Table 1 Generalized stratigraphical succession of the Rajmahal Basin (after Raja Rao 1987; Tiwari and Tripathi 1995; Tripathi 2008)
Series | Lithostratigraphic Unit | Lithology |
|---|---|---|
Recent | Alluvium | Loose soil, silt, and clay |
Upper Tertiary | Â | Coarse- to medium-grained sandstone, gravel, pebble beds |
----------Unconformity---------- | ||
 Lower Cretaceous | Rajmahal Formation (traps and intertrappean) | Flows of basalt, pitchstone and intertrappean beds (sandstone, shale, ash) |
 Lower Triassic to Lower Cretaceous | Dubrajpur Formation | Pebbly and coarse- to medium-grained sandstone, siltstone, clay, grey to pink shale |
----------Unconformity---------- | ||
 Upper Permian |  | Coal, shale, sandstone |
 Lower Permian | Barakar Formation | Coarse- to medium-grained and pebbly sandstone, grey shale, clay and coal |
Talchir Formation | Tillite, fine- to medium-grained sandstone, olive-green shale | |
----------Unconformity---------- | ||
 Precambrian |  | Basement rocks, amphibolite, quartzite, gneiss and granite |