english final - Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany

• Plant remains (wood, leaves and fruit) investigated from various Tertiary beds of Kachchh, Manipur, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Darjeeling, South India, etc. have helped in interpreting floristics, palaeoecology, and
phytogeography of the regions.
• Palynoflora from various Tertiary sequences of Rajasthan, Kachchh, north-east India, K-G basin, etc.
investigated for stratigraphic zonation and correlation.
• Diversified calcareous algal flora has been studied from the Palaeocene Ninniyur Formation, Ariyalur (TN) in
relevance to palaeoenvironmental significance.
• The Apectodinium dinocyst peak is integrated with negative carbon isotope excursion in the Jathang Hill
Section, Mawsynram Plateau (Meghalaya) and used to identify the global Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal
Maximum (PETM) Event. Palaeocene/Eocene boundary in the section is demarcated as per the latest
concepts. Presence of Sparnacian (latest Palaeocene) sediments is identified for the first time in this region.
Occurrence of impersistent coal horizons in Khasi Hills is supposed to be related to the global extreme
warming event associated with PETM.
• Several Palaeosol horizons, characterized by lateritic horizon associated with iron oolitic bands, have been
identified in the basal part of Subathu Formation from Nilkanth and Tal valley areas (Uttaranchal).
• Pollen analysed sediment cores/samples from Shahdol District (MP), Chilka Lake (Orissa), Mandi District
(HP), Kumaun Himalaya, and around Dilli Colliery (Assam) for depicting Quaternary vegetation and climatic
phases.
• Presence of reworked palynomorph (?Permian) trapped in Antarctic continental ice sheet proves the nearness
of the existing sedimentary rocks.
• Archaeobotanical studies related to ancient plant economic practices carried out from certain archaeological
excavation sites of Uttar Pradesh to generate considerable information on agricultural economy and other
botanical remains.
• Tree ring analysis data of deodar (Cedrus deodara) samples from Uttarkashi (Uttaranchal) shows that the
age of oldest sample extends back to 1287 AD, helping in maximizing the climate signals in mean tree-ring
chronology.
• Reconstructed three major palaeolakes in the Ladakh region. Also studied soft-sediment deformation
structures and established a chronology for the palaeo earthquake that may have hit the region during the
Late Quaternary times.
• Ultrastructure studies have been carried out on fruits/seeds of some species of Terminalia of family
Combretaceae to understand developmental stages of the pericarp and other details.
• Radiocarbon dating of certain palynologically analysed samples was done. Besides, designed a mini glass
system that can determine precisely the carbon content of a small quantity of sediment sample (about 150
mg).
Memorandum of Understanding
As per the MOU signed between Institute and Geological Survey of India (Coal Wing), initiated collection
and studies of samples of different coalfields of the country with the objective of intra-/inter-basinal correlation
through high-resolution stratigraphic and palynological, and coal petrological studies on selected areas of Gondwana
coal basins. The Institute already has an MOU with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to work on the
palynostratigraphy and source rock potential studies of Siwalik and Subathu sediments of Himachal Pradesh, and
Quaternary palynological studies of K–G Basin.