Ostracode fauna from the Patti Formation (Late Cretaceous) of Vridhachalam area, Tamil Nadu, India

S. Sugumaran; H.M. Nagaraj; U.B. Mallikarjuna

doi:10.54991/jop.1997.1327

Authors

S. Sugumaran Department of Geology, Bangalore University, Bangalore 560056, India
H.M. Nagaraj Department of Geology, Bangalore University, Bangalore 560056, India
U.B. Mallikarjuna Department of Geology, Bangalore University, Bangalore 560056, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.1997.1327

Keywords:

Ostracodes, Vridhachalam area, Patti Formation, Cretaceous-Tertiary transition, Maestrichtian, India

Abstract

An ostracode fauna is recorded from the Patti Formation (Late Cretaceous) of Vridhachalam area, Tamil Nadu. The assemblage includes Bairdia pentagonalis, B. cretacea, B. supplanata, Macrocypris limburgensis and Paracypris limburgensis, which are typical of Maestrichtian age. The ostracodes show strong affinities with those recorded from the Ariyalur and Pondicherry areas, and those described from the type-Maestrichtian of Holland. The above assemblage and the presence of distinct Paleocene ostracodes in the overlying Pondicherry Formation throw light on K/T transition in the Vridhachalam area. The paper also discusses the stratigraphic distribution and zoogeographic affinities of the ostracode fauna with equivalent formations in India and the type areas elsewhere.