Stratigraphy of the

Bengal Basin
Only sedimentary
rocks are exposed
within the territory of
Bangiadesh and range
age wise from
Paleocene (?)/Lower
Eocene to
Pleistocene in age.

-
-They occur almost
exclusively within the
structural frame of the
Bengal Basin, for instance
in the Chittagong Hill
Tracts in the south-east,
the hilly areas along the
margin of the Surma
Basin and in the
southern spur of the
Shillong Massive in the
north.

-Pleistocene clays are also

exposed in the Madhupur
and Barind area of the
central and north-western
part of the basin.
The remaining central
and south-western
parts of Bangladesh
are covered entirely
by alluvial deposits
(Fig. ).
-Rocks older than
Lower Eocene have
been encountered in
several wells drilled
during coal, mineral
and hydrocarbon
exploration activities
on the western
Foreland Shelf.
-Most of the stratigraphic terms, presently used to
describe the Tertiary sequences of the Bengal
Basin, have been adopted from Evans (1932),
which was a work in Lower or in Upper Assam.

-Evans (1932) classification of sediments was

based almost exclusively on lithologic
characteristics, which was regarded as merely a
local Stratigraphy by Dasgupta (1977) and “so-
called practical lithostratigraphy” by
Brunnschweiler (1980).

EVANS, P., (1932) Tertiary succession in Assam.

Trans. Min. Geol. Inst. Ind., Vol. 27, p. 155.
-Reimann (1993) pointed that due to the lack
of marker horizon, spatial changes in
lithologies commonly occur in prograding
delta sequences, it is impossible to correlate
lithologically certain formations between
different parts of a basin or even between two
different basins as attempted in Bangladesh
in the past.

- Alam et al. (2003) also argued about the

danger of Evan’s classification and suggested
to establish the detailed stratigraphic scheme
of the separate tectonic province of the
Bengal Basin and then intrabasinal and
interbasinal correlation should be made.
-In an attempt to overcome these stratigraphic
problems, Brunnschweiler initiated the work on the
"Bangladesh Guide to Stratigraphic Classification",
which was issued 1981 by the newly established
National Stratigraphic Commission of Bangladesh.
This guide does little more than hint rather at the
work to be done in future. The first steps were
towards a

-biostratigraphy of the Tertiary formations in the Bengal

Basin entailed palynostratigraphic studies in
Bangladesh (Akter, 1982’ Chowdhury, 1980; M. H.
Rahman, 1980 and Reiman, 1981, 1983).

But, they failed to determine the precise biostratigraphic

zonation.
-Sinha (1965) studied the heavy mineral
concentrations of Tertiary rocks along the
south-eastern fringes of the Shillong
Plateau for identification and correlation
of the various rock sequences, which
resulted in the assignment of
characteristic suites to each rock unit.

-His method is downgraded due to the

short distance between source area and
depositional area. It does not appear to
be suitable for correlations over greater
distances.
 -Alam et al. (2003) proposed an allostratigraphy rather
than conventional traditional stratigraphy for the
Chittagong Tripura Fold Belt (CTFB) and mentioned the
difficulties with regional correlations.

-However, as we have no alternatives, much of the present stratigraphic

nomenclature of Bangladesh (Alam et al., 1990; Khan, 1991; Reimann,
1993; Alam et al., 2003) is adopted either from a lithostratigraphic
classification scheme of Assam (India) by Evans (1932) for eastern
Bangladesh, or from the subsurface geologic classifications of West
Bengal (India) for western Bangladesh. The stratigraphically important
Groups-Formations of different provinces of the Bengal Basin are
described below from the oldest to the youngest:
 Stratigraphic Successions of
Bengal Basin

Stratigraphic
successions
Alam et al. (2003) emphasized that while considering the
stratigraphic successions in the Bengal Basin, it is important to
note that the shelfal facies (i.e., province 1) should differ
markedly from the time-equivalent basinal facies (i.e., province 2).

► Thus it is unwise to designate, for example, the Miocene strata

of both the shelfal and basinal parts with the same rock-unit term,
like the ‘Surma Group’.

► However, due to lack of agreement among the geologists

working on the Bengal Basin, stratigraphic formation names used
for the Sylhet Trough are generally extended to the Stable Shelf
as well as the CTFB region.
► (Alam et al., 2003) suggested some new formation names to
highlight the differences in the stratigraphic successions within
the three geo-provinces of the Bengal Basin.
Stratigraphy of the Western
Foreland Shelf of Bangladesh
(province 1)

The stratigraphic succession of

Province 1 is shown in Table 1.
The sedimentary succession
unconformably overlies the
Precambrian basement rocks. It
should be mentioned here that
the rock successions described
below are nearly all known only
by drill holes.
Stratigraphic Succession of Province 1
► A generalized correlation of the lithostratigraphic formations with the seismic
sequences and major tectonic events (BOGMC, 1986) are shown in Table 1.
The sedimentary succession in this province
unconformably overlies the Precambrian basement
rocks in the subsurface; and are similar in nature to
those in West Bengal and Shillong Plateau; and
commonly consists of gneiss, schist, diorite,
granodiorite and granite (Zaher & Rahman, 1980).
► Recent studies show that the rocks are
predominantly composed of tonalite, diorite and
granodiorite, with subordinate granite, gneiss and
schist (Khan et al., 1997; Ameen et al., 1998, 2001).
► Data from the Indian part of the stable shelf
suggest that the rocks are of Archean age, during
which time the Bengal Basin had not formed; and
the area was part of the Gondwana Supercontinent
around the South Pole.
Thickness of the sedimentary succession in
Province 1 varies from 200 m in the northwest near
Rangpur to over 6000 m in the southeast near the
Calcutta-Mymensingh Gravity High.

► The oldest sedimentary rocks known from the

subsurface of Province 1 belong to the Gondwana
Group that occurs in iso-lated grabens in the
basement. The group is divided into: the Kuchma
and Paharpur Formations (Zaher & Rahman, 1980).

► The Kuchma Formation is 490 m thick, and

consists of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone and
coal seams. The tillites at the base of the
Gondwana Group indicate that sedimentation
followed a major glaciation in the region; and
Gondwana coal measures suggest that deposition
occurred in cold to cool climates (Wardell, 1999).
The Paharpur Formation is about 465 m thick,
consists of fine to coarse arkosic sandstones
with thick coal beds and occasional
conglomerates. The sandstones are relatively
weathered, and strongly kaolinized resulting
in a white clay matrix (Wardell, 1999).

► The Gondwana sediments were deposited

in low-sinuosity braided fluvial systems
flanked by vegetated over-bank and swampy
floodplain areas (Uddin & Islam, 1992; Uddin,
1994).

► The Rajmahal Group (Jurassic to Early

Cretaceous) unconformably overlies the
Gondwana Group and the Precambrian rocks;
and comprises two formations: the Rajmahal
Traps and Shibganj Trapwash.
The Rajmahal Traps are about 610 m thick and consists of
hornblende basalt, olivine basalt and andesite with minor
conglo-merate, tuff and ash beds. The Rajmahal Traps and
its equivalent Sylhet Traps on the eastern side of Province
1 are thought to be more extensive than revealed in limited
outcrops (Kent, 1991; Curray & Munasinghe, 1991) and
drill-hole data.

► The Shibganj Trapwash (Shibganj Trapwash formation, a

relatively thin cover of the weathered product of volcanic
rocks ...) unconformably overlies the volcanic rocks of the
Rajmahal Traps; and consists of poorly sorted coarse
sandstones (trapwash) and shale/claystone. These rocks
are thought to have been deposited in fluvial and coastal
setting. In West Bengal, the Ghatal (120 m) and Bolpur (160
m) Formations represent the Shibganj Trapwash equivalent
rocks.

► The Rajmahal Group is unconformably overlain by the

Jaintia Group, which consists of the Tura Sandstone,
Sylhet Limestone and Kopili Shale Formations.
► The Tura Sandstone, equivalent to the Jalangi
Formation of West Bengal (Lindsay et al., 1991), is
about 245 m thick and consists of sandstones,
siltstone, carbonaceous mudstone and thin coal
seams. The sandstones contain foraminifera, shell
debris and glauconite, indicating their deposition in
marine environments.

► The Sylhet Limestone (Middle Eocene),

representing the most prominent seismic marker in
Province 1, characterizes both the maximum marine
transgression on the stable shelf of the Bengal Basin
as well as defines the southern limit of the shelf.
The limestone is massive and compact containing
abundant foraminifera with minor algal debris; and
may be classified as foraminaferal biomicrites.
Banerji (1981) described diverse marine fauna from
Sylhet Limestone in the Lower Assam Basin.

► Seismic data (BOGMC, 1986) suggest that the

lower part of the Sylhet Limestone forms a broad
time-transgressive facies extending from the shelf
edge to the upper shelf area.

► The Kopili Shale (Late Eocene) conformably

overlies the Sylhet Limestone and comprises thin-
bedded sandstone and shale in varying proportions,
and occasional fossiliferous limestone; and are
interpreted as deposits of deltaic to shelf and/or
slope.
The Bogra Formation (Oligocene) unconformably overlies
the Jaintia Group. The formation is about 165 m thick; and
consists of interbedded sandstone and mudstone with
high sand/mud ratio; representing deposits of distal
deltaic to inner/outer shelf areas. In West Bengal the
Bogra Formation equivalent rocks comprise the Memari
(200 m) and Burdwan (150 m) Formations.

► The Bogra Formation equivalent unit, known as the

Barail Formation, is well developed in Assam, India, and
also occurs in the northern part of Province 2.

► The Bogra Formation is unconformably overlain by the

Jamalganj Formation (Early-Middle Miocene), which
comprises alternating sandstone, siltstone and shale. The
formation is about 415 m thick in Province 1, whereas its
equivalent Pandua Formation in West Bengal is over 1500
m thick (Banerji, 1984). The rocks of the formation are
thought to have been deposited in a delta system.
In Bangladesh's portion of the Western
Foreland Shelf, deposits of Miocene age
have been encountered in the wells

Kuchma-X1,

Bogra-X1
and Singra-X1 in the Bogra Graben,

in GDH-31 at basin margin,

and in Hazipur-X1 at the shelf edge.

The Dupi Tila Formation unconformably overlies
the Jamalganj Formation; consists of light grey to
yellowish grey sandstone, siltstone and claystone
with minor gravel. The formation is 280 m thick in
Province 1, while the equivalent Debagram and
Ranaghat Formations in West Bengal are 750 m
thick.

► The Barind Group (200 m thick), consisting of the

Barind Clay and Dihing Formations, unconformably
overlies the Dupi Tila Group. The Dihing Formation
consists of coarse sand and sandstone, silt-stone
and claystone with minor pebble.