Lower Pleistocene palaeosols of the Upper Siwaliks in Jammu: Evidence of seasonality

The Lower Pleistocene palaeosols of the Upper Siwaliks of Jammu, J & K State are formed on the alluvium, though negligibly reworked and redistributed by the fluvial processes and, yet preserve the evidences of pedogenic processes. The clayey siltstones (Bt horizons) preserve the evidences of shrink-swell disruptions in the form of slickensides and striated b-fabrics. Illuvial accumulation of translocated clay in the form of clay coatings is well preserved. The field characters substantiated by micromorphological investigations suggest warm humid to semi-arid climatic conditions for the formation of semi-arid alfisols under the influence of periodic wetting and drying attributed to monsoonal seasonal climate.