Record of calcareous algae from the Lameta Formation: a new insight for possible sea incursion during the Maastrichtian time

The Lameta Formation exposed in central and western India is traditionally considered as deposits of fluvio-lacustrine environment except for the type area having a few reports of shallow marine setting. The present work records the fossilization of calcareous algae from a discontinued bed of limestone preserved in argillaceous unit of Lameta succession. Taxonomical study of algal biota places them mostly in chlorophyta, charophyta, and rhodophyta divisions. These algae are being reported for the first time from Lameta sediments of a newly identified inland basin of deposition, viz., Salbardi-Belkher. Considering the paleoecological significance of presently recorded algae, a marine incursion has been interpreted which might have taken place through the Narmada-Tapti Rift Zone during the Maastrichtian time.