New Evidence for Palaeo-wildfire in the Early Permian (Artinskian) of Gondwana from Wardha Valley Coalfield, India.

Macroscopic fossil charcoal fragments have been recovered from the borehole AK-19 (at a depth of 120.00 m) drilled at the Astona-Kothurna coal block, Wardha valley coalfield. In general, the occurrence of charcoal in sediments is accepted as a direct indicator for palaeo-wildfires. The charcoal fragments exhibits well preserved homogenized cell walls as well as anatomical details such as uniseriate and biseriate pitting patterns on tracheid walls under Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscope (FESEM), suggesting a gymnospermous wood affinity of the studied material. The excellent preservation, their large size and almost unabraded edges of charcoal fragments suggest a par-autochthonous origin. These findings add further evidence for the widespread occurrence of such wildfires during the Early Permian not only in India, but on the entire Gondwana continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]