Lithofacies architecture of Middle-Upper Jurassic succession of the Ler Dome, Kachchh, western India: implications for depositional environments and palaeogeography

Abstract Facies associations of the Middle-Upper Jurassic (Callovian-Oxfordian) sequences of the Ler Dome, Kachchh, western India are studied to determine suitable depositional environments and fluctuations in the sealevel during their deposition. In the present study, nine lithofacies are recognized that are grouped into four facies associations. The facies associations are tide-dominated estuarine facies, foreshore-offshore facies, onshore-offshore facies and lagoonal-tidal flat facies. These facies associations in ascending order suggest at least two transgressive and two regressive phases in a cyclic manner. During Callovian- Oxfordian, India belonged to the Indo-East African Province where shallow water of the Indo-Malagasy or Indo-East African Gulf was present, including the Kachchh Basin.