Palaeoseismicity in relation to basin tectonics as revealed from soft-sediment deformation structures of the Lower Triassic Panchet formation, Raniganj basin (Damodar valley), eastern India

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.