Deccan intertrappean sediments in central India are generally considered
as terrestrial deposits of Maastrichtian age, but the
Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) position is still unknown. Here we report the
discovery of the K-T transition, a marine incursion and environmental
changes preserved within the intertrappean sediments at Jhilmili,
Chhindwara District, Madhya Pradesh. Integrative biostratigraphic,
sedimentologic, mineralogic and chemostratigraphic analyses reveal the
basal Danian in the intertrappean sediments between lower and upper trap
basalts that regionally correspond to C29r and the C29R/C29N transition,
respectively. Intertrappean deposition occurred in predominantly
terrestrial semi-humid to and environments. But a short aquatic interval
of fresh water ponds and lakes followed by shallow coastal marine
conditions with brackish marine ostracods and early Danian zone P1a
planktic foraminifera mark this interval very close to the K-T boundary.
This marine incursion marks the existence of a nearby seaway, probably
extending inland from the west through the Narmada and Tapti rift
valleys. The Jhilmili results thus identify the K-T boundary near the
end of the main phase of Deccan eruptions and indicate that a major
seaway extended at least 800 km across India. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All
rights reserved.