsidence rate
rapidly increased and basin experienced deep marine
conditions. (3) The east, southeast tilt of the basin
during late MaastrichtianePalaeocene and resultant
relative sea level fall due to Deccan volcanism
(67.4e65.3 Ma) caused by reunion hot mantle plume,
and as a result sediment depocentres migrated basin
wards, filling the canyon features developed conse-
quent to the relative sea level fall. (4) The last phase
spanning Eocene to Miocene signifies coastal pro-
gradations/deltaic sedimentation through a series of
marine transgression and regressions in response to the
oscillatory tectonic movements.
Watkinson et al. (2007) revealed that continental
lacustrine and alluvial sediments were deposited dur-
ing rift related extension in the Cauvery Basin. The
continued extension facilitated inundation of marine
waters into the most landward parts of the Cauvery
Basin. They considered the terminal point of rift
related extension in the mid-Turonian marks the end of
syn-rift stage and the main subsidence mechanism
after this was dominantly thermal re-equilibration of
the lithosphere. However, we feel that the Turonian
uplift of the basin cannot be related to rift tectonics,
the entire basin was under deep marine conditions at
the time of rise of Marion hot mantle plume (Courtillot
et al., 1988; Raju et al., 1994; Reddy et al., 2013).
Lambiase (1990) considered two approaches to
marking the terminal syn-rift in passive margin basins
viz. (1) end of major rift tectonics and (2) end of
continental/fluvial sediment deposition. Therefore we
prefer to adapt the second approach to marking syn-
rift top in the Cauvery Basin. The facies transition
between fluvial and marine deposition can be observed
in the uppermost Terani Formation exposed in Neyku-
lam quarry. The marine sediments yielded planktic
foraminifera: Hedbergella trocoidea, Hedbergella
planispira, Hedbergella delrioensis and broken
ammonite fossils, suggesting late Aptian to Early
Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin, India 71

Fig. 1 Lithological formation map of outcrop Cretaceous sediments of Ariyalur, Cauvery Basin, southern India.
72
Albian, indicating that the top of syn-rift fill is close to
Aptian/Albian boundary (Reddy et al., 2013). In the
Cauvery Basin, the syn-rift fill can be subdivided based
on lithological content into syn-rift phase which is
predominantly fluvial and lacustrine deposits and post-
rift phase consisting of shelf carbonates and marine
shale (Reddy et al., 2013).
The east coast basins of India, mainly the Cauvery
and Krishna-Godavari Basins, are comparable with
central European basins, such as the Danish, North
German and North Sea basins and the northern Gulf of
Mexico, because of the similarity in their tectonic
evolution, stratigraphy and sea level trends (Nagendra
et al., 2011). The sedimentary units of the Cauvery
Basin are similar to those of the central European ba-
sins. However, central European basins experienced
compression tectonics during the Late Cretaceous
(SantonianeMaastrichtian), while the Cauvery Basin
remained a passive margin basin throughout.
3. Relative sea level (RSL) changes
Voigt et al. (2008) synthesized the tectonic evo-
lution and palaeogeography of all central European
Basins. The sea level curve for the Danish and North
German basins shows a mid-late Albian transgression
flooding in central Europe basins, while the late
Albian transgression completely flooded the Cauvery
Basin replacing shelf carbonates with organic-rich
shale. As a consequence of this major transgression,
the individual sub-basins formed as one large
epicontinental shelf area. The post-Turonian deposits
of the Cauvery Basin represent an early post-rift unit
that accumulated during a time of thermal subsidence
consequent to rise of Marion plume. The Late Aptian
to mid-Albian sea level cycle (= Dalmiapuram cycle) of
the Cauvery Basin shows some correspondence with
the northern Gulf of Mexico. The late Turonian un-
conformity with a hiatus of about 2.3 Ma separates
the ConiacianeSantonian sea level cycle (= Gar-
udamangalam cycle of Raju et al., 1981) in the
Cauvery Basin. This unconformity has a corresponding
sub-aerial unconformity in central Europe and the
northern Gulf of Mexico. However, the late Santonian
regression in the Cauvery Basin has a corresponding
marine flooding event in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
The early Maastrichtian widespread transgression is
associated with the early-late Maastrichtian sea level
cycle that has a corresponding late Albianeearly
Maastrichtian transgression in the northern Gulf of
Mexico (Mancini et al., 1996; Mancini and Puckett,
2005) and the lower boundary of this cycle is
R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy
represented by a sub-aerial unconformity in western
Europe (Hardenbol et al., 1998) and in the Cauvery
Basin (Nagendra et al., 2011). Throughout the Upper
Cretaceous the Cauvery Basin was dominated by
deposition of shale and sandstones with shelf car-
bonates in the early to mid-Albian. Late Albian to
mid-Turonian, Coniacian and early Maastrichtian
experienced widespread occurrence of anoxic
conditions.
The first marine transgression at the basin margin
occurred in the late Aptian to early Albian. This is
revealed by the occurrence of planktic foraminifera H.
planispira and H. trocoidea along with the benthic
foraminifer Lenticulina spp. in the uppermost part of
the Terani Formation. This faunal assemblage gener-
ally indicates a shallow neritic, open marine environ-
ment. This unit is overlain by limestone belonging to
the Dalmiapuram Formation, which is rich in coral
algal and bryozoans with rare foraminifera indicating a
warm, shallow and restricted marine environment
during the early to mid-Albian. The carbonate depo-
sition ceased abruptly during the late Albian as a result
of increasing depth and clastic input (Nagendra et al.,
2002b). Macrofossils, such as Acanthoceras sp., Mam-
mites conciliatus, Nautilus huxleyanus, and Turrilites
costatus (Govindan et al., 1998; Kossmat, 1897) are
abundant in the bedded limestone. Marl yielded few
planktic and diverse benthics represented by species
Hedbergella, Lenticulina, Anomalinoides and Quad-
rimorphina indicating middle neritic conditions.
Further deepening is evident during the late Albian to
mid-Turonian as the bedded limestone grades verti-
cally into marl/limestone, wherein well preserved,
diversified and abundant foraminifera, such as Rota-
lipora reicheli, Praeglobotruncana stephani, P. del-
rioensis, Gavelinella plummerae, Gyroidinoides
globosa suggests deeper middle neritic conditions
(Nagendra et al., 2002a, 2011a, 2011b; Reddy et al.,
2013). The time equivalent Karai Shale Formation in
outcrops consists of Ammonites, Belemnites and worm
tubes indicating deeper middle neritic conditions.
Paleodepth attained its maximum at the end of Dal-
miapuram/Karai Formation. As a result of basin uplift
caused by the rise of Marion plume (Raju et al., 2005)
during the late Turonian (Scotese, 1997), relative sea
level dropped to inner neritic depths (Fig. 2). The in-
crease abundance of glauconite pellets from the bot-
tom of the top TST accompanied by slight increase in
K2O content reflects the role of stratigraphic conden-
sation in glauconite evolution (Santanu et al., 2016).
The palaeogeography of the Kari Shale Formation
ranged from inner shelf to the shelf-margin straddling
across the maximum flooding zone heavily enriched in
Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin, India
Fig. 2 Paleobathymetry of Cretaceous sediments of outcrop sections of Ariyalur area and its correlation to Global sea level curves (Nagendra
et al., 2011).
phosphates and glauconite pellets (Nivedita
Chakraborty, 2013).
The Kulakkalnattam sandstone unit (Coniaciane
Santonian) of Garudamangalam Formation uncon-
formably overlies the Karai Shale Formation. This
sandstone consists of abundant burrows characterized
by Skolithos ichnofacies (Frey, 1973; Pemberton et al.,
1992) characteristic of high energy near-shore condi-
tions. Presence of poorly marked sandstones indicates
their deposition under wave base. This unit vertically
grades into Anaipadi Sandstone Member, which con-
sists of Ammonites and Mollusc shells signifying inner
neritic conditions. The overlying Saturbhagam Sand-
stone Member, characterized by cross laminations,
points to a fluvial channel origin, and revealing sea
level drop at the end of Santonian (Garudamangalam
Formation). The Garudamangalam Sandstone Forma-
tion forms a highstand systems tract, which unveils a
wide range of siliciclastic-carbonate mixing modes in a
nearshore marine realm associated with river-mouth
bar. The presence of a shore-parallel river-mouth bar
resulted in a restricted environment on its shore side,
remained open marine on seaward side (Subir Sarkar
et al., 2014). The Sillakkudi Formation overlies the
Garudamangalam Formation. This formation charac-
teristically consists of large Inoceramus shells along
with Skolithos and Ophiomorpha burrows at the top of
the unit. The lower part of the formation is repre-
sented by Kilpavalur grainstone containing glauconite
pellets and calcareous nodules indicating a marine
incursion into the basin. This formation yielded fora-
minifera, including Globotruncana ventricosa, Globo-
truncana linneiana, Rosita fornicata and Bolivinoides
73
strigillatus suggesting deeper middle neritic condi-
tions (Rasheed and Ravindran, 1978). The Kallar
conglomerate between Sillakkudi and overlying Kal-
lankurchchi Formations suggests a relative sea level
drop resulting in sub-aerial exposure and development
of a 1.5 m thick conglomerate bed. The Kallankurchchi
Formation consists of four litho units (Nagendra et al.,
2002a) with the lower ferruginous limestone contain-
ing smaller benthic foraminifera that marks the onset
of a marine transgression. The increasing abundance of
foraminifera and macrofossils represented by Gry-
phaea, Alectronia and Pecten in successively overlying
arenaceous limestone and Gryphaea limestone is an
indication of deepening bathymetric conditions. Above
the Gryphaea bed a layer dominated solely by Gry-
phaea shells suggests maximum paleodepth reached to
middle neritic depths. Drastic reduction in fossil con-
tent in the overlying upper arenaceous limestone unit
signals a falling sea level. This falling trend continued
up to the end of Ottakovil Formation which overlies
Kallankurchchi Formation. The burrow structures such
as Thalassinoides and Ophiomorpha in the Ottakovil
Formation indicates marginal marine to littoral envi-
ronment. This lithological unit (Ottakovil) marks the
end of the marine phase in the basin margin area. The
Kallamedu Formation overlies the Ottakovil Formation
and is characterized by cross-laminations indicating
deposition in a fluvial environment. The sea level
curve reveals that four major transgressive and
regressive cycles are imprinted in the Cretaceous rock
record preserved in the Ariyalur area. The T-R cycles
divide the Cretaceous succession into four 2nd/3rd
order sequences, and the maximum regressive
74
surfaces define the sequence boundaries. The paleo-
bathymetric trends vis-a-vis sea level changes recon-
structed for the Albian to Maastrichtian (Dalmiapuram
through Ottakovil formations) reveal two major sea
level falls during late Turonian and late Maastrichtian,
which correlate well with global sea level curves of
Haq et al. (1987); Miller et al. (2005) and Vail et al.
(1977). These sea level falls are linked to the rise of
Marion hot mantle plume during the late Turonian and
Reunion hot mantle plume during late Maastrichtian
(Courtillot et al., 1988; Govindan, 1993; Nagendra
et al., 2002b; Raju et al., 1993; Ramanathan, 1977;
Sundaram et al., 2001; Watkinson et al., 2007) (Fig. 2).
4. Oceanic anoxic events (OAEs)
Oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) were episodes of
widespread marine anoxia during which substantial
amounts of organic carbon were buried on the ocean
floor under oxygen-deficient bottom waters (Turgeon
and Creaser, 2008). The globally significant oceanic
anoxic events viz. OAE-1b, OAE-1d, OAE-2 and OAE-3
(Cronin et al., 2010) are fairly discernible in the
Cauvery Basin (Fig. 2). The first marine transgression in
uppermost Terani Formation in the outcrops at the
basin margin closely denotes Aptian/Albian boundary
(Nallapa et al., 2013). The expansion of this level in
the subsurface of the basin contains organic-rich shale
which probably characterizes OAE-1b. The organic
lean grey shale at the basal part of the marl bedded
limestone (late AlbianeCenomanian) exposed in mine
sections along the western margin of the basin closely
correlates with OAE-1d. The extension of these litho
units in the subsurface contains well preserved black/
dark grey shale with 1%e54% organic matter content in
the late Albian intervals in many exploratory wells
drilled in the basin (Govindan, 1993). These shale units
deposited through OAE-1d show very high gamma
counts suggesting excellent potential as a source rock
and are logged in different sub-basins of the Cauvery
Basin (Fig. 3).
The next event of organic-rich sedimentation
through late CenomanianeEarly Turonian correlates
well with major transgression and global oceanic
anoxic event OAE-2. High concentration of dark col-
oured, pyritized agglutinated foraminifera, presence
of small calcareous benthic foraminifera viz. Lentic-
ulinids, Gavelinellids indicates ecological stress
induced by anoxic depositional conditions (Govindan,
1993). Late Cenomanianeearly Turonian is also char-
acterized by world-wide anoxic conditions (Schlanger
and Jenkyns, 1976). The preservation of this organic-
R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy
rich shale perhaps resulted from the expansion of ox-
ygen depleted conditions at the depositional surface.
There are also gamma ray log evidences to suggest that
the presence of high organic content due to anoxic
conditions at ConiacianeSantonian level in this basin
probably correlates with global episodes of OAE-3
(Bomou et al., 2013) (Fig. 3). These low oxygen levels
coincide well with the local peaks of transgressive
cycles in the Cauvery Basin (Govindan, 1993).
5. CretaceousePaleogene (KePg/KTB)
boundary
The CretaceousePalaeogene boundary is signifi-
cant since it is associated with one of the best recor-
ded biotic mass extinctions in the Earth's history.
Therefore this boundary event has evinced much in-
terest among the geoscientists all over the world
especially during the last three decades. Several hy-
potheses, but mainly asteroid impact and volcanism,
have been suggested to explain the causes for the
global mass extinctions in several groups of organisms
including planktic foraminifers across the KePg
boundary (Alvarez et al., 1980, 1984; Keller, 2003,
Keller et al., 2004, 2011, 2012; Officer et al., 1987).
The KePg boundary is not exposed at any single
location in the Cretaceous outcrops in the Cauvery
Basin. The late Maastrichtian (~CF2&1 zone) repre-
senting Kallamedu Formation was deposited under
riverine conditions. The stratigraphically underlying
Ottakovil Formation of estuarine origin contains trace
fossils and nannoplanktons of late Maastrichtian age
(= zones CF5-3) (Jyotsnarai and Ramkumar, 2007;
Reddy et al., 2013). Below the Ottakovil lies Kallan-
kurchchi Formation consisting of Graphyea bed which
represents a well-marked MFS (Nagendra et al.,
2002a). It has yielded well preserved planktics G. lin-
neiana, G. agyptiaca and larger benthic taxa Sidero-
lites indicating early Maastrichtian (= zone CF6).
Raju et al. (1994) estimated the magnitude of hi-
atus across KePg boundary for the Cauvery subsurface
sections, primarily based on planktic foraminifer
events. The magnitude as estimated varies from 0 to
30 Ma across the basin. This variable hiatus in different
areas within the Cauvery Basin is attributed to basin
tectonics and relative sea level changes. Raju et al.
(1994) inferred that a vertical sea level fall of ~80 m
and lateral withdrawal of sea by about 50 km during
late Maastrichtian. Basin uplift and eastward tilting of
the basin can be linked to the rise of reunion hot spot
which caused Deccan volcanic activity in central India.
The eastward tilting of the basin resulting in relative
 Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin, India
Fig. 3 Geological events, tectonic, volcanic, sea-level, sequence surfaces, OAE, biotic assemblages, depositional environment, litho contact records correlation with global episodes,
Cauvery Basin, southern India.

75
76 R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy

Fig. 4 a e Possible seasonal growth temperatures for the single two-years-old Parahibolites blanfordi (Spengler), specimen In-2a, from the
Upper Albian of the Karai Shale Formation of the Cauvery Basin, southern India (interpretation from 57 samples); b e Intended seasonal
freshwater inputs and reconstructed raining seasons for the southern India area during about 4e5 years interval of the Early Maastrichtian (on
the basis of data from Lopha sp. shell In-2a from the Kallankurchchi Formation of the Cauvery Basin, southern India (interpretation from 35
samples) (Zakharov et al., 2011)).
Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin, India
sea level fall together appears to have triggered major
canyon activity in the Cauvery Basin. The canyon is
filled with reworked Cretaceous sediments during
relative sea level fall. The KePg boundary is uncon-
formable in the canyon system with magnitude of hi-
atus ranging from 1.8 to 30 Ma (Raju et al., 1994).
However, hiatus across KePg boundary is not signifi-
cant in locations away from canyon activity. During the
late Maastrichtian, Madagascar and Cauvery Basin
were located at the same palaeolatitude as South
Atlantic DSDP site 525A (Keller et al., 2016; Scotese,
2013). Comparison of the Amboanio section of
Madagascar with the Cauvery Basin reveals similar
faunal assemblages and thus provides clues to regional
environments as revealed in species populations, hia-
tuses and stable isotope data (Keller et al., 2016).
6. Cretaceous climate
Bowen (1961) recorded the palaeotemperature,
21.4e22.4  C, using the biogenic calcite equation of
Epstein et al. (1953) based on oxygen-isotopic
composition of Belemnites fibula (= Parahibolites
blanfordi) (Doyle, 1985) samples collected from the
basal limestone and clays, belonging to the latest
AptianeConiacian, Uttatur Group. After publication of
a paper by Bowen (1961), additional data on stable
isotope composition of Cretaceous carbonates from
central and southern India (Ayyasami, 2006; Ghosh
et al., 1995), as well as on diversity of Cretaceous
foraminifera of the Cauvery Basin (Govindan and
Narayanan, 1980) were used to infer that Late Creta-
ceous foraminiferal faunas of the Cauvery Basin, in
contrast to the Early Cretaceous fauna, are composed
of tropical elements of Tethyan affinity. Gupta et al.
(2007) recorded the palaeotemperature of 21e23  C
and 28e29  C, respectively on the basis of oxygen-
isotopic composition of benthic and planktic forami-
nifera for lower Cenomanian to upper Turonian portion
of the Karai Formation of the Cauvery Basin.
Zakharov et al., 2011 studied the palae-
otemperature trends for the Cretaceous of India and
Madagascar have been determined on the basis of ox-
ygen isotope analysis. Well-preserved Albian belemnite
rostra and Maastrichtian bivalve shells from the Cauvery
Basin, southern India, and Albian nautiloid and ammo-
noids cephalopods from the Mahajang Province,
Madagascar were analyzed for oxygen isotopes. The
Albian (possibly Late Albian) palaeotemperatures for
the Cauvery Basin are inferred to range from 14.9  C to
18.5  C for the epipelagic zone, and from 14.3  C to
15.9  C for the mesopelagic zone, based on analyses of
77
65 samples; isotopic palaeotemperatures interpreted
as summer and winter values for near-bottom shelf
waters in this area fluctuate from 16.3  C to 18.5  C and
from 14.9  C to 16.1  C, respectively. The mentioned
palaeotemperatures are very similar to those calcu-
lated from isotopic composition of middle Albian bel-
emnites of the middle latitude area of Pas-de-Calais in
northern hemisphere but significantly higher than those
calculated from isotopic composition of Albian belem-
nites from southern Argentina and the Antarctic and
middle Albian belemnites of Australia located within
the warm-temperate climatic zone. Isotopic analysis of
early Albian cephalopods from Madagascar shows
somewhat higher palaeotemperature for summer near-
bottom shelf waters in this area (20.2e21.6  C) in
comparison with late Albian palaeotemperature calcu-
lated from the Cauvery Basin, southern India fossils, but
similar winter values (13.3e16.4  C); however, the
latter values are somewhat higher than those calcu-
lated from early Albian ammonoids of the tropical-
subtropical climatic zone of the high latitude area of
southern Alaska and the Koryak Upland (Zakharov et al.,
2011). The new isotopic palaeotemperature data sug-
gests that southern India and Madagascar were located
apparently in middle latitudes (within the tropical-
subtropical climatic zone) during Albian time. In
contrast to the Albian fossils, isotope results of well-
preserved early Maastrichtian bivalve shells from the
Ariyalur Group of strata of the Cauvery Basin are char-
acterized by lower d18O values (up to-5.8) but normal
d13C values, which might be a result of local freshwater
input into the marine environment (Zakharov et al.,
2011). Our data suggests that the early Maastrichtian
palaeotemperature of the southern Indian near-bottom
shelf waters was probably about 21.2  C, and that this
middle latitude region continued to be a part of
tropical-subtropical climatic zone, but with tendency
of increasing of humidity at the end of Cretaceous time
(Fig. 4a and b).
7. Magnetic polarity: Biostratigraphy and
palaeogeography
The Indian subcontinent laterally moved away
after Gondwana breakup at a rapid rate of 20e25 cm/
year and travelled over 5000 km distance. The mag-
netostratigraphy of outcrop sediments with rich fossil
evidences reveals that magnetic polarity reversals
consist of 13 magnetozones in the Late Cretaceous
sedimentary strata in the Cauvery Basin of southern
India. The geomagnetic polarity sequence correlated
with polarity chrons from C34n, the Cretaceous long
78 R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy

normal interval, through C30n in the late Maastrichtian
(Fig. 5).
The recognition of these polarity chrons and their
correlation with regional faunal assemblages that
commonly occur in Europe and areas in the Far East
provide an integrated reference of value for linkage to
biostratigraphic zonation in the Indian subcontinent
and basis for calibration to establish global definition
of Upper Cretaceous stage boundaries. Upper Creta-
ceous foraminifer assemblages characterized by

Fig. 5 VGP latitudes plot against composite lithocolumn and the observed magnetostratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous sediments of Cauvery
Basin (Venkateshwarlu et al., 2016).
Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin, India
moderate to high species diversity record of tropical
planktic suite in the basin is due to northward drift of
the Indian plate bringing this part under the influence
of warm tropical water mass. The record of Lep-
idorbitoides-Siderolites of late Campanian-Maastrichtian
suite in this basin is well known and compared with
European type assemblages. Smaller benthic forami-
nifera assemblage is more cosmopolitan with a pre-
ponderance of Tethyan forms (Govindan and
Narayanan, 1980; Herb and Scheibnerova, 1977).
Larger foraminifera are adapted to low-latitude,
shallow-water carbonate-rich environment where
seasonal influences are minimal. High energy, neritic
environments are indicated by the massive bivalves
records in Maastrichtian sediments. The maximum di-
versity of the assemblage is in the late Cenomanian/
and earliest Turonian and this interval is coincident
with highest sea-level recorded in the Mesozoic
(Govindan et al., 1996). The presence of Tethyan
foraminifer taxa: Rotalipora greenhornensis, Margin-
otruncana schneegansi, Helveto globotruncana helve-
tica, Dicarinella asymetrica, Globotruncanita elevata
and Gansserina gansseri at this palaeolatitude is sig-
nificant. The flat equator-pole temperature gradient
(Sellwood, 1994) confined by the presence of these
faunas at 40 e45 S. In mid-Turonian (Karai) Formation
the planktonic foraminifera are morphologically quite
distinctive; the species are pronounced keels and
ornamentation. This quite distinctive palaeogeo-
graphical province appears to be restricted to the east
coast basins of India and Exmouth plateau/NW
Australia shelf (Hart et al., 2000). The distinctive
markers of the CampanianeMaastrichtian boundary
interval such as G. gansseri is recorded from the
Cauvery Basin; G. gansseri was a fully tropical species,
and its presence in the Cauvery Basin is possibly up to
15 e20 further south (Hart et al., 2001). During
middle and Upper Cretaceous time, the southern In-
dian region was situated below 30 latitude in an arid,
but, non-tropical, surrounded by moderately warm
ocean (Steinhoff and Bandel, 2000).
8. Conclusions
1) The evolution of the Cauvery Basin and subse-
quent sedimentation along eastern passive margin
of India is attributed to the fragmentation of
eastern Gondwana and opening up of the Indian
Ocean which began in Late JurassiceEarly Creta-
ceous. The exposed Cretaceous system of the
Cauvery Basin consists of a complete marine
sequence rich in faunal assemblages ranging from
Albian to Maastrichtian.
79
2) The CretaceousePaleogene sections of the Cauvery
Basin are closely related to the rifting and drifting
phases of peninsular India. A major basin uplift
caused by Marion hot mantle plume ca.88e90 Ma,
resulted in widespread volcanism in the southern
part of the Cauvery Basin. Madagascar detachment
from India is also linked to this uplift.
3) The east, southeast tilting of the basin during Late
Maastrichtian due to Deccan volcanism caused by
reunion hot mantle plume, led to relative sea level
fall (~80 m) and canyon development. Major un-
conformity of a magnitude 0e30 Ma straddles the
KePg (KTB) boundary. The sediment depocentre
migrated eastwards owing to lateral withdrawal of
sea by 50 km. Eocene to Miocene signifies coastal
progradation/deltaic sedimentation through a se-
ries of marine transgression and regressions in
response to the oscillatory tectonic movements.
4) In the Cauvery Basin, the syn-rift fill can be sub-
divided based on lithological content into syn-rift
phase which is predominantly fluvial and lacus-
trine deposits and post-rift phase consisting of
shelf carbonates and marine shale.
5) The marine sediments yielded planktic forami-
nifera H. trocoidea, H. planispira and broken
ammonite fossils, suggesting late Aptian to
earliest Albian, indicating that the top of syn-rift
fill is close to Aptian/Albian boundary.
6) The sedimentary units of the Cauvery Basin are
similar to those of the central European basins.
However, central European basins experienced
compression tectonics during the Late Cretaceous
(Santonian-Maastrichtian), whereas the Cauvery
Basin remained a passive margin basin throughout.
7) The late Aptian to mid-Albian sea level cycle of
the Cauvery Basin shows some correspondence
with the northern Gulf of Mexico. The late San-
tonian regression in the Cauvery Basin has a cor-
responding marine flooding event in the northern
Gulf of Mexico. The widespread transgression in
Early Maastrichtian is associated with the early-
late Maastrichtian sea level cycle that has a cor-
responding late Maastrichtianeearly Maas-
trichtian transgression in the northern Gulf of
Mexico (Mancini et al., 1996; Mancini and Puckett,
2005) and the lower boundary of this cycle is
represented by a sub-aerial unconformity in
western Europe (Hardenbol et al., 1998) and in
the Cauvery Basin (Nagendra et al., 2011).
8) The paleobathymetry reconstructed for the Albian
to Maastrichtian (Dalmiapuram through Ottakovil
Formations) reveals two major sea level falls during
late Turonian and late Maastrichtian, which corre-
late well with global sea level curves of Vail et al.
80
(1977), Haq et al. (1987) and Miller et al. (2005).
These sea level falls are linked to the rise of Marion
mantle plume during the Late Turonian and reunion
mantle plume during Late Maastrichtian.
9) The deposition of organic-rich sediments during
Late AptianeEarly Albian (OAE-1b) late Albian (OAE
1d), late Cenomanianeearly Turonian (OAE-2) times
in the Cauvery Basin is explained by expansion of an
oxygen depleted conditions due to major trans-
gressive episodes. There are also some evidences to
suggest the presence of anoxic sediments of
ConiacianeSantonian (OAE-3) and Campanian age
in this region. They all coincide well with the local
peaks of transgressive cycles or flooding events in
this region (Govindan, 1993; Reddy and Rao, 2011).
10) Uplift and eastward tilting of the basin can be
linked to the rise of reunion hot spot which caused
Deccan volcanic activity in central India. This
tectonic activity led to a vertical sea level fall of
~80 m and lateral withdrawal of sea by about
50 km during late Maastrichtian. The relative sea
level fall and eastward tilting together appear to
have triggered major canyon activity in the
Cauvery Basin, resulting in differential erosion
across the KePg boundary (Raju et al., 1994).
11) The isotopic palaeotemperature data suggests
that southern India and Madagascar were located
apparently in middle latitudes (within the
tropical-subtropical climatic zone) during Albian
time. In contrast to the Albian fossils, isotope re-
sults of well-preserved Early Maastrichtian bivalve
shells from the Ariyalur Group of strata in the
Cauvery Basin are characterized by lower d18O
values (up to-5.8) but normal d13C values, which
might be a result of local freshwater input into the
marine environment. The data suggests that the
early Maastrichtian palaeotemperature of the
southern Indian near-bottom shelf waters was
probably about 21.2  C, and that this middle
latitude region continued to be a part of tropical-
subtropical climatic zone, but with tendency of
increasing of humidity at the end of Cretaceous
time (Zakharov et al., 2011).
12) The geomagnetic polarity sequence may be
correlated with polarity chrons from C34n, the
Cretaceous long normal interval, through C30n in
the Late Maastrichtian.
13) The record of Lepidorbitoides-Siderolites of late
Campanian-Maastrichtian suite in this basin is well
known and compared with European type assem-
blages. Smaller benthic foraminifer assemblage is
more cosmopolitan with a preponderance of
Tethyan forms (Govindan and Narayanan, 1980;
Herb and Scheibnerova, 1977). In mid-Turonian
R. Nagendra, A. Nallapa Reddy
Formation the planktonic foraminifera are
morphologically quite distinctive; the species are
pronounced keels and ornamentation. This quite
distinctive palaeogeographical province appears
to be restricted to the east coast basins of India
and Exmouth plateau/NW Australia shelf.
14) The distinctive markers of the Campaniane
Maastrichtian boundary interval such as G. gans-
seri are recorded from the Cauvery Basin. G.
gansseri was a fully tropical species, and its
presence in the Cauvery Basin is possibly up to
15 e20 further south (Hart et al., 2001). During
Middle and Upper Cretaceous time, the southern
Indian region was situated below 30 latitude in an
arid, but, non-tropical, surrounded by moderately
warm Ocean (Steinhoff and Bandel, 2000).
Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to Dr. Yuri D. Zakharov,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia and Dr. M.Ven-
kateshwarlu, CSIR-NGRI, Hyderabad, India for their
research collaboration with RN in mass oxygen isotope
and magnetostratigraphy studies. R. Nagendra is
thankful to UGC for the research facility under DRS-
Phase III program to the Department is useful in this
study. A. Nallapa Reddy is thankful to OIDB, India for
the research assignment of professorial chair.
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