Palaeobotanical evidence of wildfire in the Upper Permian of India: Macroscopic charcoal remains from the Raniganj Formation, Damodar Basin

Authors

  • Andre Jasper Centro Universitário UNIVATES, Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • Margot Guerra-Sommer Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • Dieter Uhl Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Tübingen University, Tübingen, Germany
  • Mary E.C. Bernardes-de-Oliveira Universidade Guarulhos, Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil and Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Capital, Brazil
  • Amit K. Ghosh Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
  • Rajni Tewari Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53 University Road, Lucknow 226007, India
  • Mariela Inês Secchi Centro Universitário UNIVATES, Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2012.351

Keywords:

Charcoal, Gymnosperm woods, Palaeo-wildfires, Upper Permian, Raniganj Formation, Raniganj Coalfield, Damodar Basin

Abstract

Macroscopic fossil charcoal has been discovered in the carbonaceous shales associated with Seam-VI of Raniganj Formation, Upper Permian, Damodar Basin, India. A pycnoxylic gymnosperm wood is described and confirms the occurrence of palaeo-wildfire in this area during the Late Permian. The integration of the data presented in the current study with previously published data for the Raniganj Formation, principally related to the occurrence of (pyrogenic) inertinites within coal layers, demonstrates that palaeo-wildfires were common events during the deposition of the preserved material. In addition, the presence of charcoal in Permian sediments associated with coal levels at different Gondwana localities demonstrates that wildfires have been relatively common events across the continent during this period.

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References

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Published

2012-12-31

How to Cite

Jasper, A., Guerra-Sommer, M., Uhl, D., Bernardes-de-Oliveira, M. E., Ghosh, A. K., Tewari, R., & Secchi, M. I. (2012). Palaeobotanical evidence of wildfire in the Upper Permian of India: Macroscopic charcoal remains from the Raniganj Formation, Damodar Basin. Journal of Palaeosciences, 61((1-2), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2012.351

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