Reconstructing Paleolandscape and Soil Catena of the Dinosaur-Bearing Lameta Formation, Central India

The Maastrichtian age dinosaur-bearing Lameta Formation in Central India is a pedogenically modified sedimentary succession. This succession records various pedogenic signatures such as the obliteration of bedding, root traces, burrows, soil structures, and soil horizons, indicating distinct paleosol types, which provide information about the associated paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions. In the present study, combining soil morphology and micromorphology, we recognized, classified, and interpreted eleven paleosol profiles preserved in the Lower Limestone and Mottled Nodular Bed Unit of the Lameta Formation, exposed in the Jabalpur subregion in Central India. The studied paleosols were divided into five different pedotypes (soil types) based on the majority/stage of development of pedogenic features. The observed pedotypes are compound and composite paleosol profiles, composed of entisols, hydromorphic calcic-inceptisols, gleyed alfisols, and well-developed alfisols. This variation in observed pedotypes represent the characteristics of a soil catena. In this soil catena, the variation in paleosol profiles is related to the variation in hydrology and relief of the landscape. The better-drained paleosols are forming on higher grounds, whereas poorly drained paleosols are forming in lowlands. The identified pedotypes with varying drainage and maturity are used to reconstruct the paleolandscape as an agglomeration of seasonal wetlands and dry lands. Further, based on several pedogenic features, the Lameta sediments are interpreted to have been deposited in tropical warm, humid climatic conditions.