Keele Research Repository

The Barmer Basin, western India, is a well-known and prospected petroleum system. However, the Lower Cretaceous Ghaggar-Hakra Formation has not been recognised as basin fill and not documented prior to this study. The formation outcrops in rotational fault blocks at the Sarnoo Hills and surrounding areas, on the eastern Barmer Basin margin. The thesis here describes and analyses the nature and evolution of the formation at both outcrop and within the subsurface, producing facies and depositional models.

At outcrop, the deposits of the Ghaggar-Hakra Formation contain three dominant fluvial sandstone successions, known as the Darjaniyon-ki Dhani, Sarnoo and Nosar
sandstones. The Darjaniyon-ki Dhani Sandstone is a gravel bedload dominated, low sinuosity fluvial system, the Sarnoo Sandstone represents a mixed-load, high sinuosity
fluvial system and the Nosar Sandstone is highly erosive well-developed, bedload dominated, low sinuosity fluvial system. The intervening mudrocks represent floodplain
deposits.

The growth and development of the fluvial system between the Darjaniyon-ki Dhani and Sarnoo sandstones indicates that the climate and tectonics were stable at the time of
deposition. However, the Nosar Sandstone represents rejuvenation of the fluvial system as it is suggested that this change in deposition style is due to the activation of the fault network forming the Barmer Basin and West Indian Rift System.

The facies models derived from this work are applied to the subsurface to provide interpretations of the Cretaceous succession. This provides significant insights into the sedimentology, geometries of the sediment packages with the net to gross and the petrography, all indicating the reservoir quality of the Ghaggar-Hakra subsurface material.