C. R.

Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Comptes Rendus Palevol

www.sciencedirect.com

Human Paleontology and Prehistory

Stratigraphy and paleoenvironment during the Late Pliocene

at Masol paleonto-archeological site (Siwalik Range, NW
India): Preliminary results
Stratigraphie et paloenvironnement du site palonto-archologique de
Masol (chane des Siwaliks, Inde du Nord-Ouest) durant le Pliocne
tardif : rsultats prliminaires
Alina Tudryn a,,b , Salah Abdessadok c , Julien Gargani a,b ,
Anne Dambricourt Malass c , Claire Gaillard c , Anne-Marie Moigne d ,
Ccile Chapon Sao c , Mukesh Singh e , Vipnesh Bhardwaj e , Baldev Karir e ,
Serge Miska a,b
a

Universit Paris-Sud, Laboratoire GEOPS, UMR8148, Btiment 504, 91405 Orsay, France
CNRS, 91405 Orsay, France
c
Histoire naturelle de lHomme prhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Dpartement de Prhistoire, Musum national dHistoire naturelle,
Paris, France
d
Histoire naturelle de lHomme prhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Centre dtudes et de Recherches Prhistoriques (CERP), Tautavel,
France
e
Society for Archaeological and Anthropological Research, Chandigarh, India
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 29 January 2015
Accepted after revision 5 May 2015
Available online 13 August 2015
Handled by Yves Coppens and Anne Dambricourt Malass
Keywords:
Upper Siwalik
Pliocene
Chandigarh anticline
Masol paleonto-archeological site
Clay minerals
Subathu sub-basin
Paleoenvironment
Water divide

a b s t r a c t
The Quranwala zone (Siwalik Range, NW India) is known for its Late Pliocene vertebrates.
Since 2008, cut marks and stone tools have been collected from Masol. The sedimentary
series belongs to the Subathu sub-basin. These sub-Himalayan deposits contain repetitive
sequences (170 m thick) of silt/clays and sandstones corresponding to the cyclical inux
of detrital material in a uvial environment. Particular features of lithological units allow
identication of the stratigraphic position of different paleonto-archeological localities.
A rst pale environmental reconstruction was enabled by analysis of clay and magnetic
minerals. Iron minerals such as haematite and goethite indicate dominant oxic conditions
during and after deposition. Clay minerals are of detrital origin, and were supplied from
Himalaya by rivers. Illite, the result of physical weathering, is dominant. Smectite present
in the lower part of the sequence, was probably supplied from Lesser Himalaya (Suresh
et al., 2004). Its presence suggests that the studied area was still a paleo-drainage area for
major river(s) during the time considered here.
2015 Acadmie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. This is an open access
article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: alina.tudryn@u-psud.fr (A. Tudryn).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2015.05.011
1631-0683/ 2015 Acadmie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

441

r s u m
Mots cls :
Upper Siwalik
Pliocne
Anticlinal de Chandigarh
Site palonto-archologique de Mazol
Minraux argileux
Sous-bassin de Subathu
Paloenvironnement
Ligne de partage des eaux

La zone de Quranwala (Pliocne nal, chane frontale des Siwaliks, Inde) est connue pour
ses Vertbrs fossiles. Depuis 2008, des traces de boucherie et des outils lithiques ont t
rcolts Masol. La srie sdimentaire sinscrit dans le sous-bassin de Subathu. Ces dpts
sous-himalayens renferment une srie de squences rptitives (170 m dpaisseur)
de silt/argile et de sable/grs. Des caractristiques lithologiques identient les localits
palonto-archologiques et leur position stratigraphique. Une reconstitution paloenvironnementale prliminaire a t faite grce des analyses dargiles et de minraux
magntiques. Les minraux de fer hmatite et goethite indiquent des conditions oxiques
dominantes pendant et aprs le dpt. Les argiles sont dorigine dtritique, elles ont t
transportes par les rivires depuis lHimalaya. Lillite, rsultat dune altration physique,
est dominante. La smectite prsente dans la partie infrieure de la squence provient du
bas Himalaya (Suresh et al., 2004). Sa prsence correspondrait alors un palodrainage de
rivire(s) majeure(s) avant linstauration dune ligne de partage des eaux entre deux bassins
(Indus et Gange actuels).
2015 Acadmie des sciences. Publi par Elsevier Masson SAS. Cet article est publi en
Open Access sous licence CC-BY-NC-ND (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
The Siwalik Range, also known as the Siwalik Hills, or
Siwalik Frontal Range (SFR) in Asian prehistory studies,
is the southernmost and geologically youngest WNW-ESE
range of the Himalayan chain. This sub-Himalayan zone
was extensively studied for sedimentology, tectonics, paleoenvironment, fauna, paleoclimate, stratigraphy, etc. (e.g.
Barnes et al., 2011; Burbank et al., 2012; Delcaillau et al.,
2006; Kumar et al., 2003, 2007; Nanda, 2002; Pilgrim, 1913;
Ranga Rao, 1993; Sanyal et al., 2010; Singh and Tandon,
2010; Thomas et al., 2002; Tripathi, 1986). The Siwalik
Frontal Range is a result of the folding and uplift of the
Siwalik Group, which is a sequence of continental sediments deposited in the Himalayan Siwalik-Ganga-Indus
foreland basin from Middle Miocene to Middle Pleistocene
(Fig. 1a). The Indian plates northward push resulted in
the Himalayan foreland basin uplift, which started in Middle/Late Pleistocene (Barnes et al., 2011). The combined
action of tectonics and monsoons resulted in intense erosion and exhumation of sediment rich in fossils of aquatic
and terrestrial vertebrata from the Masol anticline, NW of
India (Fig. 1b, Fig. 2a). Sediments of this anticline, which is
also known as the Chandigarh anticline (Barnes et al., 2011),
are well known from the literature (e.g. Barnes et al., 2011;
Nanda, 2002; Ranga Rao, 1993). Its older part outcrops in
the core of the anticline and contains a faunal assemblage
belonging to the Tatrot, and more precisely to the so-called
Quranwala Zone (or Quaranwala Zone), which represents
the Late Pliocene, whereas younger sediments belong to the
Pleistocene and represent Pinjor (or Pinjaur) faunal assemblage (Ranga Rao, 1993).
Since 2008, the Siwaliks Indo-French Programme of
Research has been conducted in the Masol anticline area
by the Indian Society for Archaeological and Anthropological Research of Chandigarh and the French Prehistorical
Mission in India from the National Museum of Natural
History, Paris (Dambricourt Malass, 2016). Numerous fossils, including bovid bones with intentional cut marks and
stone tools, have been collected in the core of this anti-

cline (Abdessadok et al., 2016; Chapon Sao et al., 2016a;

Dambricourt Malass et al., 2016a, 2016b; Gaillard et al.,
2016; Moigne et al., 2016) (Fig. 1). The discovery of bones
with intentional cut marks in such a stratigraphic context
is compatible with the recent dating of the Early Pleistocene human settlement in China (Longgupo cave, 2,48
Ma) (Han et al., 2015) and with predictions concerning
human settlements in the Upper Indus Basin since Late
Pliocene (Dennell, 2010), giving support to the Out of Africa
1 scenario before 1.8 Ma (Coppens, 2016).
Fossils were collected in several separated, so-called
Masol paleonto-archeological localities numbered from
Masol 1 to Masol 13 (Fig. 2b). These localities form slopes
and platforms in actual landscape eroded by the Patiali Rao
stream and its tributaries, such as the Pichhli choe. Fossils have been found either in situ or as redeposited. Masol
1, 2 and 3 are located to the north of the Masol village,
Masol 4, 5 and 6 extend to the northwest, and localities
from Masol 7 to Masol 13 extend to the southeast of the
village. The Late Pliocene age of the fossiliferous sediments
has been conrmed by a magnetostratigraphic study realized at the Masol 1 locality (Chapon Sao et al., 2016b). These
Late Pliocene sediments are composed of silts/clays and
sandstones cyclically deposited in the uvial environment
and different layers are very similar in prole. Moreover,
the Middle and Late Quaternary post-depositionary processes related to active tectonics (folding and faulting),
erosion, redeposition (colluviums, uvial terraces) resulted
in an important modication of the initial position of
the sediment (see also Gargani et al., 2016). This situation complicates the correlation between different Masol
paleonto-archeological localities and the identication of
their exact stratigraphic position.
In this paper, we present the results of investigations
conducted during eldworks in spring 2014 and 2015 and
the results of laboratory analyses of samples collected in
2014. The aim of this work was (1) the establishment of
the complete lithological log for Late Pliocene sediments
available in the Masol anticline, (2) the identication of
the sediment sequences with particular features to allow

442

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

Fig. 1. a) Simplied geologic map of the Himalayan range including the Siwalik Himalayan Foreland Basin, Indian craton and the surrounding area, after
Kumar et al. (2003); b) simplied geologic map of a part of the Himalayan Foreland Basin, the Kangra, Subathu and Dehra Dun sub-basins, after Barnes
et al. (2011). MCT: Main Central Thrust; MBT: Main Boundary Thrust; HFT: Himalayan Frontal Thrust; BT: Bilaspur Thrust; PT: Palampur Thrust; R: river.
Fig. 1. Carte gologique simplie : a) chane Himalayenne, y compris le bassin davant-pays des Siwaliks himalayens, le Craton indien et la rgion
environnante daprs Kumar et al. (2003) ; b) une partie du bassin davant-pays des Siwaliks himalayens, les sous-bassins de Kangra, de Subathu et de
Dehra Dun, daprs Barnes et al. (2011). MCT : Main Central Thrust ; MBT : Main Boundary Thrust ; HFT : Himalayan Frontal Thrust ; BT :
Bilaspur Thrust ; PT : Palampur Thrust ; R : rivire.

their recognition in different Masol paleonto-archeological

localities (Masol 1, Masol 2 to Masol 13), and (3) the
stratigraphic correlation of the fossiliferous layers from
different Masol localities. Additionally, the analysis of
granulometry and carbonate contents, as well as identication of clay and magnetic minerals, was performed in
order to establish some mineralogical characteristics of the
sequence. These characteristics allow studies of the environmental evolution of the area, and the rst results of
these analyses are presented here.
2. Upper Siwalik subgroup background
The SFR (Siwalik Frontal Range) is about 2,400 km long
area that starts almost from the Indus and ends close to
the Brahmaputra, and its width varies from 10 to 50 km.
The SFR is a result of the folding and uplift of the sediment from Siwalik Group, which started from Middle/Late
Pleistocene due to Indian plate push northward (for more
details see Gargani et al., 2016). The Siwalik Group is a
thick sequence of continental sediments deposited in the
Himalayan Siwalik-Ganga-Indus foreland basin from Middle Miocene to Middle Pleistocene. In its northwestern part,
the more than 5000 m thick Siwalik sequence consists of
sandstone, claystone and conglomerate alternations, with
coarsening upwards, reecting the progressive uplift of the
Himalaya from which they are derived (Ranga Rao, 1993).
On the basis of rich assemblages of terrestrial vertebrate
faunas, the youngest, the Upper Siwalik subgroup, known
in India mainly from the Jammu and Chandigarh regions, is
subdivided into Tatrot and Pinjor (Pilgrim, 1913) (Fig. 2c).

The limit between these two formations is marked by the

change in magnetic polarity between Gauss and Matuyama
chrones (2.58 Ma), the Plio/Quaternary limit (Ranga Rao,
1993; Ranga Rao et al., 1995; for a summary see Chapon
Sao et al., 2016b).
On the basis of lithologic criteria, the ONGC (Oil Natural
Gas Commission) identied for the Upper Siwalik subgroup
in Jammu region: (1) Parmandal Sandstone, (2) the Nagrota
Formation (pink siltstone-claystone alternations with subordinate earthy sandrock), and (3) the youngest, Boulder
Conglomerate (Ranga Rao, 1993). The Boulder Conglomerate is devoid of fossils, and started between 1.2 and 0.6
Ma at different sites (Fig. 2c). In the Chandigarh region,
close to the Masol paleonto-archeological localities, ONGC
evidenced Upper Siwalik in the Patiali Rao stream section as
Masol Formation (alternation of sandstone and claystone)
and four conglomeratic units, Rupar I, II, III, IV (Fig. 2c).
On faunal evidence, the Masol Formation was correlated
with Tatrot, Rupar I, II, III with Pinjor faunal zones, and the
conglomerates of Rupar IV with the Boulder Conglomerate
which started here at 0.6 Ma. A 50 m thick section towards
the top of the Tatrot Formation, called the Quranwala
Zone, is characterized by rich vertebrate fossils corresponding to the Plio/Pleistocene faunal transition. This is unlike
the situation in other localities (Nagrota and Parmandal)
where the characteristic taxa of Tatrot such as Hipparion
are replaced rather abruptly by younger Pinjor fauna like
Equus, Cervus and Archidiskodon (Ranga Rao, 1993; for more
details see Moigne et al., 2016). After Nanda (2002), two
biostratigraphic interval zones, Elephas planifrons (3.6-2.6
Ma) and Equus sivalensis (2.6 to 0.6 Ma) are recognised here.

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

443

Fig. 2. (Color online.) Top left: The Chandigarh anticline, after Barnes et al. (2011); for more details, see Gargani et al. (2016). Bottom left: topographic
map of the Masol village environments; grey square Masol village, small black squares marked M1, M2. . .M13 denote different paleonto-archeological
localities and the black line shows the section of the lithological log presented in Fig. 5. Right: simplied stratigraphy of the Upper Siwalik subgroup,
northwestern part of the Siwalik Range: a) Upper Siwalik subgroup; b) lithological units for Upper Siwalik subgroup distinguished by ONGC (Oil Natural
Gas Commission) in northwest Siwalik (Jammu region, 340 km NW from Chandigarh); the sequence is 2500 m thick in Parmandal (Parmandal Formation),
and the last unit, the Boulder Conglomerate is diachronic; c) magnetostratigraphy: black normal polarity chron, white inverse polarity chron, for more
details see Chapon Sao et al., 2016b, this issue; d) vertebrate faunas assemblages after Pilgrim (1913) in Ranga Rao (1993); e) lithological units after ONGC
close to the Masol village near Chandigarh (Masol Formation); f) vertebrate fauna assemblage in the Masol Formation which denes the Quranwala Zone; g)
biostratigraphic interval zones in the Masol Formation. Numbers indicate ages in Ma. Synthesis after Ranga Rao (1993), Nanda (2002) and authors discussed
in these papers.
Fig. 2. (Couleur en ligne.) En haut gauche : lanticlinal de Chandigarh daprs Barnes et al. (2011) ; pour plus de dtails, voir Gargani et al. (2016). En
bas gauche : carte topographique des environs du village de Masol ; carr gris village de Masol, petits carrs noirs localits palonto-archologiques
depuis Masol 1 jusqu Masol 13, la ligne noire indique la section o a t ralise la coupe lithologique prsente sur la Fig. 5. droite : stratigraphie
simplie de l Upper Siwalik subgroup , au nord-ouest de la chane des Siwalik : a) Upper Siwalik subgroup ; b) units lithologiques distingues par
lONGC au nord-ouest des Siwaliks (rgion du Jammu, 340 km au nord-ouest de Chandigarh) ; pour plus de dtails, voir le texte ; c) magntostratigraphie
: noir priode de polarit normale, blanc priode de polarit inverse ; pour plus de dtails, voir Chapon Sao et al. (2016b) ; d) assemblages de faunes
de vertbrs daprs Pilgrim (1913) in Ranga Rao (1993) ; e) units lithologiques daprs ONGC proches du village de Masol prs de Chandigarh (formation
Masol) ; f) assemblages de faunes vertbres dans la formation Masol, qui dnit la zone Quranwala ; g) zones dintervalle biostratigraphique dans la
formation Masol. Les chiffres indiquent les ges en Ma. Synthse daprs Ranga Rao (1993), Nanda (2002) et les auteurs cits dans ces tudes.

3. Material and methods

3.1. Principles
Granulometric evidence indicates the dynamics of
transport of and/or distance from the detrital material
sources during deposition. Clay minerals deposited in the
uvial environment reect the intensity of chemical and
physical weathering of their source area (Chamley, 1989).
This weathering depends on the lithology, climate and
morphology of the environment under consideration and
results in the formation of supercial soils and sediments.
In temperate and warm humid and semi-arid climates,
chemical weathering prevails, and kaolinite or smectite
appear. Under weakly hydrolytic conditions in dry climates, physical weathering prevails, and illite and chlorite
often appear, since the production of clays depends essentially on increased direct rock erosion. The abundance of

illite can also indicate strong erosion related to tectonically

rejuvenated relief or to deforestation and not necessarily
to weak hydrolitic climatic conditions. Post-depositionary
processes can also modify detrital clay minerals.
Magnetic parameters allow estimation of the ferromagnetic minerals present in the sediment. The presence
of these minerals (e.g. iron oxides: magnetite Fe3 O4 ,
maghemite Fe2 O3 , haematite Fe2 O3 , oxyhydroxides:
goethite FeOOH and sulphides: greigite Fe3 S4 ) depends on
the source area, and conditions during deposition and after,
where early diagenetic processes can modify the detrital
fraction, and new minerals can appear. Low eld magnetic
susceptibility () depends on the ferromagnetic minerals (which can carry remanent magnetisation) present in
sediment, if their content is very low, then depends
on the paramagnetic and/or diamagnetic minerals which
cannot carry remanent magnetisation. The magnetic hysteresis parameters: coercivity (Bc), remanent coercivity

444

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

(Bcr), saturation magnetisation (Ms) and remanent magnetisation (Mrs), allow discrimination between different
ferromagnetic materials. The thermomagnetic behaviour
of the sediment allows identication of ferromagnetic minerals through their Curie temperature, the temperature at
which they are demagnetised. Some of these minerals are
unstable on heating, but can still be identied because
of their specic thermomagnetic behavior (maghemite,
goethite). This is the basis of environmental magnetism as
dened by Thompson and Oldeld (1986) and it is used by
many authors.

dry, bulk sediment) with an alternating gradient magnetometer (AGM 2900 Micromag) at the LSCE CNRS/CEA
laboratory at Gif-sur-Yvette, France. A peak-applied eld
of 1 T was used for hysteresis measurements and the
results were corrected for the paramagnetic and diamagnetic contribution of the matrix minerals. After removal of
this contribution, saturation magnetisation (Ms), saturation remanent magnetisation (Mrs) and coercive force (Bc)
were obtained from the hysteresis loop. Remanent coercivity (Bcr) was obtained through step-wise application of
backelds to remove the saturation remanent magnetisation.

3.2. Fieldwork and laboratory analyses

4. Results
During eldwork in spring 2014 and 2015, a stratigraphic framework based on lithological studies was
designed, and magnetic susceptibility measurements and
sampling for laboratory analysis performed in the area
of the Masol village where the Masol Formation is most
complete. This was possible in the western part of the
Pichhli choe stream, starting from its conuence with
the principal stream Patiali Rao and proceeding until
the top of the sequence passing through the Masol 6
paleonto-archeological locality (black line in Fig. 2b and
Fig. 3a).
The low eld magnetic susceptibility was measured
during the eldwork directly on each identied lithological
unit (after cleaning to obtain fresh surface) with a Bartington MS-2 susceptibility meter. Samples were collected
near to the places where magnetic susceptibility was measured, and then analysed in the laboratories of National
Museum of Natural History and GEOPS-University ParisSud (GEOPS-UPS) for magnetic and clay minerals, Ca and
Mg carbonate content and grain size. Particle size analyses of samples were performed by laser granulometry
on fractions of sediment under to 2 mm with a Malvern
Mastersizer 2000 instrument. Carbonate contents were
measured by titration with bromophenol blue solution. Xray diffraction (XRD) on oriented mounts of non-calcareous
clay-sized (< 2 m) particles was used to identify clay
minerals with a PANalytical diffractometer, following the
laboratory routine of the GEOPS-UPS (Liu et al., 2004,
2008). Three XRD runs were conducted following airdrying, ethylene-glycol solvation for 24 h, and heating at
490 C for 2 h. Identication of clay minerals was based on
the position of the (001) series of basal reections on the
three XRD diagrams. Semi-quantitative estimates of peak
areas of the basal reections for the main clay mineral
groups of smectite (including mixed layers) (15 to 17 ),
illite (10 ) and kaolinite/chlorite (7 ) were carried out on
the glycolated curve (Holtzapffel, 1985) with MacDiff software (Petschick, 2000). Relative proportions of kaolinite
and chlorite were determined based on the ratio 3.57/3.54
of the peak areas. Evaluation of each clay mineral had
an accuracy of 5%. In order to identify magnetic minerals in
sediment, the thermomagnetic behavior and magnetic hysteresis of several bulk sediment samples were measured.
The thermomagnetic behavior was obtained by using a horizontal force translation balance in an air atmosphere and
a magnetic eld of 0.375 T. Magnetic hysteresis measurements were made on discrete samples (5 mg to 15 mg of

4.1. Lithological description

The studied Late Pliocene sequence contains cyclically
deposited layers of sands (sandstones now) and ner grainsized sediments silts/clays (Fig. 3b). Layers of sandstones
are more or less homogeneous; their thickness varies from
several tenths of centimeters to several meters. They are
rich in quartz and in white mica and therefore in their
fresh state they are grey; nevertheless, in the outcrops,
some of them stay grey, but others are yellow or rosecolored. They are not strongly consolidated, they become
hard when they are dry and in humid conditions, they
disintegrate into sand. Sometimes, they contain oblique
stratication, nodules or other consolidated forms. Especially in the upper part of the sequence, these layers of
sandstones/sand contain levels with gravel and pebbles,
and are even locally replaced by conglomerate (Fig. 3c).
Gravel and pebbles are heterogeneous in size, nature
(including quartzitic) and degree of rounding. Generally,
the sandstones/sand are quite well resistant to weathering and erosion. They form cliffs and are interlaid by often
thinner layers of ner silty to clayish sediments, which
are evidently eroded more easily and often form platforms
between cliffs (Fig. 3a). These silty/clayish sediments are
mostly brownish (rarely grey) and sometimes colored (yellow, orange, reddish) because of the oxydo-reduction of
iron (e.g. c6 in Fig. 3a).
The sequence contains a series of 17 pairs of layers
dened during the eldwork as silty/clayish and sandstone/sandy units (Fig. 5a). The adopted numbering starts
at the bottom (c1-s1, c2-s2 . . .), i.e. at the junction of Patiali
Rao and Pichhli choe (Fig. 2b), c meaning silty/clayish
and s sandstone/sandy units. Thicknesses are approximate because of lateral variation. The 17 silty/clayish and
sandstone/sandy pairs counted represent the rst order of
the lithological changes. In these layers, the second order
of lithological changes is often observed, and ne silty levels can appear locally in sandstone/sandy units and sandy
levels can also be present in silty/clayish units (Fig. 3b and
Fig. 3d).
A more detailed lithological description of the sediment
is not the focus of this work, with the exception of unit
c6, which is thicker than other silty/clayish units and is
20 m thick. We distinguished four sub-units: (1) c6-1, a
clear brown silty sequence containing locally one or two
sandy levels (Fig. 3d); (2) c6-2, very characteristic and well

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

445

Fig. 3. (Color online.) Photographs of sediments exhumed from Chandigarh anticline close to Masol village: a) western part of the site above Masol 6
paleonto-archeological locality where lithological units are marked (for explanation see the text); b) silty/clayish c2 and sandstone/sandy s2 units; c)
sandstone/sandy unit s15, and conglomerate in unit s16; d) part of unit c6: sub-unit c6-1 with laterally changing sandy banks.
Fig. 3. (Couleur en ligne.) Photographies de sdiments de lanticlinal de Chandigarh proximit du village de Masol : a) partie ouest du site, au-dessus de la
localit Masol 6, les diffrentes units lithologiques sont indiques (pour explication, voir le texte). Dtails des diffrentes units : b) units argilo-sableuse
c2 et grso-sableuse s2 ; c) unit grso-sableuse s15 et conglomrat dans lunit s16 ; d) partie de lunit c6 : dtails de la sous-unit c6-1 avec les
changements latraux des bancs de sable.

observable in the landscape, a grey/white silty layer, 1 m

thick (Fig. 3d and Fig. 4a), and in the upper part of this subunit a 10 cm thick level is present, which enhances the
stratication; (3) c6-3, brownish-reddish silt with traces
of the rst step of the lateritisation and some concretions
enriched in the iron minerals found here (Fig. 4a), contains,

as in sub-unit c6-2, 10 cm thick levels which enhance the

stratication; and nally (4) c6-4, more than 10 m thick,
which is formed by several silty and sometimes sandy
ne levels, each one differentiated by yellowish, reddish,
orange, brownish colors which follow the stratication (c6
in Fig. 3a and c6-4 in Fig. 4a).

446

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

Fig. 4. (Color online.) Photographs of sediments exhumed from Chandigarh anticline close to Masol village: (a) Masol 6 paleonto-archeological
locality and lithological units from c6 to s8, including characteristic
sequence of sub-units from c6-1 to c6-4; (b) characteristic sequence of
c3-s3-s4; (c) Masol 1, 3 and 5 localities: their stratigraphic position and
corresponding lithological units; (d) Masol 3 locality: its stratigraphic
position and corresponding lithological units.
Fig. 4. (Couleur en ligne.) Photographies de sdiments de lanticlinal de
Chandigarh proximit du village de Masol : (a) localit Masol 6 et units
lithologiques de c6 jusqu s8, y compris une squence caractristique
des sous-units de c6-1 c6-4 ; (b) squence caractristique de c3-s3-s4
; (c) localits Masol 1, 3 et 5 et leur position stratigraphique daprs les
corrlations des units lithologiques ; (d) localit Masol 3 et sa position
stratigraphique, daprs les corrlations des units lithologiques.

4.2. Granulometry, carbonate contents, clay and

magnetic minerals
Samples for granulometry and analysis of clay minerals
and carbonate contents were collected in 2014 and 2015
close to the layers where the magnetic susceptibility measurements were taken directly in outcrops. The samples of
2014 have been analysed.

Granulometry performed on particles with a diameter

under 2 mm reects mostly changes between sandstones
and silty/clayish units identied during the eldwork
(Fig. 5a). Proportions of clays and silts as well as main grain
sizes are presented in Fig. 5c and Fig. 5d. The considered
grain sizes present higher and more scattered values in the
lower part of the sequence than in the upper one.
Ca and Mg carbonate content varies between 10% and
50% (Fig. 5e); it is slight in the lower part of the sequence,
increases, but changes between units c5 and c6 (45 m to
70 m), and becomes higher above.
Among clay minerals, illite is dominant, and its content is frequently as high as 60% (Fig. 5f). Nevertheless,
in the lower part of the sequence until unit c6-2 it is
lower and it even became below 10% in unit s3 and in one
point above, in unit c11. When illite content is low, smectite presents higher values, and becomes dominant at 80%
for units s3 and c11. Variations in the illite and smectite
contents are independent of the grain size of the rock. Chlorite and kaolinite present values lower than 20% all along
the sequence (Fig. 6a).
Low eld magnetic susceptibility presents low values
throughout the studied sequence, indicating low content
of magnetic minerals in the sediment as a whole. Nevertheless, there is clear difference between sandstone units
s, with lower magnetic susceptibility, and ner grain size
units c, where magnetic susceptibility is higher (Fig. 5b).
This relation is systematic, and although sometimes its
value is low in the thin level of unit c, it indicates that
the level is rich in sand, as conrmed by laser granulometry
measurements. Clearly higher values of magnetic susceptibility were obtained for concretions found in sub-unit c6-3
(these concretions are hereafter called Fe-rich concretions),
which represents the early step of lateritisation, and in unit
c16.
Magnetic hysteresis and Curie balance experiments
were performed for Fe-rich concretions and for samples
from units c2, s3 and c6-2. Results for units c2, s3 and c6-2
are similar. Magnetic hysteresis loops, as well as hysteresis
characterising parameters (Bc, Bcr, Mrs/Ms) for samples c2
and Fe-rich concretions, are presented in Fig. 6b and Fig. 6c.
Both samples present hysteresis loops, which are constricted in the middle section, and wider above and below
the middle section; in sample c2 (Fig. 6b) the constriction is
more pronounced. Such wasp-waisted hysteresis loops in
geological materials indicate the coexistence of at least two
different magnetic components with contrasting coercive
elds (e.g. Day et al., 1977; Roberts et al., 1995; Tauxe et al.,
1996; Wasilewski, 1973). In such conditions, the coercive
eld (Bc) is largely controlled by soft, low-coercivity components such as ferrimagnetic magnetite or maghemite,
whereas the coercivity of remanence (Bcr) is controlled by
hard, high-coercivity components such as canted antiferromagnetic haematite or goethite. The degree of the
constriction in the middle section of the magnetic loop
depends on the relative contribution of each component.
Wasp-waisted hysteresis loops may reect (1) a mixture
of different grain sizes of a single magnetic mineral, (2) a
mixture of different magnetic materials with largely different coercivities, or (3) a combination of both (Roberts
et al., 1995). In the presence of soft, high magnetic

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

447

Fig. 5. (Color online.) Sedimentary sequence from Masol/Chandigarh anticline with simplied lithology and relative hardness of sediments, as well as: a)
different silty/clayish c and sandstone/sandy s units; b) magnetic susceptibility; c) contents of fraction under 63 m (sum of clay and silt); d) mean
grain size of particles; e) Ca and Mg carbonate content; f) smectite and illite contents. Grey color of a), b), c), d), e) and f) symbols indicates measurements
made on sandstone/sandy s units, black color indicates measurements made in silty/clayish c units. On the left of the log, are marked areas rich in fossils
(solid line) and poor in fossils (dashed line) in the sequence and the stratigraphic position of different Masol paleonto-archeological localities.
Fig. 5. (Couleur en ligne.) Squence sdimentaire de lanticlinal de Masol/Chandigarh, avec la lithologie simplie et la duret relative des sdiments, ainsi
que : a) units argilo-silteuses c et grso-sableuses s ; b) susceptibilit magntique ; c) teneurs de la fraction infrieure 63 m, d) taille moyenne
des particules ; e) teneurs en carbonate de Mg et de Ca ; f) teneurs en smectite et en illite. La couleur grise des symboles en a), b), c), d), e) et f) indique
des mesures effectues sur des niveaux des units grso-sableuses s ; la couleur noire indique des mesures effectues sur des niveaux des units argilo
silteuses c . Sur la gauche du log, les couches riches en fossiles (ligne continue), pauvres en fossiles (ligne discontinue) et la position stratigraphique des
diffrentes localits palonto-archologiques de Masol sont indiques.

moment minerals (magnetite or maghemite), hard minerals with weak magnetic moments (haematite, goethite)
must be abundant to cause wasp-waisted magnetic loops.
The hysteresis loop form, low Bc and high Bcr for Ferich concretions from sub-unit c6-3 (Fig. 6c), indicate the
mixture of the soft mineral(s) such as magnetite and/or
maghemite and hard mineral(s) such as haematite and/or
goethite. The hysteresis loop form and Bc and Bcr values in
sample c2 indicate the dominance of high-coercivity minerals such as goethite and haematite.
The thermomagnetic behavior of samples from unit
c2 shows the mixture of a mineral, which undergoes
demagnetisation before 200 C and haematite, with Curie
temperature of 680 C (Fig. 6d). The decrease of the magnetisation until 200 C is probably owed to the presence
of an iron oxyhydroxide, goethite, which loses water in
such temperatures, and is transformed into haematite
(e.g. Tarling, 1983). The concretion from sub-unit c6-3
shows also a small decrease of magnetisation until 200 C
(Fig. 6e). The second total demagnetisation, which occurs
at 400 C, and the irreversible cooling curve suggest the
presence of maghemite (e.g. Tarling, 1983; Thompson and
Oldeld, 1986). This is consistent with magnetic hysteresis
results; the use of these methods allows identication of

the goethite and haematite in samples from unit c2 and

goethite and maghemite in the Fe-rich concretion from
sub-unit c6-3.
5. Discussion
5.1. Characteristic lithological units and stratigraphic
position of different Masol paleonto-archeological
localities
The series obtained for the sediment passing through
the Masol 6 paleonto-archeological locality contains a
repetitive sequence corresponding to a cyclical pattern
of inux of detrital material in uvial environmental
conditions. This lithology and geomorphological features
of the Masol anticline make it difcult to establish
the precise stratigraphy and correlations between different Masol paleonto-archeological localities. Nevertheless,
some layers present specic characteristics, which are easily identiable. Unit c1, the sequence of units c3, s3 and s4,
unit c6, and unit s13 are such examples.
At the beginning of the investigated sequence, unit c1,
which is about 1.8 m thick, is formed by lower brownish
and upper grey silt/clay, and is only one such situation

448

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

Fig. 6. Sedimentary sequence from Masol anticline: a) ternary diagram of illite, chlorite + kaolinite and smectite contents; magnetic hysteresis loop for
sample from; b) unit c2; c) Fe-rich concretion from sub-unit c6-3; d) thermomagnetic curve for sample from unit c2; e) Fe-rich concretion from sub-unit
c6-3.
Fig. 6. Squence sdimentaire de lanticlinal de Masol : a) diagramme ternaire des teneurs en : illite, chlorite + kaolinite et smectite. Cycle de lhystrsis
magntique pour : b) chantillon de lunit c2 ; c) concrtion riche en fer de la sous-unit c6-3 ; d) courbe thermomagntique de lchantillon de lunit
c2 ; e) concrtion riche en fer de la sous-unit c6-3.

observed. The sequence of units c3, s3 and s4 presents a

unique change multicolored silt c3 several meters thick,
clear grey sandstones/sand s3 1 m thick and usually,
without thin c4, immediately above, sandstone s4, which
is some meters thick. The c3 silt starts with a brownish colored sub-layer which is followed by grey, reddish
and nally orange ones. The sandstone s4 has a clear rose

color on the surface and is underlined by lying below the

clear/grey sandstone unit s3. The sandstone s4 is called
elephant sandstone, because of the fossilized head of an
elephant found in situ in its upper part (Fig. 4b). Unit c6
presents a thick sequence (20 m) composed of 4 different and characteristic sub-units, c6-1, c6-2, c6-3 and c6-4,
as described above. The particularity of this set is enhanced

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

by the presence of the ne grey/white c6-2 and thick multicolored c6-4 sub-units (Fig. 4a). Unit s13 constitutes thick,
clear grey sandstone rich in white mica, and it is composed
of second order layers including ne-grained silty layers.
Unit s13 is clearly visible in the landscape as an important cliff (Fig. 3a) above the Masol 6 paleonto-archeological
locality and is present only in this part of the site and to the
southeast of Masol village.
In the section obtained for lithological log, Masol 6
paleonto-archeological locality occupies unit c6 (Fig. 5).
The lithological characteristics of the sedimentary
sequence allowed the identication of the stratigraphic
position for other Masol paleonto-archeological localities.
Fig. 4a, Fig. 4c and Fig. 4d illustrate Masol 6, Masol
1, Masol 5 and Masol 3 and Fig. 5 summarizes the
identications, which were made. All identied Masol
paleonto-archeological localities are positioned between
units c3 and c6. High fossil contents were found from
unit c3 to unit c7; above unit c7, they became scarce.
Most of the fossils between c3 and c7 were redeposited
and some of them come from upper layers. Nevertheless,
numerous fossils are well preserved (for more details, see
Moigne et al., 2016), and were collected on the slopes of
the layer from which they were exhumed by erosion. That
and the presence of fossils which were found in situ (e.g. in
units c3, s4 and c6; for more details see Chapon Sao et al.,
2016a) highlight recent and local redeposition, which is
the result of a very young erosion. Such erosion related
to high exhumation rate was also pointed out by Gargani
et al. (2016).
5.2. Magnetic and non-magnetic parameters:
preliminary results of the environmental reconstructions
The Himalayan Foreland Basin (HFB) characterized by
the uvial deposits, Siwalik molasse, is subdivided into several sub-basins, including Subathu (our study area is in its
western part), Kangra to the northwest of Subathu, and to
the east Dehra Dun (Fig. 1b). These sub-basins were extensively studied in particular for magnetostratigraphy, the
evolution of the uvial system during Pliocene and the Quaternary, the origin of these uvial deposits and their nature,
including clay and magnetic minerals (Kumar et al., 2003;
Kumaravel et al., 2005, 2010; Ranga Rao, 1993; Ranjan and
Banerjee, 2009; Sangode and Bloemendal, 2004; Suresh
et al., 2004).
Kumar et al. (1999, cited in Suresh et al., 2004) documented transverse trunk drainage owing southwest
between 5.5 Ma and 1.77 Ma, and piedmont drainage owing southeast between 4.8 Ma and 0.5 Ma. The rst was
attributed to the major rivers draining through Higher and
Lesser Himalaya, while the piedmont drainage, tributaries
of major rivers, drained through the Sub-Himalayan region.
Interweaving of different sandy channel deposits was evident, but nevertheless the oodplain deposits of the two
types of drainage were difcult to distinguish.
Our results show the changing sequence of ner and
coarser grain-sized deposits, which reects this uvial
environment. Magnetic susceptibility increases in silty sediments and decreases in sandy sediments. On the whole,
there are lower contents of carbonate in the lower part of

449

the sequence, where smectite is also present, and higher

main grain sizes were measured in the fraction of the sediment below 2 mm. In the upper part of the sequence,
illite is clearly dominant, carbonate content is higher and
increased contents of gravel and pebbles can be observed.
The middle part of the sequence, which constitutes the
Masol 6 paleonto-archeological locality, represents the
transitional zone between the two parts of the sequence. A
more detailed study of some levels from Masol 6, as well as
from Masol 1 and Masol 13 paleonto-archeological localities, is presented in Abdessadok et al. (2016) and in Chapon
Sao et al. (2016a).
The magnetic susceptibility obtained for all the studied sequence indicates on the whole rather low contents
of magnetic particles. Nevertheless, the distribution of the
magnetic particles changes between sandy and silty granulometric fractions, with clearly higher contents in the
ner sediment units c and lower contents in the sandy
sediment from units s. Preliminary results of the mineralogical identications were obtained only to samples
from four units from the lower part of the sequence. They
show that goethite and haematite are dominant magnetic
minerals. Moreover, they show that these two minerals
are present in both granulometric sandstone/sandy and
silty/clayish sedimentary units and their presence indicates
that oxic conditions dominated during deposition and after.
The reddish, yellowish, orange and brown colors of sediment in different parts of the sequence indicate that other
more or less amorphous forms of iron oxyhydroxides are
present, too. The composition of magnetic minerals was
obtained for soils and parent rocks (sandstones, siltstones
and mudstones) in previous studies on the Late Pliocene
part of the Upper Siwalik sequence in Subathu sub-basin
(Kumaravel et al., 2010; Sangode and Bloemendal, 2004;
Sangode et al., 2007). These results showed that haematite
and goethite are dominant, with increased magnetic susceptibility in soil horizons, which are on the whole weakly
developed, and lower magnetic susceptibility in parent
rocks. Our study shows that the content of magnetic minerals varies even through silty/clayish and sandstone/sandy
rocks, which can become parent rocks for soil development.
In our study, c6-3 sub-unit shows early step of the lateritisation. The Fe-rich concretions from this sub-unit are
composed of goethite and maghemite. The presence of the
maghemite suggests locally reducing conditions during or
after concretion formation. Further studies will allow accurate identication of the magnetic minerals in the whole
sequence.
Chaudhri and Gill (1983), Rainverman and Suresh
(1997) and Rainverman (2002) investigated Dehra Dun and
the Kangra and western Subathu sub-basins Siwalik sediments for clay minerals. They found abundant illite and
smectite with wide zigzag pattern in Kangra and Dehra
Dun but in the Subathu sub-basin they found no smectite. They suggested that smectite was supplied by major
rivers, and documented two independent paleo-drainage
systems, similar to the present-day Indus and Ganga systems (see also Clift and Blusztajn, 2005), separated by a
water divide along the Subathu sub-basin. They suggested
that the systems did not cross each other and that this
water divide is an ancient feature. However, the study by

450

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

Suresh et al. (2004) shows high proportions of smectite in the eastern part of the Subathu sub-basin. Indeed,
Suresh et al. (2004) identied grey sand/sandstone in the
Upper Siwalik sequence as deposited by trunk drainage,
and sands that they named buff ribbon sandstone bodies
as deposited by piedmont drainage. They found changing
but high contents of smectite in grey sandstones; in buff
ribbon sandstones, illite was largely dominant. Contents
of illite and smectite in mudstone depend on tributaries
or major rivers ooding. The distribution of clay minerals
observed in our study (western part of the Subathu subbasin), and presented in Fig. 5f and in Fig. 6a, is very close to
that obtained by Suresh et al. (2004), including the presence
of the smectite.
Rainverman and Suresh (1997) and Rainverman (2002)
observed higher contents of illite in the older part of the
studied sequence, and smectite in the younger one. They
suggested that illite could be of diagenetic origin. Nevertheless, Suresh et al. (2004) did not conrm this distribution
and identied illite as being of detrital origin, the same
result as that for higher contents of illite in the upper part of
the sequence, which we obtained in this study. As detrital
illite in sediments is caused by physical weathering, and
is usually very abundant in high-relief regions (Chamley,
1989), Suresh et al. (2004) suggested Higher Himalaya was
its source area in the studied region.
Smectite is a result of the chemical weathering of volcanic rocks and of other rocks in warm, contrasting wet/dry
climates (Chamley, 1989). Rainverman and Suresh (1997)
suggested that smectite in the studied sub-basins is a result
of the weathering of volcanic rocks in the Lesser Himalaya;
nevertheless, sediments rich in smectite studied by Suresh
et al. (2004) content only rare volcanic rocks. Another possible source of the smectite could be pedogenesis in situ;
nevertheless, some mudstones studied by Suresh et al.
(2004) are rich in smectite but do not have traces of pedogenesis. Therefore, Suresh et al. (2004) suggested that smectite formed in the Lesser Himalaya from volcanic and other
rocks in the favorable climate and supplied the studied subbasins. This is also suggested by our results, since we found
very high contents of smectite in the sandy unit s3.
Our results and these obtained by Suresh et al. (2004)
indicate the presence of smectite in the Subathu sub-basin,
contrary to the previous studies, and the smectite here
is of detrital origin. Therefore, it had to be supplied from
its source area by a major river system, as indicated by
Rainverman and Suresh (1997) and Rainverman (2002) for
the Dehra Dun and Kangra sub-basins. Since the supply of
smectite was attributed to major river activity, it indicates
that the Subathu sub-basin was still paleo-drainage area
for major river(s) during the Late Pliocene considered in
our study before denitive water division.
The smectite in the Lesser Himalaya and Siwalik is of
major importance for studies on the sediments from the
Indus and Ganga/Brahmaputra deltas. Indeed, in paleoclimate reconstructions, sources of different clay minerals
have to be well recognized. In sediments from the Bay
of Bengal for instance, smectite can reect changes in its
sources (Deccan plateau or Himalaya) or changes in the
weathering conditions (Derry and France-Lanord, 1997,
cited in Suresh et al., 2004).

6. Conclusion
During the eldwork in spring 2014 and 2015, we established a lithological log for the exhumed Late Pliocene
sedimentary sequence, which was rich in fossils in the
Masol (Chandigarh) anticline. Particular features of some
lithological units allowed their recognition in different
Masol paleonto-archeological localities, and the identication of the stratigraphic position of these localities was
made. These localities are concentrated in the narrow band
between the so-called units c3 and c6.
Some fossils were found in situ, others were redeposited, and our results indicate that the redeposition is
recent and local. Consequently, bovid bones with intentional cut marks found among numerous fossils in this
stratigraphic position are older than 2.58 Ma, Pliocene/
Pleistocene limit.
The contents of magnetic particles are quite low on the
whole, but systematically higher in silty/clayish sediment
and lower in sandstones/sand. Independently of the granulometric fraction, the canted antiferromagnetic minerals
haematite and goethite are dominant. In the Fe-rich concretions from a unit with early soil formation maghemite
is also present. The obtained results complement previous studies of magnetic minerals done on soils and parent
rocks (without their differentiation) from the Upper Siwalik Subathu sub-basin (Kumaravel et al., 2010).
The distribution of clay minerals observed in this study,
shows the dominant contribution of illite on the whole.
Smectite, which is absent from the upper part of the
sequence except at one point, is present and even dominant
in some levels of the lower part of the sequence. This result
shows that smectite is not only present in the Late Pliocene
sediment from the eastern part of the Subathu sub-basin
(Suresh et al., 2004) but is also evident in its western
part.
Our results, like these obtained by Suresh et al. (2004),
suggest that clay minerals in the studied sequence are principally of detrital origin, and were thus supplied here by
rivers. Detrital illite in sediments is caused by physical
weathering, and is usually very abundant in the Himalayan
high-relief region as a whole. Suresh et al. (2004) suggested
Higher Himalaya as the principal source area for illite, and
they identied Lesser Himalaya as a source area for smectite as a result of the chemical weathering of various rocks
in a warm, contrasting wet/dry climate.
Some authors (Chaudhri and Gill, 1983; Rainverman,
2002; Rainverman and Suresh, 1997) postulated two independent paleo-drainage systems for Late Pliocene, similar
to the present day Indus and Ganga systems and separated by a water divide along the Subathu sub-basin. Our
results and those obtained by Suresh et al. (2004) show
the presence of detrital smectite in the Subathu sub-basin,
the origin of which is the Lesser Himalaya. Smectite had to
be supplied from its source area by a major river system,
and suggests that the Subathu sub-basin was still paleodrainage area for major river(s) during the Late Pliocene
time considered in our study, before the establishment of
a denitive water divide.
The presence of smectite in the Lesser Himalaya
and Siwalik is of major importance for paleoclimate

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

reconstructions based on studies of the sediments from the

Indus and Ganga/Brahmaputra deltas.
Acknowledgements
The Indo-French program of research Siwaliks is
under the patronage of Professor Yves Coppens, College of
France and Academy of Sciences, Institute of France, since
2012. It has been supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs during three years (2012, 2013, 2014), by the
National Museum of Natural History, Paris (Department of
Earth Sciences in 2011, and Department of Prehistory in
2007, 2010 and 2011). We are grateful to the Archaeological
Survey of India for explorations and excavation permits, the
Department of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums
of the Punjab Government and the Embassy of India in Paris
for their administrative support and the French Embassy,
New Delhi. We are grateful to the Sarpanch of Masol village,
for his hospitality. The authors thank Luce Delabesse and
Rmy Pichon for technical help and Piotr Tucholka for discussions. Maxence Descheemaecker and Thibault Josselin,
Master and Licence students participated in this work.
References
Abdessadok, S., Chapon Sao, C., Tudryn, A., Dambricourt Malass, A., Gaillard, C., Singh, M., Karir, B., Moigne, A.M., Gargani, J., Bhardwaj, V.,
Pal, S., 2016. Sedimentological study of major paleonto-archeological
localities of the Late Pliocene Quranwala Zone. Siwalik Frontal Range,
northwestern India, in Human origins on the Indian sub-continent.
C.R. Palevol 15, this issue.
Barnes, J.B., Densmore, A.L., Mukul, M., Sinha, R., Jain, V., Tandon, S.K.,
2011. Interplay between faulting and base level in the development
of Himalayan frontal fold topography. J. Geophys. Res. 116, F03012,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010JF001841.
Burbank, D.W., Bookhagen, B., Gabet, E.J., Putko, J., 2012. Modern climate
and erosion in the Himalaya. C.R. Geoscience 344, 610626.
Chamley, H., 1989. Clay sedimentology. Springer, New York, 623 p.
Chapon Sao, C., Abdessadok, S., Tudryn, A., Dambricourt Malass, A., Singh,
M., Karir, B., Gaillard, C., Moigne, A.M., Gargani, J., Bhardwaj, V., 2016a.
Lithostratigraphy of Masol paleonto-archeological localities in the
Quranwala Zone, 2,6 Ma, northwestern India. In Human origins on
the Indian sub-continent. C. R. Palevol 15, this issue.
Chapon Sao, C., Abdessadok, S., Dambricourt Malass, A., Singh, M., Karir,
B., Bhardwaj, V., Pal, S., Gaillard, C., Moigne, A.M., Gargani, J., Tudryn,
A., 2016b. Magnetic polarity of Masol 1 Locality deposits, Siwalik
Frontal Range. Northwestern India. In Human origins on the Indian
sub-continent. C. R. Palevol 15, this issue.
Chaudhri, R.S., Gill, G.T.S., 1983. Clay mineralogy of the Siwalik Group of
Simla Hills, northwestern Himalaya. J. Geol. Soc. India 24, 159165.
Clift, P.D., Blusztajn, J., 2005. Reorganization of the western Himalayan
river system after ve million years ago. Nature 438 (15), 10011003.
Coppens, Y., 2016. Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. C.R. Palevol
15, this issue.
Dambricourt Malass, A., 2016. The rst Indo-French Prehistorical Mission in Siwaliks and the discovery of anthropic activities at 2.6 million
years. In Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. C. R. Palevol 15,
this issue.
Dambricourt Malass, A., Singh, M., Karir, B., Gaillard, C., Bhardwaj, V.,
Moigne, A.-M., Abdessadok, S., Chapon Sao, C., Gargani, J., Tudryn, A.,
Calligaro, T., Kaur, A., Pal, S., Hazarika, M., 2016a. Anthropic activities
in the fossiliferous Quranwala Zone, 2.6 Ma, Siwaliks of Northwest
India, historical context of the discovery and scientic investigations.
In Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. C. R. Palevol 15, this
issue.
Dambricourt Malass, A., Moigne, A.M., Singh, M., Calligaro, T., Karir, B.,
Gaillard, C., Kaur, A., Bhardwaj, V., Pal, S., Abdessadok, S., Chapon Sao,
C., Gargani, J., Tudryn, A., Garcia Sanz, M., 2016b. Intentional cutmarks
on bovid from the Quranwala Zone, 2.6 Ma Siwalik Frontal Range, NW
India. In Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. C. R. Palevol 15,
this issue.

451

Day, R., Fuller, M.D., Schmidt, V.A., 1977. Magnetic hysteresis properties
of synthetic titanomagnetites. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 13, 260266.
Delcaillau, B., Carozza, J.-M., Laville, E., 2006. Recent fold growth and
drainage development: the Janauri and Chandigarh anticlines in the
Siwalik foothills, northwest India. Geomorphology 76, 241256.
Dennell, R., 2010. Out of Africa I: current problems and future prospects,
chap 15. In: Fleagle, J.G., Shea, J.J., Grine, F.E., Baden, A.L., Leakey, R.E.
(Eds.), Out of Africa I: the First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia. , pp.
247273.
Gaillard, C., Singh, M., Dambricourt Malass, A., Bhardwaj, V., Karir, B.,
Kaur, S., Pal, S., Moigne, A.M., Sao Chapon, C., Abdessadok, S., Gargani,
J., Tudryn, A., 2016. The lithic industries on the fossiliferous outcrops
of the Late Pliocene Masol Formation, Siwalik Frontal Range, northwestern India (Punjab). In Human origins on the Indian sub-continent.
C. R. Palevol 15, this issue.
Gargani, J., Abdessadok, S., Tudryn, A., Chapon Sao, C., Dambricourt
Malass, A., Gaillard, C., Moigne, A.M., Singh, M., Bhardwaj, V., Karir, B.,
2016. Geology and geomorphology of Masol paleonto-archeological
site, Late Pliocene, Chandigarh anticline, Siwalik Frontal Range, NW
India. In Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. C. R. Palevol 15,
this issue.
Han, F., Bahain, J.-J., Deng, C., Boda, E., Hou, Y., Wei, G., Huang, W.,
Garcia, T., Shao, Q., He, C., Falgures, C., Voinchet, P., Yin, G., 2015.
The earliest evidence of hominid settlement in China: combined
electron spin resonance and uranium series (ESR/U-series) dating of mammalian fossil teeth from Longgupo cave. Quatern. Int.,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.02.025, in press.
Holtzapffel, T., 1985. Les minraux argileux : prparation, analyse, diffractomtrique et dtermination. Soc. Geol. Nord Publ. 12, 136.
Kumar, R., Ghosh, S.K., Mazari, R.K., Sangode, S.J., 2003. Tectonic impact
on the uvial deposits of Plio-Pleistocene Himalayan foreland basin.
Sediment. Geol. 158, 209234.
Kumar, R., Suresh, N., Sangode, S.J., Kumaravel, V., 2007. Evolution of
the Quaternary alluvial fan system in the Himalayan foreland basin:
Implications for tectonic and climatic decoupling. Quatern. Int. 159,
620.
Kumaravel, V., Sangode, S.J., Kumar, R., Siddaiah, N.S., 2005. Magnetic polarity stratigraphy of Plio-Pleistocene Pinjor Formation (type
locality), Siwalik Group, NW Himalaya, India. Curr. Sci. 88 (9),
14531461.
Kumaravel, V.S.J., Siddaiah, N.S., Kumar, R., 2010. Interrelation of magnetic
susceptibility, soil color and elemental mobility in the PliocenePleistocene Siwalik paleosol sequences of the NW Himalaya, India.
Geoderma 154, 267280.
Liu, Z., Colin, C., Trentesaux, A., Blamart, D., Bassinot, F., Siani, G., Sicre, M.A.,
2004. Erosional history of the eastern Tibetan Plateau over past 190
kyr: clay mineralogical investigations from the southwestern South
China Sea. Marine Geol. 209, 118.
Liu, Z., Tuo, S., Colin, C., Liu, J.T., Huang, C.Y., Selvaraj, K., Chen, C.T.A., Zhao,
Y., Siringan, F.P., Boulay, S., Chen, Z., 2008. Detrital ne-grained sediment contribution from Taiwan to the northern South China Sea and
its relation to regional ocean circulation. Marine Geol. 255, 149155.
Moigne, A.M., Dambricourt Malass, A., Singh, M., Bhardwaj, V., Gaillard,
C., Kaur, S., Karir, B., Pal, S., Abdessadok, S., Chapon Sao, C., Gargani, J.,
Tudryn, A., 2016. The faunal assemblage of the paleonto-archeological
localities of Masol Formation, Late Pliocene Quranwala Zone, NW
India. In Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. C.R. Palevol 15,
this issue.
Nanda, A.C., 2002. Upper Siwalik mammalian faunas of India and associated events. J. Asian Sci. 21, 4758.
Petschick, R., 2000. MacDiff 4.2.3, unpublished computer program.
Johann-Wolfgang Goethe Universitt, Frankfurt, Cited 01-12-2001
http://servermac.geologie.un-frankfurt.de.Reiner.html.
Pilgrim, G.E., 1913. The correlation of the Siwaliks with mammal horizons
of Europe. Rec. Geol. Surv. India 43 (4), 264326.
Rainverman, V., 2002. Foreland sedimentation in Himalayan Tectonic
Regime a relook at the orogenic process. Bishen Singh Mahendra
Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India, 375 p.
Rainverman, V., Suresh, N., 1997. Clay mineral distribution in the Cenozoic sequence of the western Himalayan Foothills. J. Indian Assoc.
Sediment. 16, 6375.
Ranga Rao, A., 1993. Magnetic-polarity stratigraphy of Upper Siwalik of
north-western Himalayan foothills. Curr. Sci. 64 (1112), 863873.
Ranga Rao, A., Nanda, A.C., Sharma, U.N., Bhalla, M.S., 1995. Magnetic
polarity stratigraphy of the Pinjor Formation (Upper Siwalik) near
Pinjore, Haryana. Curr. Sci. 68 (12), 12311236.
Ranjan, N., Banerjee, D.M., 2009. Central Himalayan crystallines as the primary source for the sandstone-mudstone suites of the Siwalik Group:
New geochemical evidence. Gondwana Res. 16, 687696.

452

A. Tudryn et al. / C. R. Palevol 15 (2016) 440452

Roberts, A.P., Cui, Y., Verosub, K.L., 1995. Wasp-waisted hysteresis loops:
mineral magnetic characteristics and discrimination of components
in mixed magnetic systems. J. Geophys. Res. 100 (B9), 909917, 17,
924.
Sangode, S.J., Bloemendal, J., 2004. Pedogenic transformation of magnetic minerals in Pliocene-Pleistocene palaeosols of the Siwalik Group,
NW Himalaya, India. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 212,
95118.
Sangode, S.R., Phartiyal, B., Chauhan, O.S., Mazari, R.K., Bagati, T.N., Suresh,
N., Mishra, S., Kumar, R., Bhattacharjee, P., 2007. Environmental magnetic studies on some Quaternary sediments of varied depositional
settings in the Indian sub-continent. Quatern. Int. 159, 102118.
Sanyal, P., Sarkar, A., Bhattacharya, S.K., Kumar, R., Ghosh, S.K., Agrawal,
S., 2010. Intensication of monsoon, microclimate and asynchronous
C4 appearance: isotopic evidence from the Indian Siwalik sediments.
Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 296, 165173.
Singh, V., Tandon, S.K., 2010. Integrated analysis of structures and landforms of an intermontane longitudinal valley (Pinjaur dun) and its
associated mountain fronts in the NW Himalaya. Geomorphology 114,
573589.

Suresh, N., Ghosh, S.K., Kumar, R., Sangode, S.J., 2004. Clay-mineral distribution pattern in Late Neogene uvial sediments of the Subathu
sub-basin, central sector of Himalayan foreland basin: implications
for provenance and climate. Sediment. Geol. 163, 265278.
Tarling, D.H., 1983. Paleomagnetism, Principles and applications in geology, geophysics and archaeology. Chapman & Hall, New York, 379
p.
Tauxe, L., Mullender, T.A.T., Pick, T., 1996. Potbellies, wasp-waisted, and
superparamagnetism in magnetic hysteresis. J. Geophys. Res. 101 (B1),
571583.
Thomas, J.V., Parkash, B., Mohindra, R., 2002. Lithofacies and palaeosol
analysis of the Middle and Upper Siwalik Groups (Plio-Pleistocene),
Haripur-Kolar section, Himachal Pradesh, India. Sediment. Geol. 150,
343366.
Thompson, R., Oldeld, M., 1986. Environmental magnetism. Allen and
Unwin, London, 227 p.
Tripathi, C., 1986. Siwaliks of the Indian Subcontinent. J. Palaeontol. Soc.
India 31, 18.
Wasilewski, P., 1973. Magnetic hysteresis in natural materials. Earth
Planet. Sci. Lett. 20, 6772.