Primordial Storms: An Overview of Depositional Environments in Mid-Late Proterozoic Platforms of India

A large part of the central and southern Indian shield is covered by Mid-Late Proterozoic platformal sediments. These widely separated platformal covers display a kinship in respect of lithology and sedimentary structures. Another possible feature of commonality may emerge from recognition of storm sequence (along with hummocky cross-stratification), because of the following attributes that characterise the platformal covers: w sedimentation rate (spanning from Mid Proterozoic to end of Proterozoic) along with facies persistence over a large distance imply deposition on a level basement which would have allowed unimpeded passage to storms. s slow sedimentation was affected frequently by intense Mid-latitude winter storm (?) activity. ence of vegetal cover during Proterozoic further reinforces the notion of unimpeded passage of winds/storms. ssibility of a single vast master basin, subsequently separated during the Phanerozoic unroofing cannot be ruled out. parison with the vastness of Mid-Late Proterozoic platformal provinces, hummocky cross-stratification and storm sequences reported so far, seem paltry, possibly due to poor preservation and the consequent difficulty in recognising such forms, rather than due to their actual rarity.