PALYNOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGES AND ABSOLUTE AGE RELATIONSHIP OF INTERTRAPPEAN BEDS IN THE RAJMAHAL BASIN, INDIA

Palynological analysis of the Gondwana Sequence including five Intertr appean beds in a core from the Borehole RJNE-32, Rajmahal Basin, India has revealed the presence of rich and distinctive assemblages of Late Permian, Triassic, and Early Cretaceous ages. This paper is concerned with a detailed palynological analysis of Infratrappean and Intertrap pean beds only. The appearance of early angiospermous pollen is record ed from the upper levels of the Lowermost (First) Intertrappean deposi t. 40Ar/39Ar analysis of the lowermost (1) and uppermost (6) traps cor ed indicates that the volcanism began at c. 118 Ma and was over by c. 116 Ma in this region. Thus, the tagging of radiometric dates with pre cisely located palynoassemblages provides important tie-points in Cret aceous stratigraphy.