earth sciences paper anjum et al., - Earth Science Indiaearthscienceindia.info/pdfupload/download.php?file=tech...land use change”. A Thecamoebian Assemblage from the Manjir Formation:

Open access e-Journal Earth Science India, Vol. 3 (III), July, 2010, pp. 146-153 http://www.earthscienceindia.info/; eISSN: 0974 – 8350

146

A Thecamoebian Assemblage from the Manjir Formation

(Early Permian) of Northwest Himalaya, India

A. Farooqui 1, A. Kumar2*, N. Jha2, A.C. Pande3 and D.D. Bhattacharya3 1Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53, University Road Lucknow, India

2Center for Petroleum and Minerals, Research Institute, King Fahd University of

Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31262, Saudi Arabia 3Geological Survey of India, Lucknow, India

*Email: [email protected]

Abstract

A fairly well preserved and diverse assemblage of thecamoebians is reported

here from the palynological preparations of the Early Permian Manjir Formation. This

Formation is in the Chamba Basin of the northwestern Himalaya in Himanchal Pradesh, India. It has been assigned an Early Permian age on the basis of characteristic

palynomorphs (Pande et al., 2004). This study documents for the first time an Early Permian thecamoebian assemblage from the Himalayan region. Morphologically these

forms are comparable to the extant thecamoebian genera like Centropyxis, Arcella, Difflugia, Cyclopyxis, Cucurbitella, Amphitrema, Lagenodifflugia and Lesquereusia. This find supports the current hypothesis of minimal evolution in thecamoebian lineages through geologic time.

Key Words: Thecamoebians, Early Permian, Manjir Formation, northwestern Himalaya

Introduction

Arcellaceans characterize a special group of testate protists (agglutinated or

autogenous) that belong to the Subphylum Sarcodina (Medioli and Scott, 1988). These

have a sac/cap like test, with a simple aperture known as pseudostome through which

extrudes pseudopods of the amoeba dwelling inside it (Medioli et al., 1999). Most of the

known fossil thecamoebians are agglutinated by calcareous or siliceous grains and/or

diatom frustules (Medioli et al., 1990a). They occur in a variety of freshwater habitats

(Medioli and Scott, 1983, 1988) and also in marginally brackish environments (Charman

et al., 2000; Patterson and Kumar, 2002). They are known from lake sediments from

tropics to the Arctic region (see references in Patterson and Kumar, 2002; Boudreau et al., 2005), peat bogs (Woodland et al., 1998; Charman et al., 2000) and salt marshes

(Charman et al., 2002; Roe et al., 2002).

Published thecamoebian studies are mainly from the lakes and bogs in Europe

and North America. There are relatively fewer thecamoebian studies from the tropical

regions (Hoogenraad and Groot, 1940, 1946; van Oye, 1949; Dalby et al. 2000, and Sudzuki, 1979; Farooqui and Gaur, 2007). Some of the earliest thecamoebian studies from India include brackish water lakes and ponds of nineteenth century Mumbai, India

(Carter, 1856, 1864). Roe and Patterson (2006) studied environmental control on the

distribution of thecamoebians in small ponds and lakes of Barbados. Patterson and

Kumar (2000, 2002) provide comprehensive reviews of environmental and

paleoecological utility of lacustrine thecamoebians in higher latitudes. According to Roe

and Patterson (2006), “thecamoebian species can be correlated to a variety of

environmental and climatic parameters, including metal and organic pollutant

contamination, substrate type, salinity, levels of organics, oxygen concentration, water

temperatures, water table fluctuations, humification, changes in intertidal flooding and

land use change”.

A Thecamoebian Assemblage from the Manjir Formation: Farooqui et al.

Pre-Quaternary Occurrences of Thecamoebians

Distribution of fossil thecamoebian families from Neoproterozoic through Pliocene

is patchy with wide gaps in the fossil record (Medioli et al., 1990a and b, van Hengstum

et al., 2007, Kumar, submitted). The oldest thecamoebians are described as Vase Shape

Microfossils (VSMs) from the Neoproterozoic rocks of Grand Canyon, Arizona by Porter

and Knoll (2000), Porter et al. (2003), and Smith et al. (2008). There are isolated reports of thecamoebians from Carboniferous Period (Vasicek and Ruzica 1957;

Wightman et al., 1994) Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras (Bradley, 1931; Frenquelli, 1933;

Schoborn, 1999; Schmidt et al., 2004; van Hengstum, 2007, Bassi et al. 2008).

Recently, Kumar (submitted) compiled a list of pre-Quaternary thecamoebian

occurrences from all over the world. Despite a long geological history, thecamoebian

lineages have shown minimal evolution through geological time and demonstrate close

resemblance to their Holocene forms (van Hengstum et al., 2007).

Thecamoebians in Palynological Preparations

Since thecamoebian tests could be secreted (autogenous) and are proteinaceous,

they are acid resistant and have been reported in the palynological preparations by

Kumar and Patterson (2002), Farooqui and Gaur (2007). Srivastava and Bhattacharya

(1998) reported an assemblage of Early Permian palynomorphs from faunal coal balls of

Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern Himalaya, India. A specimen referred to as “?Chitinozoa like vesicle” (Plate 1, Fig. 11) is most likely a specimen of Difflugia. Likewise, Pande et al. (2004) published a palynomorph assemblage from Manjir Formation (Early Permian)

from Himachal Pradesh in north India. They too report an “unidentified specimen” (Plate

2, Fig. 6) which is a well preserved specimen of Centropyxis. There are significant opportunities for discovering thecamoebian assemblages from the Phanerozoic sediments

all over the world that may occur in the palynological preparations. The present paper

also deals with Permian thecamoebians observed in the palynological preparations.

Fig. 1: Location map of Khundi-Maral-Raula Section, Chamba District, Himanchal

Pradesh, India.


148

Stratigraphy and Age of the Manjir Formation

The Chamba Basin (Himachal Pradesh) represents the Tethyan realm of

northwest Himalaya and the Manjir Formation is a major stratigraphic unit of this Basin.

Most early work on the geology of this region considered Manjir Formation to be of Upper

Proterozoic age on the basis of lithology (Rattan, 1973). Later, well preserved and

stratigraphically significant palynomorphs comprising chiefly monosaccates (Parasaccites and Plicatipollenites), non-striate disaccates Scheuringipollenites, Platysaccus and striate disaccates (Striatopodocarpites, Faunipollenites and Striatites) were reported in

abundance giving a definite Early Permian age to the Manjir Formation (Pande et al., 2004).

The present study is based on the samples that were collected along the Bhalsu-

Sunu Kothi-Khundi Maral Section along the Siul River (Fig.1). The detailed

lithostratigraphy is given in Table-1. Lithologically the rocks of Manjir Formation are

foliated and moderately metamorphosed and are represented by heterogeneous, poorly

sorted pebbly beds separated by non-pebbly horizons. Samples for the present study

were taken from the dark grey to black shale/slate separating the pebbly horizons.

Table-1- Lithostratigraphy of the Manjir Formation along Khundi Maral- Raula Section

(Siul river), Chamba District, Himanchal Pradesh, India.

SAMPLE

NUMBER

(Fig.1)

FORMATION LITHOLOGY THICKNESS

(m)

CHAMBA Fine grained, greyish green quartzite and phyllite Not measured

Pebbly Unit

P-1

Foliated calcareous, matrix-supported pebbly

slate/phyllite and quartzite with sparsely distributed

granules of transluscent quartz vein in lower part

715

1to 5

M

A

N

J

I

R

F

O

R

M

A

T

I

O

N

Non-pebbly zone

NP-1

Grey, bluish grey, non-calcareous, slate and phyllite

with subordinate siltstone and black shale with

occasional limonisation

417

Pebbly Unit

P-2

Grey, bluish grey, calcareous, matrix-supported

phyllite/slate and greenish quartzite, medium and small

pebble clasts of quartzite, shale and dolomite/dolomitic

limestone, stretched clasts conspicuous

315

6-10

Non-pebbly Unit

NP-2

Black, grayish black,non-calcareous bleached and

limonitised pyritiferous shale/ slate and siltstone with

minor pockets of dolomite/dolomitic limestone

356

Pebbly Unit

P-3

Foliated calcareous, bluish grey matrix- supported

pebbly slate/ phyllite, clasts often have sericitic

envelope ranging in size from granular to medium

pebble, clasts include quartzite, shale and carbonate

157

11-12

Non-Pebbly Unit

NP-3

Non-pebbly, non-calcareous, grayish black slate and

phyllite with occasional siltstone bands

428

Pebbly Unit

P-4

Foliated calcareous, matrix- supported, bluish grey

pebbly horizon, matrix dominantly arenaceous, clasts of

quartzite, shale and carbonate range from granular to

small-pebble size.

341

SALOONI Black pyritised shale, carbonaceous shale, minor

siltstone bands

Not measured


Plate-1: Light Microscopic photomicrographs recovered from Early Permian Khundi-

Maral-Raula Section, Chamba District, Himanchal Pradesh.

1. D.pyriformis; 2. Difflugia oblonga; 3. Difflugia species; 4. D. urceolata; 5. Difflugia gramen; 6. D. protaeiformis; 7. Lagenodifflugia ; 8. Cucurbitella; 9. Lesquereusia; 10. Amphitrema flavum ; 11. Cyclopyxis kahlii; 12. Trigonopyxis arcula.


150

Plate-2: Light Microscopic photomicrographs recovered from Early Permian Khundi-

Maral-Raula Section, Chamba District, Himanchal Pradesh.

1. Arcella discoides; 2. A. arenaria; 3. A.megastoma; 4. A.gibbosa; 5. A. artocrea; 6. A. discoides; 7. Centropyxis aculeata ‘aculeata’ ; 8. C.aculeata ‘spinosa’; 9. C. hirsuta; 10 &11. C. arcelloides; 12 C. aerophila


Material and Methods

Testate amoebae were isolated from the slate/shale after treatment with

hydrochloric acid (HCl) generally used for isolating palynomorphs from hard sediments.

After washing the acid, the samples were obtained as a residue in 600 mesh (>15 µ),

mounted in glycerol, and slides were scanned for thecamoebians under high power light

microscope (Olympus BX-52). The identifications are based on Medioli and Scott (1983),

Kumar and Dalby (1998) and Beyens and Meisterfeld (2001). The Manjir formation

constitutes three Non-pebbly units separated by pebbly units. The non-pebbly units (NP-

1 to 3) yielded thecamoebians and the Early Permian palynomarkers. Five samples each

from NP-1, NP-2 and 2 samples from NP-3 were studied. The total count of these in 10 g

samples are given in Fig.2.

Results and Discussion

The three non-pebbly units NP-1, NP-2 and NP-3 yielded following

thecamoebians. Some of the forms are illustrated in photo plates-1 and 2.

NP-1

Low counts (< 10 specimens) of Amphitrema flavum, Trinema/Corythion, Difflugia ovata, D. gramen, D. protaeformis, Cyclopyxis kahlii, Arcella artocrea and A. discoides.

NP-2

The overall thecamoebian count is relatively higher in this unit (10-20 specimens). Both

quantitative and qualitative abundance of thecamoebians were recorded. The main forms

identified are Centropyxis aculeata, Arcella artocrea and D. protaeiformis. Other species

of Difflugia and Arcella also occur.

NP-3

Most common forms are Cyclopyxis kahlii and Amphitrema flavum. Centropyxids,

Cucurbitella and Difflugia also occur.

Oldest geological record of thecamoebians goes back to Neoproterozoic (Porter

and Knoll (2000); Porter et al. (2003); Smith et al. (2008) and Cambrian (Scott et al. 2003). Their records are very few and scattered between Neoproterozoic and Tertiary

(van Hengstum et al., 2007). Although thecamoebians are well known from Quaternary–

Holocene lacustrine environments and peat bogs especially from Europe and North

America, the present report on the early Permian thecamoebian assemblage from the

Manjir Formation of Himalaya is very significant in filling the information gap on

Proterozoic records of thecamoebians. A detailed work is in progress.

Acknowledgements: A. Farooqui and N. Jha thank the Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of

Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India, A. Kumar thanks King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and A.C. Pande and D. D. Bhattacharya thank the DDG, Northern Region, Geological Survey of India, Lucknow for permission to publish this paper. We are grateful to Drs.

Prabhat Kumar, Zoology Department, University of Lucknow, Lucknow and David Scott, Dalhousie University, Canada for their valuable suggestions.


152

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earth sciences paper anjum et al., - Earth Science Indiaearthscienceindia.info/pdfupload/download.php?file=tech...land use change”. A Thecamoebian Assemblage from the Manjir Formation: