UNVEILING HYDROVOLCANISM AND DEPOSITIONAL HISTORY IN THE INTERTRAPPEAN SEQUENCES OF GANDHWANI, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

Intertrappean beds, thin sedimentary layers intercalated between the lava flows of Deccan Trap of India, offer a unique record of the environmental and geological conditions between volcanic eruptions. Traditionally studied for their fossil content, these beds suggest transitional marine to terrestrial environments.

However, recent findings from the newly uncovered Intertrappean beds in Gandhwani, Madhya Pradesh, reveal a more complex depositional history. Evidence of explosive hydrovolcanism, including geochemical indicators of dysoxic to anoxic conditions and mineralogical shifts from celadonite to nontronite, challenges the perception of these intervals as quiescent. The discovery of rhyolitic volcanic ash and rhodonitic micro-lapilli within the sedimentary layers indicates significant volcanic activity. These findings underscore the dynamic and episodic nature of the volcanic processes influencing the Intertrappean beds, offering new insights into the broader impacts of Deccan volcanism and its role in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and environmental changes.