Quaternary geology

Lecture-1
Talk outline
 Introduction
 General Characteristics
 Climatic Changes
 Ice Age
 Sea Level Changes
 Changes of Relief and Landscapes
 Vegetational Changes
 Paleontological Changes
 Development of Glacial Theory
 Subdivision of Quaternary
 Alpine Model
 Northern European Model
 Classical Model-North America
 Plio-Pleistocene Boundary

What is Quaternary?
 Quaternary is the latest Period in the Geological Time Scale.
 The Cenozoic Era includes Quaternary (above) and Tertiary (below).
 The Quaternary Period comprises Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs.
 The Holocene Epoch spans only the last 10,000 years.
Cont’d……

 The whole of the Quaternary covers a small span of geological time, only 2.5ma.
 On the other hand, Quaternary has not been separated in a traditional way.
 There was no major important universal orogenic movement that could make a sharp
tectonic or stratigraphic boundary with the underlying Tertiary Period.
Cont’d……

 The next debate concerns the subdivision of the Quaternary into Pleistocene and
Holocene Epochs.
 Edward Forbes (1815-1854) in his short life span worked on plant and animal life, and
equated the Pleistocene with the Glacial Epoch.
 During the Pleistocene Epoch, cold phase (glacial) was alternated with the warm phase
(Interglacial).
 The warm phase of present day, or Interglacial, which started at about 10,000 years ago,
is called Holocene.

General Characteristics : Quaternary

General Characteristics
 Climatic Changes
 Ice Age
 Sea Level Changes
 Changes of Relief and Landscapes
  Vegetational Changes
 Paleontological Changes
General Characteristics : Quaternary
General Characteristics : Climatic Changes
 Climatic change is unequivocally the dominating characteristics of the Quaternary.
 Global climate changes due to the variation of solar radiation received at the earth's
surface.
 Global temperature changes periodically in some long-term, intermediate-term and short-
term climatic cycles.
 The Quaternary climatic fluctuations followed a cyclic pattern.

 Approximately, over 96,000 years, the shape of earth's orbit changes from more elliptical
to less elliptical and vice-versa.
 This phenomenon is called Eccentricity.
 It produces a change in the surface temperature of earth in a cycle of 96,000 years.
 The second variable is called 'Axial tilt or Obliquity’.
 The axis of the earth tilts from about 21.5 to 24.5 degrees and back over a period of
around 42,000 years.
 This is the angle between equatorial plane and orbital plane.
 The third variable is called Precession of the equinoxes. Precession is a change in the
orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body.
 The rotational motion of the axis of a spinning body, such as, the wobbling of a spinning
top, caused by torque applied to the body along its axis of rotation.
  The time when the earth is nearest to the sun is called Perihelion.
 At present, the Northern Hemisphere winter occurs in perihelion, while the summer
occurs at the furthest point on the orbit and is called aphelion.
 To shift the position from perihelion to aphelion, it takes about 10500 years and further
back to perihelion to complete the cycle it takes about 21000 years

General Characteristics: Ice Age: Glacial and Interglacial Periods

 Glacial and Interglacial Periods (phases) are the major characteristics of the Quaternary.
 An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the earth's surface and
its atmosphere, resulting in the appearance or expansion of continental and polar ice
sheets as well as mountain glaciers.
 Within a long-term ice age, individual pulses of cold climate are termed glacial periods
(or alternatively glacial or glaciations or colloquially as ice age) and intermittent warm
periods are called interglacial.

General Characteristics: Sea Level Changes

 Sea level is very much related to climate.

 The global climate changes occur periodically due to the variations of solar radiation.
 When our planet cool down (i.e. during the glacial period), water in the ocean basins
evaporated and the evaporated water (vapor) moved towards the continental interior that
cool down to form frost; and then precipitated on the land surfaces in the form of ice.
 Hence, during the glacial period, oceanic water accumulated on the continents in the form
of ice sheets resulting in the drop down of sea level.
 Next, during the warm period, i.e. during the interglacial period, ice sheets on the
continental surfaces melt down and meltwater again returned to the ocean basin. As a
result, sea level rose up.
 Therefore, eustatic sea level changes (changes of water volume in the ocean basin) due to
the climatic fluctuation is another characteristic of the Quaternary

General Characteristics: Changes of Relief and Landscapes

 One of the striking characteristics of the Quaternary is glacial and post-glacial landforms
resulted by the occurrence of ice sheets and melt water.
 The resulting erosional landforms include striations, glacial horns, aretes, trim lines, U-
shaped valleys, hanging valleys, cirques, erratics, striations, pingos, hummocks, truncated
spurs,, morainic landforms, eskers, kames, kettles, tills, etc.

General Characteristics: Vegetational Changes

 The climatic changes resulted in the changes of vegetational environment in continental
surface.
 The shifting of vegetational zones, the growth and extinction of some plant communities
are remarkable.

General Characteristics: Paleontological Changes

  Appearance of Homo sapiens, especially, the modern man is one of the most striking
characteristics of the Quaternary. It is not exactly certain from which race modern man
evolved.
 The bones, skeletons, teeth and skulls of our ancestors are preserved in caves, river
valleys and in some volcanic deposits.
 The East African Rift and Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) in Africa, and the Siwalik Hills in
the Himalayas were the best sites for our ancestors.
 The oldest bones and skeleton remains of our ancestors are found in East Africa.

Development of Glacial Theory

 Initially, the Quaternary Period was thought to be the Period of glaciation, because the
people were astonished to observe the evidences of glaciations and glacial deposits in those
places, especially in the Alpine regions, that never witnessed permanent glaciations at the
present time.
 The evidence of glaciation was first observed at the end of eighteenth century when James
Hutton (1726-1797), a Scottish farmer and naturalist (he is known as the founder of modem
geology), identified erratic blocks in the Jura mountainous region in France in 1795.
 A Scottish geologist Charles Lyell in 1839 introduced the term 'Pleistocene’.
 The term Pleistocene is derived from two Greek words, pleistos (meaning 'most') and kainos
(meaning 'new’ or 'recent’).
 Hence, Pleistocene means 'Most Recent’.
 Lyell introduced this term to describe the strata exposed in Sicily (type section, southern
Italy) that had at least 70% of their molluscan fauna still living today.
 Edward Forbes (1946) redefined the Pleistocene as the same age of glacial epochs.
 Lyell noticed that between the layers of rock or within the same layer, there was a distinct
change between fossils of marine mollusks of warm water species and fossils which were
like modern cold water species.
 Forbes in 1846, suggested the post-glacial time as Recent. In 1885, International Geological
Congress (IGQ accepted the term Holocene (meaning wholly recent).
 In 1869, Paul Gervais, a French paleontologist, introduced a term Holocene (wholly recent)
for the last 10,000 years. The Holocene is indeed the 'Age of Man.

Classical Model: Quaternary Subdivision

 There are some models for the classification of the Quaternary.
 These models were established following the antiquated method based on inadequate
data.
 Some models did not follow the Law of Superposition for stratigraphic classification.
 Those were based on geomorphologic positions and the concept of terrace system.
 The emphasis was given to climatic changes that should not be used in stratigraphic
classification.
 The Alpine Model
 Northern European Model
 Classical Model of Central North America

The Alpine Model:

  Initially, the Quaternary Period was presumed to be a single event of cold phase.
 It was thought that during the Period, our planet cooled down and ice accumulated on two
poles and mountain tops.
 The ice caps on the mountainous regions extended down to the foot hills or even
extended over the outwash plains and to the continental interiors.
 Penck and Bruckner (1909) who subdivided the Quaternary Period into four events of
glaciation.
 Each glacial event (Glacial Period) alternated with an event of warm period
(Interglaciation).
 In 1909, Albrecht Penck and Eduard Bruckner (photo 1.1) published their classic work in
German Language.
 The name of the book is DIE ALPEN IM E1SZEITALTER (The Alpine Glaciation).
 These four glaciations were named after four rivers: Wurm, Riss, Mindel and Gunz,
flowing in the Bavarian region (table 1.1).
 After a long time, two more glaciations discovered and added to the original scheme of
Penck and Bruckner.

Northern European Model

 The Northern European Classical Model is being largely used in Western Europe for long
time with some modifications. This classical model, based on the subdivision of the
Scandinavian Ice Sheet, extended beyond the North German Plain.
 Classical Model: Central North America
 Canada and the northernmost parts of America were glaciated during the Quaternary
Period. The classical model of Central North America (table 1.4) was based on till sheets
(rock stratigraphic units), landforms (morphostratigraphy) and paleosols (soil
stratigraphic units).

PLIOCENE - PLEISTOCENE BOUNDARY

 It has been discussed that the major characteristic of the Quaternary is the climatic
fluctuations.
 The cooling of global climate resulted in the accumulation of ice sheets in and around
two poles.
 Further cooling accelerated the movement or extension of ice sheets towards the equator
and their accumulation on mountain tops.
 The terminal moraines of the first glaciation in the frigid zone are much older than those
of the same Glaciation in the temperate zone.
 Hence, the time of inception of a single Glacial Period varies from latitude to latitude.
 In addition, the tropical regions were not glaciated except for the high mountains.

Recommendation for Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary:

 Some important recommendations were adopted by the General Assembly of the18th

Geological Congress held in London in 1948.
 The following recommendations were suggested by the temporary Commission on the
Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary (Zagwijn,1974):
 i. The Type Area should be selected prior to the fixation of Pliocene-Pleistocene
Boundary and the Boundary should be drawn following the stratigraphic principles.
ii. The Commission suggested that the Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary should be based
on the evolutionary changes in marine faunas.
iii. To eliminate the existing ambiguities, the Commission recommended that the Lower
Pleistocene should be included as its basal member in the type area, the Calabrian
Formation (marine) together with its terrestrial equivalent the Villafranchian (this
proposal was rejected by a Sub-committee of INQUA, after a field Conference on the
Boundary, held in Punjab and Kashmir in 1979)
iv. The Commission noted that the Pliocene Pleistocene Boundary should be place at the
horizon of the first indications of climatic deterioration in the Italian Neogene (this
proposal was rejected by a Subcommittee of INQUA, after a field conference on the
Boundary, held in Punjab and Kashmir in1979).

Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary: Bengal Basin

 The reddish-brown clastic deposits exposed in the Lalmai Hills, Madhupur and Barind
tracts are called Madhupur Clay Formation.
 The lower member of the Madhupur Formation is represented by bidirectional
(herringbone type) cross-bedded, highly micaceous sand (deposits). At the bottom of this
sand, quartz-chalcedony gravel bed is present.
 This quartz-chalcedony gravel bed, named as Cumilla Gravel Bed, represents a marker
horizon in the Bengal basin. The Plio-Pleistocene boundary has been placed at the top of
this Quartz-chalcedony Gravel Bed.
 This Bed is well exposed in the Ranirbanglow section of Lalmai hills. This Bed can also
be seen in the Rupban Mura hill-slope section. In the Bengal Basin, it has been assumed
that the Pleistocene started around 1.6 million years ago.

Lecture-2

Quaternary Stratigraphy –
Introduction?

 The Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in the north-eastern comer of Indian subcontinent is the

largest delta with one of the thickest sedimentary sequence in the present world where the
Tertiary Quaternary sedimentary column is more than 20 km thick.
 The Neogene stratigraphic units of the area are diachronic in nature (Imam and Shaw,
1985).
 The Bengal Basin is mostly covered with Quaternary sediments. Deltaic flood plain with
some Pleistocene terraces constitute the major part of the basin.
 A number of these Pleistocene terraces extends inside the territory of neighboring India.
 The network of the Ganges Brahmaputra river systems are responsible for the deposition
of this thick sedimentary sequence.
 These two mighty rivers are originated from the Himalayas and discharge into the-Bay of
Bengal through Bangladesh for a considerable geological time.
 The so-called Madhupur Clay or reddish-brown deposits which makes the beautiful
scenery of the Lalmai hills, Madhupur and Barind tracts attracted the general attention of
the geologists as early as nineteen fifty's when Morganand Mclntire(1956) published a
report at the Louisiana State University, after their reconnaissance survey over the Bengal
basin.
 Afterwards, Islam (1974), Alamand Khan (1980), Hassan (1986) studied the Madhupur
Clay with the similar approach as was shown by Morgan and Mclntirein 1959.
 Bakr (1977) has introduced a new lithostratigaphicunit name ChandinaFormation for the
Holocenedeposits exposed around the township of Chandinain Comilla district.
 Much more detail investigations of the quaternary deposits exposed in the barind,
Chalanbil, Panchagarh, Dahagram Angarpota, Madhupur, Lalmai, Jaintiapur,
Areasandalsost. Martin's, Kutubdia, Maiskhali islands were carried out after nineteen
ninety's (Akhterandhoque,1993; Monsur,1990; Monsurandhossain,1992;
Monsurandpaepe,1992,1993,1994; Monsurandkamal,1994; Monsurandpaepe,1994;
Monsur,1994; Monsur,1995; Morshed,1994; Saha,1994).
 Detail stratigraphical, Sedimentological, Palaeomagnetical, Pedological, Micro
morphological studies were carried out in order to establish a systematic quaternary
stratigraphy and to infer a depositional environment.
 A systematic studies of coastal plains of onshore and nearshore islands reveale dacyclicity
of Holocene sea Level rise for clear understanding, The stratigraphy of different
geomorphic units of the Bengal basin are discussed separately in the following texts.

Quaternary Stratigraphy: Madhupur Area

 The Madhupur area has been considered as an area which comprises the Vawaland
Madhupur Garghs.
 This area of about 4058 sq.km., extends in Dhaka, Mymensingh and Tangail districts.
 The so-called Madhupur Clay or reddish brown deposits are exposed on some north-
south trending elongated flat landmasses abruptly elevated from the
surroundingfloodplains.
 In the Madhupur area, Quaternary deposits aresubdivided into two Formations
(Monsurand Paepe, 1994Monsur, 1995) and are called :
  i) Madhupur Clay and Sand Formation (lower unit), represented by reddish-brown
sand,sandy-clay and clay; and
 ii) Basabosilty-clay Formation (upper unit), represented by yellowish brown to bluish-
grey sand to clay.
 The lower boundary of the Madhupur Formation isrepresented by the Quartz-chalcedony
Gravel layer which iscalled Comilla Quartz-chalcedony Gravel Bed.
 The thickness of this Formation is about 14 to 20m.
 The Madhupur Formation has further been subdivided into three Members (lower
subunits) and two Beds (upper subunit) based on the presence of two palaeosolhorizons.
 The Members are called BhalukaSand Member, Mirpur Silty-clay Memberand Dhaka
Clay Member.
 The lower and upper Beds of this Formation are called Kalsi Beds.
 Similarly, the Basab Formation has also been subdivided into two Members:Gulshan
Sand Member and Matuail Clay Member.

Quaternary Stratigraphy: Lalmai Hills Area

 The reddish brown deposits are widely exposed in theLalmaihills area.

 The Lalmaihills are situated in the Comilladistrict of Bangladesh.
 The Lalmaihills represent a north-south elongated low hill range of about 16 km long and
about 2-3 kmwide.
 The Lalmaihills area lies between the latitudes23 20 N to 23'30'N and longitudes 91°05'E
to 91 °10’E.
 It covers an area of about 33 sq. km. The hill range runs through the middle of Comilla
district.
 The average height of the hills is about 12 meters but some peaks rise up to about 40 meters
or more.
 Most of the hill tops are covered with reddish-brown soil which makes a beautiful scenery
of the hill range.
 Some of the hilltops represent table surfaces and these table surfaces are separated from
each other by deeply incised valleys.
 The northern part of the hill range is locally known as Mainamati, which merely echoes
the memory of king Govinda Chandra’s mother Mainamati, while the southern part is
known as Lalmaior ‘Red Hill ' from the red colourof soil ( Alamand Khan,1980).
 In geological and gcomorphologicalview point, the areain this discussion will be called as
Lalmai Hill Range.
 The reddish brown deposits exposed in the Lalmai Hill area are grouped together and are
called Madhupur Clay and Sand Formation.
 The reddish brown deposits exposed in the Lalmai Hill area is the extension of the reddish
brown deposits of the Madhupur area.
 Sometimes, these deposits maintain the subsurface lithologic continuity.
 Sometimes, this Formation had completely been eroded away by Late Pleistocene and
Early Holocene erosional activities.
 Hence, the nomenclature "Madhupur Clay" which was introduced by Morgan and
Mclntire(1959) and its modification "Madhupur Clay and Sand Formation" (Monsur,
 1994) were restored and were being extended to the Lalmai Hill area and was called as
"Madhupur Clay and Sand Formation".
 The lower boundary of this Formation is defined by the Comilla Quartz chalcedony
Gravel Bed (Monsur, 1994).
 The maximum exposed thickness has been recorded at BDR Camp section at Cotbari,
Comilla and is about 15m.
 At Uttarkhannear Dhaka city the borehole data shows the highest thickness of this
Formation and it is about 50m.
 This Formation has been subdivided into the following subunits:i) the upper clay subunitii)
the middle clayey-sand subunitiii) the lower sand subunit

Quaternary Stratigraphy: Barind Area

 The Barindarea falls in the central part of north Bengal and covers an area of about 7680
sq.km.
 The area comprises about six north-south elongated isolated exposures of reddish brown
deposits.
 Previously, the reddish-brown deposits exposed in the Barindarea were also called
Madhupur Clay (Morgan and Mclntire, 1959), Alamand Khan (1980), Islam (1974).
 The Barind and Madhupur area are quite apart from each other and there is no lithologic
continuity.
 Hence, the Quaternary deposits exposed in the Barind area are considered separately
since Barind tract is a different geomorphic unit.
 However, the Quaternary deposits exposed in the Barind area are subdivided into two
broad units:
 i) Barind Clay and Sand Formation (Monsurand Paepe,1992), represented by deep
reddish-brown, highly oxidized and weathered clay silty-clay and sand with ferruginous
concretions, calcareous nodules, plant roots, pipe stems and manganese spots; and
 ii) RohonpurSilty-clay Formation, represented by yellowish grey, silty-clay to clay
with organic matter and plant roots.

 The Barind Formation has further been subdivided into three Members (lowersubunits) and
one Bed (uppersubunit) based on the presence of two palaeosol horizons.
  The Members are called Gujorghat Sand Member (LowerMember, R2-3), NacholeSilty-
clay Member (middleMember, R2-2) and Sherpur Clay Member (upper Member, M2-1
).
 The upper Bed of this Formation is called GouripurSand-silt-clay Bed.
 Similarly, the Rohonpur Formation has also been subdivided into five subunits based on
the presence of four palaeosol horizons (H).
 The presence of buried soil horizons represent the Boundary Strato type.

Quaternary Stratigraphy: Chalanbil Area

 The famous Chalanbilmeans a lake or marshy land in which water flows during the flood
season.
 In fact during the rainy season (monsoon time) rivers are over loaded and the surplus water
flows over the flood plain of the Chalanbil towards the mighty river Jamuna
(Brahmaputra).
 The Chalanbil covers an area of about 500 sq.km. Roughly, the Chalanbil is extended from
the village town Singra up to the village Naogaonand Chatmahorto Bastul.
 The environmental of change in Chalanbil area is quite prominent. Only about 200 years
BP, the heart of the Chalanbil had never been dried up even during the peak of the dry
season.
 As a result, it was a good site for gathering wild buffaloes during the dry (hot) season which
created several pools and depressions.
 The wide area of Chalanbilis covered by Holocene fluvial deposits. The observation of
different boreholes, pond and canal digging led to subdivide the deposits into the following
units
I) the upper sticky silty-clay unit (Cl ) which is called Chalanbil Silty-clay Formation (Monsur,
1993).
II) The Chalanbil Formation is underlain by the micaceous sand unit (C2) which is called Barind
Formation.

 The Barind Formation is underlain by the Quartz-chalcedony Gravel layer (Comilla Gravel
Bed ) of DupiTila Formation of Pliocene age.
Quaternary Stratigraphy: Dahagram-PanchagarhArea

 Dahagram-Panchagarh area is situated at the northern extremity of Bangladesh and

represents an alluvial fan since many rivers is suing from the Terai regions at the foot of
Himalayan ranges.
 These rivers very often change their courses.
 The entire region has a very gently undulating topography lying above the present day
flood level.
 The palaeo river system left a number of terraces at northern margin of Tetulia.
 The whole area (Tetulia, Panchagarh, Dalia, Patgram, Dahagramand Angarpota) is
covered with a series of gravel beds alternated with coarse to medium sand layers.
 These gravel beds were considered as piedmont deposits (Khan, 1991). These gravels are
quite fresh with high sphericity and roundness values.
 These gravels are composed of granite, quartz and quartzite, gneiss and schistose.
 The thickness of these gravel beds sometimes exceeds 20 meters. These gravels beds are
called Panchagarh Gravel Beds (Morshed, 1994).
 The Panchagarh Gravels are overlain by a series of sand or silty-sand are called
BoalmariSand Formation.
 Panchagarh Gravel Beds belong to the upper Pleistocene Series whereas the Boalmari
Sand Formation belongs to the Holocene Series.
Quaternary Stratigraphy: Jaintiapur-Bholagonj Area
 The area lie in the north eastern part of Sylhet district.
 The Jaintiapur and it sad joining areas are hilly region which are the extension of the
Assam-Meghalaya Hill Range.
 North of the area lie the great Jaintia and Khasi Hills of India.
 The hills are gently undulated. The regional topography of the area is characterized by low
rounded hillocks with numerous gullies, spurs, cliffs and scarps.
  The Bholagonjand its adjoining areas are a piedmont alluvial plain of the Khasi-
JaintiaHills.
 In the hilly region of the Bengal basin Quaternary deposits are exposed in the valley areas.
It is quite interesting to note that thick gravel deposits cap the hill tops of the Jaintiapur and
Bholagonj areas.
 Gravel deposits are highly weathered and thought to be Pleistocene age (Evans, 1932).
 The gravel deposits unconformably overlie the DupiTila Formation are called Dihing
Formation.
 It is more likely that the gravel deposits which cap the Jaintiapur hill tops belong to the
Dihing Formation.
 These gravels are composed of granite, quartz and quartzite, sandstone and shally
materials. The gravels of the high terraces unconformably overlie the Surma Group of
sediment (erosional unconformity). They are highly weathered with high roundness and
sphericity.
 The gravel beds exposed at Jaintiapur, Mukambari, SonaTila, PatherTilaand
Muslimnagar hill tops represent the older terraces or high terraces.
 On the other hand, the gravel beds of the present river system at Daukiand Sripurmake
some terraces of Holocene epoch. These may be called as younger terraces or low terrace.
 Simultaneously, the gravel beds at Binda Tilahill tops represent the older terrace or high
terrace and the gravels of the present river system of Bholagonjarea represent low terrace
or younger terrace of Holocene epoch.
 The gravels of high and low terraces have been considered as a single lithostratigruphic
unit and are called Sona TilaGravel Beds and BholagonjGravel Beds (Saha, 1994 ).
Quaternary: Economics Importance

 Bholagonj-Jaintiapur gravels are being used for roads and building constructions.
Similarly, Gravels of Dahagram-Angarpota, Patgram, Dalia, Chapani, Kaligonj, north and
south Kharibari, Boalmari, Vojonpur, Tetuliaof greater Rangpur and Dinajpur districts, are
also used as constructional materials.
 The Tista barriage is built up with our own local gravels. These gravels are exploited in a
private level with local contractors.
 They are ruining the crop lands. It is suggested that the Government should take care of
these gravels and take initiative for exploitation in a scientific way to minimize the
exploitation costs and to save the crop lands for future generation.

Depositional History: Sona Tila and Bholagonj Gravel Beds

 Sona Tilaand Bholagonj Gravel Beds belong to the Dihing Formation.

 In the early literature, it was mentioned that the Dihing Formation belongs to the Plio-
Pleistocene age as they were affected folding and thrusting which had affected the Assam
Teritories.
 Considering the weathering level, the gravels of the hill tops of Jaintiapur area (high
terrace) seem to be lower Pleistocene age and are synchronous with the Madhupur
Formation.
  It is quite likely that Sona Tila Gravels represent the upstream coarsest deposits of some
palaeoriver system and the Madhupur Clay Formation represents downstream finer
sediments.
 It is to be mentioned that at present day, the Sona Tila Gravels and the Madhupur
Formation in Lalmaihills are found at high elevation as capping rocks of Lalmaiand
Jaintiapur hills.
 It means that the two areas were tectonically shocked and were elevated as block
upliftment.
 MadhuprClay belongs to the lower Pleistocene. Hence, the Lalmaihills were uplifted after
the Lower Pleistocene Epoch.
 Similarly, the hillocks of the Jaintiapur area were also uplifted after lower Pleistocene
time.
 It is quite well known that the final orogenic movement of the Himalayas was in the
Middle Pleistocene.
 This movement, probably, changed the original morphology of the Jaintiapur and Lalmai
hills.
 The new courses of the present river system left some Upper Pleistocene and Holocene
terraces along their banks (low terrace).

Lecture-3
Pedological Studies: Micromorphological studies

⮚Palaeosols or Geosols are becoming widely recognized in ancient siliciclastic alluvial and
deltaic sequences.

⮚The average sedimentation rates in terrestrial setting are low. As a consequence, sediments will
have a residence time of tens of years to thousands of years within the upper part of the weathering
profile.

⮚Within this zone, effectively the zone of soil formation. These sediments can be radically
modified by a variety of biological, chemical and physical processes associated with pedogensis
(AllenandWright,1989).

⮚Soil is a natural body formed in the surface of the earth under the influence of climate, biota,
topography and time.

⮚It will have vertically differentiated layers due to the relative intensities of biological, chemical
and physical weathering and translocation of the products.

⮚A vertical section through these layers exhibits a soil profile (Valentine and Dalrymple, 1976).

⮚Palaeosol are the soil horizons of the past.

⮚Palaeosol represents stable stratigraphic key horizons and may reflect environmental climatic
condition of the past which no longer exist today.

⮚A palaeosol in stratigraphic horizon represents a depositional break (unconformity) in normal

lithologic sequence.

⮚Soil is a climatic indicator and it develops in an area of wide lateral extension.

⮚Therefore, the presence of palaeosol in stratigraphic horizon represents in one hand, a marker
horizon which can be used as asynchronous level and on the other hand, itcan be used as a
geochronological tool for stratigraphic correlation of lithosequences of hundreds or thousands of
kilometers apart.

⮚Hence, the recognition of palaeosol horizons in stratigraphic section is quite important.

⮚In the Quaternary sequence of Bangladesh, palaeosol were used for the bases for stratigraphic
subdivision.

⮚Recognition and identification of palaeosols in the Madhupur and Barind Formations in the
Madhupur and Barind areas and also in the Lalmai hills areas, were carried out by micro
morphological studies (Monsur,1992).

⮚Micro morphological descriptions of undisturbed soil samples has been given in the literature,
illustrates the pedofeatures and micro structures of thin section of strongly impregnated palaeosols
of the Madhupur Formation

⮚One of the most distinctive aspects of some palaeosol is colour mottling reflecting localized
changes in oxidation and reduction(Monsur,1990).

⮚There is a distinct Boundary between the iron-depleted reduction zone (white spaces) and iron-
rich oxidation zone (blackspaces).

⮚This kind of colour mottling is a common feature of the Madhupur and Barind Formations.

⮚The mechanism of their formation can be explained in the following way: In sediments, where
ground water table is close to the surface, the subsoil layers below the surface horizons are
permanently saturated and topsoil can be periodically submerged, depending on the extent of the
seasonal fluctuation.
⮚Soil that develop in this way is called GleySoil (Allen and Wright, 1989). The lower Members
of the Madhupur and Barind Formations, sometimes, have this characteristic.

⮚However, the appearance of reddish brown colour, oxidation-reduction characteristics, types of

colour mottling and the formation of Pseudogley indicate that the soil forming processes were
quite active in the case of the Madhupur and Barind Formations of the basin.

⮚Micro morphological studies of the Madhupur and Barind Formations indicated that the upper
part of the Formations represent a strongly impregnated soil with vughs, vesicles, chamber and
channel microstructures having amorphous and cryptocrystalline pedofeature.

⮚On the other hand, the lower Members represent weakly impregnated soil with bridge grain
microstructure.

⮚It is quite clear that the deposits had undergone pedogenic processes. All the pedofeatures
indicated that these are in situ developed soil and do not represent a transported or re-deposited
soil materials.

⮚In the case of the Madhupur Formation, only two buried soil horizons were recognizable during
the field observation.

⮚The samples below and above these soil horizons have exactly the similar pedo features.

⮚It means that the deposits include not only two soil layers, but several.

⮚Buried soil can be differentiated and recognized easily by horizon after horizon.

⮚Buried palaeosol were developed by catastrophic floods. But there were also numerous minor
floods in the floodplains which only a few centimeter of sediments might have deposited.

⮚Many ecosystems can cope with this degree of disturbance and continue to grow and incorporate
this materials into the pre-existing soil, to form a cumulative one (Retallack,1983).

⮚Hence, the Barind and Madhupur Formations represent such a cumulative palaeosols, formed
progressively with the alternate increment of a few milli meters or centimeters of sediments by
numerous minor floods in the depositional basin.
⮚After the deposition of the lower part of these Formations cumulative palaeosols were formed.

⮚At the top of these Formations modern soil developed which is, infact, a relict soil of the pre-
existing palaeosol materials.

⮚The pedofeatures indicated a wet-humid palaeo climate.

⮚Absence of large trees and the presence of grass type vegetation, and also the formation of these
cumulative palaeosol indicates that the depositional basin was a floodplain

Reason of Reddish Brown: Madhupur and Barind

⮚The reddish brown colour of the Madhupur and Barind Formations is clearly related to the iron
compounds.

⮚The present author has tried to explain how these iron compounds were formed which ultimately
caused the deep reddish brown to light yellowish brown colour of these deposits.

⮚In this context, only the the petrographical observations with the aid of a polarizing microscope
and the literature reviews are discussed (Monsur,1992;Hassan,1986). Iron in sediments can
bedivided into:

a) the iron present in primary minerals, the nature of which will depend on the type of parent
materials undergoing weathering;
b) the iron present in secondary minerals and
c) free iron.

⮚The primary iron-containing minerals are usually associated with igneous rocks, such as,
ferromagnesian silicates (pyroxene, olivine and amphibole) biotite micas and the iron ores,
comprising hematite, ilmenite and magnetite.

⮚The iron containing secondary minerals can not be defined as clearly owing to their
heterogeneity (Oades,1963).

⮚Biogenic products and chemical constituents, such as, calcite and dolomite, formed at the place
of deposition usually contains less than 1% iron, except where the deposition has occurred in
shallow seas, when oolite and perhaps iron minerals, as for example chamosite and/or siderite may
be found.
⮚Iron present in many minerals occurring in the weathering sequence from the ferromagnesian
silicates through the biotite micas and illite clay minerals to hematite and/or goethite and many
other iron containing minerals.

⮚Clay minerals containing iron as an essential element are the "hydromicas", illites. chlorites,
vermiculite, chamosite, glauconite, griffithite and granulite

⮚A detailed study of clay minerals of the Madhupur Formation has been perfomed by Hassan
(1986).

⮚He found the above mentioned iron rich clay minerals, such as, illite, chlorite and vermiculite.

⮚The sediments of the Madhupur and Barind Formations contain a lot of ferromagnesian minerals
(quite fresh in the lower part of these Formations) derived from the Himalayan mountain ranges.

⮚These sediments under gone intensive weathering processes and released Fe ions in a free state.

⮚In the Madhupur and Barind areas these iron compounds are distributed throughout the sections
in the form of nodules or in association with clays.

⮚Pipestems are associated with roots channels.

⮚The plant roots are capable of oxidizing iron and it was observed that the rhizosphere system of
hydrophyte plants tend to be more efficient in producing oxidative condition in the soil than
mesophytic type.

⮚Pipestem are characteristic of poorly drained soils. The orange brown colour is, however,
associated with dead roots, while roots are still living a pale blue or grey colour.

⮚The abundance of pipestems in the Madhupur and Barind tracts is in accordance with this
statement.

⮚A lot of papers explains the formation of iron compounds in red beds. Among the iron oxides
the authigenic hematite(aFe203), goethite (aFeOOH), Lepidochrocite (gFeOOH) andhydrated-
ferric-oxidesgel (Fe(OH)3.H20) areimportant.
⮚The colours of the upper, middle and lower Members of theMadhupur Formation are,
respectively, moderate reddish brown(10R 4/6), light brown (5YR 5/6) and pale yellowish
brown(10YR 6/2).

⮚Similarly,the colours of the three Member of the Barind Froamtion from top to bottom are
respectively, strong brown(7.5YR4/6), brownish yellow(10YR6/8) and yellowish
brown(10YR5/8).

⮚The colour of authigenic hematite and goethite are respectively 2.5 YR and/or redder, and 1O
YR. The abundance of these two minerals is probably responsible for the colour variation of these
Formations.

⮚Well oxygenated upper Members of these Formations favoured the formation of hematite.

⮚Moreover, there is a possibility of formation of hematite from the aging ferrihydrite.

⮚According to Oades1963), hematite occurs in drier and more highly oxidized zones, usually
nearer the surface, whereas goethite occurs more typically in wetter though well oxidized zones,
often in subsurface horizons.

⮚The stratigraphic position of Madhupur Formation in the Lalmai hills is quite high in comparison
to the Madhupur and Barind tracts.

⮚The ground mass of thin sections of the soils from the Lalmai hills showed redder than any other
sections (Monsur,1992).

⮚This is because of higher concentration of hematite in Lalmai hills which is in accordance with
the statement of Oades(1963).

⮚The higher concentration of goethite or limonite in the lower Members of both these Formations,
probably, resulted in the yellowish brown or pale yellowish brown colour.