Root Beds and Palaeoenvironment in Daltonganj Coalfield-A Preliminary Study

In Daltonganj coalfield some ischolar_main beds have been studied. The ischolar_mains occur as ischolar_main casts with caliche and as coalified ones. The host rocks represent a variety of facies like channel, abandoned channel-fill, sheet flood (?), levee and flood basin. Two types of ischolar_mains are recognized. Roots of type I are laterally spreading and small, while those of type 2 are vertically extending and large compared to those of type I. These differences in ischolar_main character have been attributed to response of plant to availability of water which depended on host-rock characteristics as well as fluctuation of level of ground water. It is further noted that coalification of ischolar_main proceeded in areas of water accumulation of relatively perennial type, compared to those of accretion of caliche where there was a balance between supply and loss of water to and from the system. Moreover, pedogenic remobilization played a great role in localizing the caliche around the ischolar_mains in preference to the host rock. Rainfall appears to have been poor and intermittent.