Petrographic characteristics and paleoenvironmental history of Eocene lignites of Cambay basin, Western India

Abstract Lignite samples collected from Vastan, Rajpardi and Tadkeshwar lignite mines of Cambay basin (Gujarat) were subjected to organic petrographic investigations and geochemical analyses and the data, thus generated, is used to reconstruct the paleodepositional history of these lignite sequences. The lignites of Cambay basin dominantly comprise huminite maceral group (71.6%–86.3%) followed by liptinite (10.1%–19.3%) and inertinite (3.6%–11.0%) maceral groups. The mineral matter varies from 9.0% to 20.0%. The petrography based facies model indicates that these lignites have high values of gelification index (GI) and low tissue preservation index revealing a continuous wet condition in the basin and a relatively slower rate of subsidence during the decay of organic matter. On several occasions, during the formation of seams in Tadkeshwar, Rajpardi and Vastan mines, the value of GI exceeded 10 which indicates a forest permanently flooded and the cause of pronounced degree of degradation. However, few sections in Tadkeshwar seam had relatively drier spells of environmental conditions due to fluctuation in the water table as revealed by moderately high content of inertinite macerals. This is specially indicated by the occurrence of funginite which normally thrives in the upper oxygenated peatigenic layer and indicates prevalence of oxic conditions during plant deposition. Such conditions prevailed during a transgressive phase but there were intermittent fluvial activities also giving rise to supratidal flood plain as reflected in the form of associated carbonaceous shales in the basin