Gangapur Formation
Geological formation in India
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The Gangapur Formation is a geological formation in Telangana, India. The Gangapur formation is Early Cretaceous in age. It forms a part of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin and overlies the Jurassic Kota Formation. The outcrops near the Gangapur village was first described in 1881 as the Gangapur beds.[1] In 1969, the area was instituted as the Gangapur Formation. It was also determined that the Gangapur Formation extends from north of Nowgaon (Lat. 19°20’N; Long. 79°24’E) to the west of Gangapur (Lat. 19°16’N; Long. 79°26’E) and in the east up to Dharmaram and Paikasigudem.[2] Fossils of plants have been found in large quantities in the formation.
| Gangapur Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Early Cretaceous | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Overlies | Unconformity with the Kota Formation |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 19.16°N 79.26°E |
| Region | Telangana |
| Country | India |
| Extent | Pranhita-Godavari Basin |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Gangapur Village |
  Gangapur Formation (India) | |
Stratigraphy
The Gangapur Formation was laid down sometime in the Early Cretaceous due to renewed rift activity.[3] The rocks of the formation are composed of coarse ferruginous sandstone interrupted with pebble bands succeeded by an alternating sequence of sandstones and mudstones or silty mudstone. Both the Gangapur Formation and the Chikiala Formation overlie the Kota formation however their exact relationships are uncertain. This uncertainty is partly due to the lack of fossils from the Chikiala Formation. It is possible that the Gangapur Formation is older than the Chikiala Formation[4][5] or that they are both of the same age.[6][7][8]
Fossil content
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Osteichthyes
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actinopterygia | indet | several teeths and ganoid scales. | The teeths are said to be similar to Caturus and Gyrolepis.[9] |
Megaflora
Plant megafossils are common in the Gangapur Formation, dominated by the Coniferales.[8][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taeniopteris | T. kutchensis[8] | Ralpet, Rampur and Peddavagu. | Leaves. | Cycad also known from the Bhuj Formation. | ||
| T. spatulata[8] | Rampur, Butarmal Nala and
Peddavagu. |
Leaves | Cycad also known from the Rajmahal Traps.[17] | |||
| T. sp.[8] | Rampur, Nowgaon and Peddavagu. | Leaves | Cycad similar to T.sp from Antarctica. | |||
| Cycadites[10] | C.sp. | Cycad. | ||||
| Ptilophyllum | P. cutchense[8][15][10] | Rampur and Nowgaon. | Leaves. | Bennettitales. | ||
| P. acutifolium[8][15][10] | Rampur and Peddavagu. | Leaves. | Bennettitales. Resembles P. acutifolium from the Raghavapuram Formation. | |||
| P. rarinervis[8][18][19] | Butarmal Nala. | Leaves. | Bennettitales. Originally referred to as Otozamites rarinervis.[20] | |||
| cf. P. distans[8] | Butarmal Nala. | Leaves. | Bennettitales. Resembles P. distans. | |||
| P. distans[15] | Butarmal Nala. | Leaves. | Bennettitales. | |||
| ?Anomozamites[10] | ?A. sp | Nowgaon. | Leaves. | Bennettitales. | ||
| Elatocladus | E. confertus[8][10] | Ralpet, Rampur, Nowgaon,
Butarmal Nala and Peddavagu. |
Leaves. | Coniferales. Very common in the Gangapur Formation. | ||
| E. sehoraensis[8] | Ralpet and Butarmal Nala. | Leaves. | Coniferales. Also known from the Jabalpur Formation. | |||
| cf. E. bosei[8] | Ralpet and Butarmal Nala. | Leaves. | Coniferales. Comparable to E. bosei of the Jabalpur Formation. | |||
| E. andhrensis[8] | Ralpet, Nowgaon and Peddavagu. | Leaves. | Coniferales. Specimens belonging to this species were also registered as E. confertus[10] and E. heterophylla.[21] | |||
| E. sp[10] | Nowgaon and Peddavagu. | Leaves. | Coniferales. | |||
| E. kingianus[10] | Cave Temple. | Leaves. | Coniferales. | |||
| Pagiophyllum[8] | P. marwarensis | Rampur. | Leaves. | Coniferales. Also known from the Jabalpur Formation. | ||
| P. rewaensis | Peddavagu. | Leaves. | Coniferales. Also known from the Jabalpur Formation. | |||
| ?Cladophlebis[10] | ?C. sp | Peddavagu. | Leaves. | Fern. | ||
| Gleichenia[10] | G. nordenskioildii | Nowgaon. | Leaves. | Fern. | ||
| ?Gleichenia[10] | G. sp | Nowgaon. | Leaves. | Fern. | ||
| Coniferocaulon[10] | C. sp. | Peddavagu and quarry north of the Cave Temple. | Leaves. | Coniferales. Also known from the Jabalpur Formation. | ||
| cf. C. rajmahalense |