Abstract:
The Raniganj basin in the Damodar valley of eastern India is located within the riftogenic Gondwana
Master-Basin. The fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Lower Triassic Panchet formation of
the Damodar valley in the study area preserve various soft-sediment deformation structures such
as slump folds, convolute laminae, flame structures, dish-and-pillar structures, sandstone dykes,
pseudonodules and syn-sedimentary faults. Although such soft-sediment deformation structures
maybe formed by various processes, in the present area the association of these structures, their
relation to the adjacent sedimentary rocks and the tectonic and depositional setting of the formation
suggest that these structures are seismogenic. Movements along the basin margin and the
intra-basinal faults and resultant seismicity with moderate magnitude (2–5 on Richter scale) are
thought to have been responsible for the soft-sediment deformations.
