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Mukut Formation
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Mukut Fm base reconstruction

Mukut Fm

Period: 
Triassic

Age Interval: 
Middle Triassic to earliest Norian


Province: 
Nepal Tethyan Himalaya

Type Locality and Naming

Lower-middle formation in Thinigaon Gr. Mukut Limestone of Fuchs, 1977.


Lithology and Thickness

Marl and marly limestone. " may be subdivided into four intervals (lower part of Middle Triassic age, "Mukutkalk'' s.str., "untere Thinigaon Fm.'' and "obere Thinigaon Fm.'' of Krystyn, 1982). These stratigraphic intervals still need better definition before they could be defined as formal members. … Thickness is 200 to 250 m in Dolpo and 200 m at least in Manang. A similar thickness is reported for the Burhi Gandaki/Shiar area (Fuchs and Paudel, 1998)."


Lithology Pattern: 
Pelagic marl


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Overlies the Tamba Kurkur Fm pelagic limestone/shale

Upper contact

Overlain by the Tarap Fm siltstone

Regional extent

"The Mukut Fm. corresponds closely to the Qudenggongba Fm. of S. Tibet (Liu and Einsele, 1994; Jadoul et al., 1998) and broadly with the Hanse Gr of the Spiti±Zanskar Synclinorium (Garzanti et al., 1995)." "Mid-Triassic marly facies are widely represented in the Tethys Himalaya, from S Tibet to the Hanse Gr of the Spiti-Zanskar Synclinorium, where the Tamba Kurkur Fm. reaches into the Ladinian (Garzanti et al., 1995; Balini and Krystyn, 1997). Only in Kumaon are pelagic carbonates reported to represent the early Carnian as well (Kalapani Limestone Fm; Chhabra and Kumar, 1992)."


GeoJSON

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Fossils

Sporadically containing ammonoids, conodonts, brachiopods, foraminifera or bivalves.


Age 

Aegean (earliest Anisian)-early Lacian (earliest Norian). "but at least locally from the Spathian (upper substage of Olenekian Stage) in central Dolpo.

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Anisian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.1

    Beginning date (Ma): 
246.18

    Ending stage: 
Norian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.2

    Ending date (Ma):  
222.99

Depositional setting

Shelf marls and marly limestones. " Accumulation rates remained very low in the Middle Triassic, when about 60 to 70 m of sediment were deposited at rates of 4 to 5 m/Myr, and began to increase rapidly in the mid-Carnian, to reach values as high as 100 m/Myr for the uppermost Carnian. This drastic increase in sediment supply is recorded all along the Tethys Himalaya, from the Spiti-Zanskar Synclinorium (Garzanti et al., 1995, Fig. 20) to S. Tibet (Jadoul et al., 1998), and points to a late Carnian extensional tectonic event, documented from western India (Biswas, 1987) to as far as western Australia (von Rad et al., 1992). Total subsidence was greatly enhanced by sediment loading during rapid up- and out-building of the continental terrace."


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

Extracted from Garzanti (1999, "Stratigraphy and sedimentary history of the Nepal Tethys Himalaya passive margin", Jour. Asian Earth Sci., 17: 805-827]