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Naudanda Quartzite Formation
Click to display on map of the Ancient World at:
Naudanda Quartzite Fm base reconstruction

Naudanda Quartzite Fm

Period: 
Statherian

Age Interval: 
early Statherian


Province: 
Nepal Lesser Himalaya

Type Locality and Naming

Tansen and lower Kali Gandaki region


Lithology and Thickness

"It consists of medium- to coarse-grained, medium- to very thick-bedded (50 cm–5 m), massive, pale yellow, light gray, white, and light green quartzites, alternating with thin bands of blue-gray to green-gray phyllite. The quartzite contains excellent wave and current ripples, parallel laminae, and various types of cross-laminae. … The Naudanda Quartzite is about 1,300 m thick at Naudanda, but its thickness varies widely."


Lithology Pattern: 
Sandstone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

"With a rapid transition from phyllites and metasandstones, the underlying Kuncha Fm grades into the overlying Naudanda Quartzite Fm". HOWEVER, Martin (2017) interprets a major discontinuity (ca. 100 Myr) at the top of the Kuncha Fm to the Fagfog Quartzite Fm, which he indicates is coeval with the Naudanda Quartzite Fm.

Upper contact

"With an increase in the proportion of phyllite, the Naudanda Quartzite passes into the overlying Nayagaun Formation." [HOWEVER, Martin (2017) seems to suggest a significant hiatus here.]

Regional extent

The Naudanda Quartzite forms steep, bare, and rugged cliffs and ridges, constituting the north portion of the region.


GeoJSON

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Fossils


Age 

Martin (2017) schematically suggests early Statherian (ca. 1750 Ma)

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Statherian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.25

    Beginning date (Ma): 
1,750.00

    Ending stage: 
Statherian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.4

    Ending date (Ma):  
1,720.00

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.