Paleo-environmental Significance of Ichnofossils from the Kand Formation of the Cambay Basin, Gujarat, India

The present paper documents five ichnospecies from the sediments of the Kand Formation (late Miocene) of the Narmada Block of the Cambay Basin, namely, Laevicyclus mongraensis, Planolites berverlensis, Planolite montanus, Thalassonoids paradoxicum and Thalassonoids suevicus. Both the vertical and horizontal biogenic structures are common in the calcareous sandstone, but the horizontal biogenic structures dominate. The ichnofossils, namely, Laevicyclus mongraensis, Thalassonoids paradoxicum and Thalassonoids suevicus are ethologically domichnia, these dwelling biogenic structures formed by suspension feeders (fish, crustaceans, bivalves, sponges, cnidarians etc), in search of food at sediment water interface. The ichnofossils, namely, Planolites berverlensis and Planolite montanus are ethologically fodinichnia, these are feeding biogenic structures formed by deposit feeders (earthworms, sea stars, crabs, polychaetes etc). The present ichnofossils from the Kand Formation indicate that the sediments of the Kand Formation were deposited in shallow water marine environment with moderate to low energy conditions, all the burrows were made in soft substrate before the consolidation of the sediments and the sediments (calcareous sandstone) had good nutrients for the survival of both suspension and deposit feeders.