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Siwalik
Siwalik
SIWALIK GROUP
Its extent in Pakistan, Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttaranchal.
The name Siwalik was originally given by
Captain P.T. Cautley in the early 19th
Century (1832) to the outermost SubHimalayan Ranges.
He discovered the Siwalik fossils in the
course of digging for the Ganga canal near
a Shiva (Siva) at Haridwar (now in
Uttaranchal) in the Ganga Valley.
The Siwalik is separated from the IndoGangetic plain in the south by the
Main boundary Fault (MBF).
The Siwalik outcrops are generally 1012 km wide and present them selves
as a series of parallel ridges with a
steep scarp towards south.
Between the outermost hills in the
south and the one in the interior in the
north are many narrow valleys called
Duns filled up mostly with
Quaternary sediments.
Pleistocene
Pliocene
Miocene
Upper
Siwalik
Middle
Siwalik
Lower
Siwalik
Classification of
the Siwalik
Group
Standard
European
Equivalent
Age calculated
from reversal
stratigraphy
Continental
equivalent
Boulder Cong.
Cromerian
Pinjor
Villafranchian
2.47 m.y.
Tatrot
Astian
5.5 m.y.
?
Mid-Late
Villafranchian
RuscinianEarly
Villafranchian
Dhok Pathan
Pontian
8.5 m.y.
Nagri
Sarmatian
10.8 m.y.
Chinji
Kamlial
Murcee Group
Burdigalian
Turolian
L. Vellesian
E. Turolian
14.3 m.y.
OeningianVellesian
18.3 m.y
Pre-Oeningian
Lithology
B
Upper
Siwalik
A
B
Middle
Siwalik
B
Lower
Siwalik
A
thichness
2300 m
1400 m to
2000 m
1600 m
Lower Siwalik
Lower Siwalik is chiefly a multi-storeyed,
multilateral fluvial complex, primarily of
channel lag and of lateral accretion
deposits.
The mineralogical composition of the
grains reflects denudation for
stratigraphically normal metasedimentary
terrain of the crystalline thrust sheet,
yielding metamorphic detritus.
Though sedimentary detritus is present, it
deceases considerably upwards in the
molasses sequence.
Middle Siwalik
It consists of sandstone bodies with
interceded siltstone and shale, followed by
mudstone, marl and finally pebbly
sandstone and sandy conglomerate.
There are indicative of flood plain
deposits.
The calcareous content in a part of the
sequence has been derived from clast of
the Tertiary limestone's of the Himalayan
source.
Upper Siwalik
The Upper Siwalik sediments were deposited
under two distinct conditions, one as inner Siwalik
valley fillings and the other as regular river channel
and flood plain deposit, to the south of the present
Siwalik Ranges.
This is probably the result of the uplift of the inner
sector of the Neogene basin towards the end of the
Zanclian time (Early Pliocene).
An examination of the sedimentary history along a
section in Kangra sub-basin in Himachal Pradesh,
based on magnetic polarity studies, revealed
episodic increasing and decreasing rate of
sediment accumulation ranging from 19 cm/100
years to 50 cm/1000 years.
Siwalik - Environment
Siwalik sediments have been deposited
broadly in four environments.
Piedmont,
Outwash plains
Channel and flood plains and
Lacustrine
Which shifted in space and time during the
deposition of an enormous thickness of
molassic sediments between 5000 to 6000
m, preserving a unique record of
Himalayan tectonic events.
Proboscidae
: Deinotherium, Gomphotherium.
Equidae
: Stegolophodon
Suidae
: Aceratherium, Chilotherium
Giraffidae
: Propalaeomeryx
Bovidae
: Doradoxa.
Rodentia
: Rhizomys, Copemys
Primates
: Sivapithecus, Sugrivapithecus.
Proboscidae
: Deinotherium.
Equidae
: Hipparion antelopinum
Suidae
Anthracotheriidae
: Anthracodon, Anthracotherium.
Rhinocerotidae
: Brachypotherum,Gaindatherium.
Giraffidae
Bovidae
: Gazella, Protragocerus.
Rodentia
: Rhizomys, Kanisamys
Primates
: Krishnapithecus, Ramapithecus..
Proboscidae
Equidae
Suidae
: Rhinoceras, Coelodonta.
Giraffidae
: Sivatherum, Camelopardalis..
Bovidae
Rodentia
Primates
: Giganthopithecus, Papio.
Sivatherium
(US)
Stegodon
(MUS)
Lower Siwalik
The Lower Siwalik consist of irregularly
laminated beds of fine grained greenish
sandstone and siltstone with mudstone.
The alternating mudstone beds are thickly
bedded and are variegated, red, purple, and
brown coloured.
The best exposures of Lower Siwalik are
found in Surainaka, Amlekhgunj, Arun Khola,
Barahchhetra and Rato Khola area of Nepal.
Middle Siwalik
The Middle Siwalik are comprised of medium to
coarse grained salt-and-pepper (looks like mixture
of salt and black pepper) sandstones interbedded
with mudstone (Fig).
This is differentiated from the Lower Siwalik in
lacking variegated mudstone and sandstone. In
upper part of the Middle Siwalik, pebbly sandstone
beds are also found.
Middle Siwalik
In Middle Siwalik the sandstone beds have
thickness mostly ranges from 1 m to 45 m.
The exposures of Middle Siwalik are found
mainly in Surkhet, Surai Khola, Hetauda, and
Butwal.
Upper Siwalik
Comprised of conglomerate and boulder beds and
subordinately sand and silt beds.
The mudstone beds of the Upper Siwalik are
massive and irregularly bedded and contain many
invertebrate fossils including Brachiopods and
Gastropods.
The upper part of this sequence contains
conglomerate beds, which have mostly boulder and
cobble size rounded to sub-angular fragments of
Lesser Himalayan rocks.
In Bardibas, Hetauda, Bhalubang, and Chitwan the
good exposure of Upper Siwalik can be seen.