Scouring by rafted ice and cryogenic patterned ground preserved in a Palaeoproterozoic equatorial proglacial lagoon succession, eastern India, Nuna supercontinent

The Chaibasa Formation contains the oldest known record of ploughmarks formed by rafted ice preserved on Earth. The Palaeoproterozoic (Orosirian-Rhyacian, 1.86-2.1 Ga) Chaibasa Formation in the Dhalbhumgarh area, eastern India, represents sedimentation in an ice-contact proglacial lagoon affected by iceberg (bits and growlers) calving and lake-ice rafting. Ice scouring, both on muddy and sandy substrates, as well as ice rosettes developed as consequence of the ploughing action of floating icebergs that were moved by wind, meltwater floods and tidal currents on soft sediments. Muddy flats surrounding the proglacial lagoon underwent seasonal deep freezing conditions developing cryogenic patterned ground containing reticulate ice, ice veins and sand wedges, suggesting the occurrence of proglacial permafrost areas coeval with Proterozoic glaciers. The central part of the proglacial lagoon was characterized by deposition of glacial varves punctuated by pebble and cobble size angular dropstones accumulated in the basin as ice-rafted debris from floating ice. Evidences provided in this paper reinforced the idea that 1.86-2.1 Ga ago glacial conditions prevailed after the supposed ending of the Huronian glaciation. This paper provides detailed examples that can be used to recognize possible floating/drifted ice scours in other Precambrian successions, as these elements have largely passed undetected, being probably widely reported in the literature as generic soft-sediment deformation structures. Similar soft-sediment deformations from Precambrian clastic depositional systems should be re-evaluated as there is a significant possibility that most of the Precambrian iceberg-related structures had escape notice, as originally suggested Eyles et al. in 1997.

Automated summary

The Chaibasa Formation in eastern India contains the oldest known record of ploughmarks formed by rafted ice. This formation represents sedimentation in an ice-contact proglacial lagoon affected by iceberg calving and lake-ice rafting. The evidence provided in this paper suggests the occurrence of glacial conditions around 1.86-2.1 Ga ago, after the supposed ending of the Huronian glaciation, and highlights the importance of re-evaluating soft-sediment deformations in Precambrian depositional systems.