Interaction of microbial communities with clastic sedimentation during Palaeoproterozoic time — An example from basal Gulcheru Formation, Cuddapah basin, India

The siliciclastic basal Gulcheru Formation (∼ 1.8 Ga) of the Proterozoic Cuddapah basin preserves abundance of mat-induced sedimentary structures like old elephant skin, wrinkle structure, kinneyia ripples, palimpsest ripples etc. in the vicinity of Pullivendla town (Kottalu village), Andhra Pradesh, India in a low gradient tidal-flat deposional setting. This is the first report of interaction of microbial communities with clastic sedimentation during Palaeoproterozoic time in Indian Purana stratigraphy and probably from the viewpoint of Global Proterozoic biosedimentation. Various types of cracks on bed-top, hitherto considered as of trace-fossil in origin, may be considered to be formed on exposed surface due to dessication or under water due to synaeresis in presence of microbial communities.