Sedimentary Stylolites Roughness Inversion Enables the Quantification the Eroded Thickness of Deccan Trap Above the Bagh Group, Narmada Basin, India

Stylolites, common dissolution surfaces in carbonate rocks, form due to localized stress-induced pressure-solution during burial compaction or tectonic contraction. Their morphology and growth are influenced by dissolution kinetics, rock heterogeneity, clay content, burial depth, stress evolution, diagenesis, and pore fluid availability. This study applies the SRIT, a proven paleopizometer that quantifies the principal vertical stress (σv=σ1) prevailing in strata in the last steps of bedding-parallel stylolites (BPS) formation, to the Late Cretaceous Bagh Group carbonates in the Narmada Basin, India, to estimate their burial paleo-depth. Using Fourier Power Spectrum (FPS) we obtained 18 σ1 values from a collection of 30 samples enabling to estimate paleo-burial depths for the Bagh Group ranging from 660 to 1320 meters. As the Bagh Group burial history is unknown, but as there is no subsequent sedimentary deposition above it, we relate this ca. 1 km burial depth to the now eroded thickness of the deposits related to Deccan volcanism at the end of the Cretaceous time. This research highlights the robustness of SRIT for reconstructing burial histories in carbonate sequences, particularly emphasizing the suitability of "suture and sharp peak" stylolite types for accurate depth estimations. It also showcases that SRIT can be a reliable way to reconstruct the thickness of eroded deposits in well-constrained geological history.