DECCAN VOLCANIC OF MALWA, STRATIGRAPHY AND CORRELATION OF BASALTIC LAVA FLOWS USING MEGACRYST BEARING HORIZON AS TOOL, PARTS OF WESTERN M.P. INDIA
Authors:   Ex. Directors Geological Survey of India., Khan A.A. , Joshi O.P. ,   Ex. Directors Geological Survey of India.
Published: November 2022

A review of earlier studies of the Deccan Trap occurrences of parts of Ratlam, Mandsaur, Jhabua, Dhar, Khargone, Indore, Ujjain and Shajapur districts of Madhya Pradesh, India was carried out of the area falling between latitudes 220 0000 to 2400000N and longitudes 7400000 to 7600000 in Survey of India Quadrangle sheet Nos. 46I, 46J, 46M and 46N.The main objectives of the study were to synthesize the data on the Deccan Trap basaltic lava flows , their types ,their diagnostic characteristics with special emphasis on delineating and identifying the various megacryst horizons , their levels with specific elevation above m.s.l. to build up the litho-stratigraphy for regional correlation. Broadly the area exhibits the Proterozoic Aravalli Supergroup, the Cretaceous, Bagh and Lameta Groups and the Deccan basaltic lava flows with intruded dykes and sills. The Aravalli Supergroup is represented by the Udaipur, Lunavada and Champaner Groups. The Udaipur Group consists mainly of hornblende gneiss, marble and calc-silicate, carbonaceous phyllites and chlorite schist. The Lunavada Group comprises dolomitic limestone (Phosphate bearing), quartzite, muscovite quartzite, quartz muscovite schist, feldspathised quartzite, gneissic feldspathic rock and biotitic gneiss. The Champaner Group is represented by dolomite, phyllite, slates and basic intrusives. The Aravalli Super group of rocks is also intruded by serpentinite, pyroxinite, granite and basic rocks. The Aravalli Supergroup of rocks is unconformably overlain by Cretaceous marine sedimentary deposits of Bagh Group. It includes Lower arenaceous and Upper calcareous units and occurs as discontinuous outcrops. These are almost horizontally to sub horizontally disposed. The Bagh Group is represented by three units / Formations i.e. Nimar sandstone overlain by nodular limestone and subsequently by coralline limestone. The Lameta Group of rocks is noticed in the area east and South East of Bagh exposures, overlying the Nimar sandstones. These rocks predominantly consist of limestone, gritty sandstone and conglomerate and generally exhibit hummocky topography and sometimes display solution channels. These are mostly horizontally to sub-horizontally disposed with an average thickness of 5- 6 m. The Deccan Trap has occupied a very long stretch of area which consists of a sequence of 121 basaltic lava flows with a cumulative thickness of about 610 m. These flows represent a sequence of cyclic lava eruptions with fine to medium grained a aphyric to sparsely / moderately / highly / mega porphyritic lava. About two third of the total flows exhibit Aa characters and the rest are compound and simple Pahoehoe. Some of these flows consist of megacryst units containing feldspar laths varying in size round two to five cm. These megacryst horizons have been identified at different elevations in Quadrangles 46I, J, M, N and on the basis of these horizons, various flows have been grouped into to six Formations which have specific nomenclatures and stratigraphic status. These formations are in the order of antiquity 1) Mandleshwar formation, 2) Choral formation,3) Dhar formations 4) Indore Formation 5) Bargonda Formation and 6) Singarchori Formation. Full sequence is exposed only in quadrangle 46N whereas the Quadrangles 46I, J, M do not exhibit Bargonda and Singarchori Formations. An attempt has been made to correlate the various Formations in degree sheets 46 I, J, M, N with the surroundings Geological Quadrangles. The Megacryst bearing lava- flows act as marker horizons for this purpose. A large number of dykes and dyke swamps of basaltic as well as doleritic compositions have been marked around the Narmada River. The intensity of the dykes is more in the oldest Mandleshwar Formations and it gradually decreases in increasing order of antiquity towards the younger Bargonda and Singarchori Formations. The general trend of these dykes varies from East North East â€“ West South West to E-W running sub parallel to the Narmada lineament, besides a few dykes also cut across this lineament trend and oriented along NNW-SSE to N-S direction. The Length of these dykes varies from about 200 m to 20 Km with width varying from a few meters to as much as 200 m. The possibility exists that these dykes may have been actually feeders through which periodic eruptions of tholiitic basaltic lava took place resulting in formation of such a thick pile of lava flows. Besides as many as seven Intertrapean fossiliferous sedimentary horizons have been recognized within the basal part of the flows. These demonstrate episodic nature of volcanic activity, long periods of quiescence and resilience. The overall study of various lava flow s and their interrelations their relative dispositions thinning /swelling and pinching nature. Their relative elevations, occurrence of marker megacryst units, change in lava characters, overall gradient of lava flows and their relation to preexisting topography and slope elements reveals that the sources of lava eruptions of Older Formations are situated somewhere in the west and south west whereas those of Younger Formations are located in the Eastern part of Mhow of the area studied.