Similarity of palaeocurrent pattern of Lower Gondwana formations of the Talchir and the Ong-river basins of Orissa, India - An indication of dismemberment of a major Gondwana basin

In peninsular India, Gondwana strata are disposed linearly as strings of isolated basins conforming to the trend of the present day Koel-Damodar, Son-Mahanadi and Prahnita-Godavari river valleys. There are seven exposed and one concealed Gondwana basins/outliers in Orissa belonging to the Son-Mahanadi valley system. The present study is concerned with the consanguinity of the Talchir and Ong-river basins of Orissa. Similarity and dissimilarity of palaeocurrent population in these two basins were taken into consideration to test the consanguinity of the basins under consideration. Statistical analysis suggests that the sampled palaeocurrent data of the same formation belong to the same population when considered for both basins. In geologic terms, the basin parameters were identical when considered for either the Talchir or the Karharbari Formation that proves the consanguinity of both the basins and the possible existence of a master basin that encompassed other sister Gondwana basins in Orissa.