Depositional setting of the Kolhan Group: its implications for the development of a Meso to Neoproterozoic deep-water basin on the South Indian craton

The late Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic sedimentary successions on the southern Indian craton are described from the Dharwar and Bastar cratonic blocks and the intervening Pranhita-Godavari rift valley. These Successions include a characteristic lime-mudstone-shale assemblage that has been deposited in a deep-water cratonic depositional setting beyond the reach of coarser detritus. The Kolhan Group occurring on the Singhbhum craton at the northeastern corner of the southern Indian craton also includes similar lime-mudstone and shale deposits that can be lithologically correlated with the late Meso-Neoproterozoic successions from other cratonic blocks of the peninsula. The correlation attempted here, based on the lithology and depositional setting, leads to the reconstruction of a major deep-water basin on the southern Indian craton during the late Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic transition. The large-scale subsidence of the Indian craton leading to the development of a vast deep-water cratonic basin is likely to be related to terminal Mesoproterozoic fragmentation of parts of the supercontinent Rodinia.