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Bhainskati Formation
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Bhainskati Fm base reconstruction

Bhainskati Fm

Period: 
Paleogene

Age Interval: 
Middle and Late Eocene


Province: 
Nepal Lesser Himalaya

Type Locality and Naming

Tansen and lower Kali Gandaki region


Lithology and Thickness

"The Bhainskati Formation is the most conspicuous stratigraphic unit in the Tansen area, characterized by the prolific occurrence of marine fossils in a black shale succession. The black shales are frequently bioturbated, and contain coalified wood fragments and carbonaceous flakes. Many fossil-bearing horizons are present between 40 and 90 m above the base. … About 160 m thick at the type locality.


Lithology Pattern: 
Claystone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Overlies the Amile Fm with a sharp contact.

Upper contact

Disconformably contact with the overlying Dumri Fm (Oligocene is absent)

Regional extent


GeoJSON

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Fossils

"Sakai (1983, p. 56) obtained Nummulites beaumonti and Assilina papillata from 30

to 50 m above the base of the Bhainskati Formation. As these fossil finds indicate a Middle Eocene age, this formation may range in age from the Middle to Late Eocene. The occurrence of land mammals together with marine fish is another noteworthy feature of the Bhainskati Formation."


Age 

Middle to Late Eocene age span partly based on correlation to Pakistan units by K.S. Valdiya (2016; The Making of India; Springer Publ.)

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Lutetian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.0

    Beginning date (Ma): 
48.07

    Ending stage: 
Priabonian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
37.71

Depositional setting


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

Descriptions from Megh Raj Dhital (2015, Geology of Nepal: Regional Perspective of the Classic Collided Orogen, Springer Publ., 499 pp.). Age spans estimated from correlation diagrams in Martin, A.J. (2017, "A review of Himalayan stratigraphy, magmatism, and structure", Gondwana Research, 49: 42-80; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2017.04.031), but these are often controversial.