Petrography of Badabagh Member sandstone of Jaisalmer Formation (Western Rajasthan, India): implications for provenance and tectonic setting

Petrographic, and petrofacies investigations were performed on thirty-three samples of medium to fine-grained (mostly fine), moderately to well-sorted sandstone from Bathonian Badabagh Member, Jaisalmer Formation, western Rajasthan, India. The grains are sub-angular to sub-rounded in shape, with some well-rounded quartz grains. The framework composition of sandstone consists mostly of monocrystalline and polycrystalline quartz, low- to high-grade metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments, as well as subordinate feldspar with low plagioclase to total feldspar ratios and accessory minerals. Petrographic investigations reveal that sandstones from the Badabagh Member of the Jaisalmer Formation are dominantly quartz-arenite with a subordinate amount of sub-litharenite to sub-arkose. The sandstones have abundant metamorphic and sedimentary rock fragments having the former supersede the latter, which is derived from a continental block, recycled orogen provenance of quartzose lithic terrains under tropical humid climate as indicated by weathering index which signifies the moderate hills to low plains relief. The majority of the quartz in the sandstones is undulatory, indicating provenance with lower and middle-upper rank metamorphic affinity. Corroboration of paleocurrent data along with petrographical and sedimentological studies suggests that the Badabagh Member sandstone was predominantly derived from the rocks of Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt (ADFB) and Malani Igneous Suites, which is located to the south and southeast of the basin.


Introduction
Petrographic analysis is a robust mechanism to ascertain the climate, provenance, tectonic settings, location and lithological assemblages of sandstones (Ahmad et al., 2022;Critelli, 2018;Haughton et al., 1991;Javed et al., 2023;Weltje & von Eynatten, 2004).A sedimentary petrographic study can be used to infer the attributes of the source rock with the aid of textural and compositional features of the sediments (Pettijohn et al., 1987).Secure deduction on the basis of petrographic analysis can be made out by amalgamating the information on assemblages and characters of major as well as accessory framework constituents of sandstones with that of their major framework constituents on modal composition (Dickinson & Suczek, 1979;Ingersoll & Suczek, 1979;Ingersoll, 1983;Basu, 1985aBasu, , 1985b;;Suttner & Dutta, 1986;Critelli & Ingersoll, 1994;Garzanti et al., 1996;Caracciolo et al., 2011;Lee et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2014;Goswami & Deopa, 2018).Among the sedimentary rocks, sandstones have special attributes which can be used to determine the palaeotectonic settings as well as aid to infer its provenance (Ghosh & Kumar, 2000;Jalal & Ghosh, 2012;Patra et al., 2014;Khan et al., 2017;Khan et al., 2017;Quasim et al., 2017;Gogoi et al., 2021).Petroleum resources in the Jaisalmer Formation of late-Paleozoic to Mesozoic (Khan & Khan, 2015) fascinated many sedimentologists and palaeontologists hence a thorough sedimentological investigation of the Badabagh Member of the Jaisalmer Formation with regard to hydrocarbon potential, analysing its tectonic contexts, provenance and paleoclimate conditions is therefore essential.Since petrographic analysis of Badabagh Member has not been done so far, this work based on petrological data, aims to analyse the provenance, palaeoenvironment and tectonic setting of the Badabagh Member in the Jaisalmer basin.Moreover, to depict any spatial variation in the provenance attributes of the sediments, the petrographic data of this member is compared with that of another member of Jaisalmer Formation.

Location
The general slope of the Jaisalmer basin is dipping to the north-west.The deposition of sediments in the Jaisalmer basin took place in the Mesozoic with a sequence of numerous non-marine, marginal, and fully marine sediments (Das Gupta, 1975;Pareek, 1984;Mahendra & Banerji, 1989;Fursich et al., 1992;Pandey et al., 2005Pandey et al., , 2006aPandey et al., , 2006b)).The direction of NW-SE or NNW-SSE is the structural trend in the Jaisalmer basin (Singh, 2007).Primary sedimentary structures are formed due to flow direction in the sedimentary sequence (Selley, 1980).According to Singh (1984), the Jaisalmer basin forms the central portion of the Indus shelf and is located on the north-western slope of the Indian shield.From the study of primary sedimentary structures such as planar cross-bedding, trough cross-bedding, herringbone cross-bedding and asymmetrical ripples were used to plot the paleocurrent direction of the provenance of Fort Member of Jaisalmer Formation and from the paleocurrent data it was concluded that the deposition of sediments has a provenance situated in the NW direction (Ahmad et al., 2019).From the order of superposition of Jaisalmer Formation, it has been mentioned that Badabagh Member conformably lies above the Fort Member (Ahmad et al., 2019).

Geological settings
Sediments of the Jaisalmer basin range from non-marine sandstones and conglomerates through nearshore, littoral, brackish, and marine sands, silts, clays, and carbonates.The lofty Mari-Jaisalmer Arch, which spans the basin's middle, has the finest Jurassic outcrop exposure on its southeast side.The Jaisalmer basin, the Bikaner-Nagaur basin, the Barmer-Sanchore basin, and the Pokhran-Nachana High are the four tectonically distinct units that make up the Rajasthan shelf (Fig. 1C).However, as the paleogeographic and tectonic environment changed over time, so did the extent of these sedimentary basins on the Rajasthan shelf.
The evolution of Aravalli-Delhi Fold Belt plays a pivotal role in the formation of most of the sedimentary basins in western Rajasthan.The Jaisalmer basin is completely surrounded by the craton (i.e., pericratonic basin) located on the north-western margin of the Indian Peninsula (Fig. 1A).Badabagh member is best exposed at Badabagh, 6 km north of Jaisalmer basin along Jaisalmer-Ramgarh-road (Fig. 1B).Oil and Natural Gas Corporation limited (ONGC) with the help of geophysical investigations unveiled the episode of four structural units within the Jaisalmer basin: scilicet, the raised Mari-Jaisalmer Arch stretching out through the central part of the basin; the synclinal Shahgarh sub-basin to the southwest; the Kishangarh sub-basin to the northeast; and the Mailjar sub-basin (Fig. 1C) to the south (Pandey et al., 2010).

Lithostratigraphy
During the Jurassic, the Jaisalmer basin, which was located about 23° south of the equator, paleogeographically marked the southern Tethyan boundary.The largest of numerous sedimentary basins, the Jaisalmer basin spans 30,000 km 2 (Awasthi, 2002;Dutta, 1983;Singh, 1984) and includes the western Rajasthan shelf.The Jaisalmer basin is one of the ramifications of Rajasthan basin and lies in westernmost part of the Rajasthan was formed as a result of splitting of Gondwana (Pareek, 1984).The western section of Rajasthan, or the western Indian Craton, formed the easternmost shelf of a massive tectonic block known as the Indo-Arabian geological province, which spans around 1,20,000 km 2 .In Jaisalmer basin the sequence of the Mesozoic sediments onset with non-marine fluvial, deltaic or lacustrine sediments (base of Lathi Formation).It is proceeded by marginal marine sediments which result in a sequence of several non-marine, marginal marine and fully marine sediments (Pareek, 1984, Das Gupta, 1975, Mahendra & Banerji, 1989, Fursich et al., 1992, Pandey et al., 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2009;Ahmad et al., 2020Ahmad et al., , 2021;;Asjad et al., 2021).The Jaisalmer formation is subject to an alternate lithostratigraphic classification put forward by Garg & Singh (1983) and Krishna (1980bKrishna ( , 1983Krishna ( , 1987)).As a result, the two members-the lower Amarsagar limestone member/Jaisalmer member and the upper Kuldhar member-were grouped from the five members of the Jaisalmer Formation (Table 1).The described members (Table 1), however, exhibit either distinct microfacies and faunal components or distinct lithological successions, starting with marginal marine siliciclastic sediments (for example, the Joyan Member), non-marine (for example, the Fort and Badabagh Members) or and concluding with fully marine, primarily calcareous sediments (Pandey et al., 2014).The Jaisalmer Formation dominantly consists of sandstone, conglomerate, siltstones, limestones and marls.Barmer Basin, which is situated in the south-east portion of the Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt (ADFB), is the major supplier of debris to the Jaisalmer basin (Siddiqui, 1963).The most developed sediment depositional sequences in the Mesozoic Jaisalmer basin are those that are non-marine, marginal, and marine.The Jurassic sediments have been classified into four formations: Lathi, Jaisalmer, Baisakhi, and Bhadasar, in ascending stratigraphic sequence (Table 1) (Das Gupta, 1975;Pandey et al., 2005Pandey et al., , 2006aPandey et al., , 2009)).The Lathi Formation comprises fluvial, lacustrine, deltaic and marginal-marine deposits, is the first stage Mesozoic sedimentation (Pandey et al., 2006b).The Jaisalmer, Baisakhi, and Bhadasar Formations are dominated by marine shallow-water deposits.Individual formations have thickness ranging from 70 to 1000 m (Das Gupta, 1975;Narayanan et al., 1961;Pareek, 1984;Swaminathan et al., 1959).The Precambrian igneous/metamorphic rocks form the basement for these overlying sedimentary sequences.
The Jaisalmer Formation ranges in age from Bajocian to Oxfordian (Pandey & Fursich, 1994).Comparing to the juxtaposed Kachchh basin, the Jurassic succession of the Jaisalmer basin portrays a melange of depositional environments (Fursich et al., 2014).The tectonic firmament of western Rajasthan has been framed amidst or earlier than the Delhi Orogeny (Das Gupta, 1975).Lithostratigraphic classification of the Jaisalmer Formation has been split into five members, silicet, Hamira, Joyan Fort, Badabagh, Kuldhar and Jajiya (Kachhara and Jodhawat, 1981).

Methodology
This study is wholly dependent on the modal analysis and petrography of 33 sandstone samples which are fresh (unweathered).These samples were collected across the strike by following the stratigraphic sequence from oldest to youngest on the exposure along the Vyas Chhatris (Fig. 2a) and along the 6 km north of Jaisalmer-Ramgarh Road (Fig. 2b), Badabagh, Jaisalmer.Precautions regarding the structural deformation were taken while collecting the samples across the study area.Each thin-sections were studied using a polarising microscope (Leitz, Laborlux 11 Pol 8) with the help of the modal counting method at the Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University.A total of 500 points were counted and within the larger rock fragments, crystals (monominerals) and grains (polyminerals) of sand having a diameter of more than 0.0625 mm are considered individual crystals/grains (Dickinson, 1970;Gazzi, 1966;Ingersoll et al., 1984).In the aforesaid method,  almer Basin (after Das Gupta, 1975).C Structural units of the Jaisalmer Basin (after Misra et al., 1993;Rao, 1972) grain-size alterations on sands/sandstones are insignificant (Ingersoll et al., 1984).In order to maximize the content of the thin-section, the grid spacing which is used in point counting should excel the grain size so that the counting of the individual grains should not be repeated more than once.(Individual grains were not counted more than once because the grid spacing employed in the point counting exceeded the grain size, but rather was created to maximise thin section coverage.To classify sandstone, analyse petrofacies and understand the paleotectonic setting of the provenance characterization, all grain parameter data were collated and recalculated as 100% for various compositional diagrams (Dickinson & Suczek, 1979;Folk, 1980;Dickinson et al., 1983;Pettijohn et al., 1987).
The grain parameters as mentioned below (Table 2) are a prelude for petrofacies attributes and sandstone classification (Dickinson & Suczek, 1979;Dickinson et al., 1983;Pettijohn et al., 1987;Cox & Lowe, 1996).In the modal analysis of sandstone, the matrix has been considered appropriately.If the concentration of the secondary matrix exceeds 10%, then the thin-section would have been culled for the modal analysis, as this will lead to erroneous interpretations of provenance (Cox & Lowe, 1996).The arrays of reckoned grain parameters have been recalculated as specific ternary percentages for petrofacies characterization, sandstone classification (Pettijohn et al., 1987), and ascertaining the paleotectonic setting of the provenance (Dickinson & Suczek, 1979;Dickinson et al., 1983;Ingersoll & Suczek, 1979;Suczek & Ingersoll, 1985).Moreover, ratios of grain parameters and their arrays have been ascertained and plotted as bivariant log/log graphs to deduce the paleoclimatic conditions of the provenance (Suttner & Dutta, 1986).Altogether mineralogical composition, with the inclusion of accessory minerals, of the sandstone has been used to deduce the lithological setting of the source area (Pettijohn et al., 1987).Alterations of framework grains and attributes of matrix and cement have been used to ascertain the diagenetic revamping of the sandstones (Boggs, 2009;Gier et al., 2008;Worden & Burley, 2003).
The Badabagh Member is reckoned to be conformable with the overlying Kuldhar Member and underlying Fort Member.It has been designated as Bathonian age, on the basis of the array of brachiopods (shown by black arrow in Fig. 3g) & foraminifera (Dave & Chatterjee, 1996).

Petrographic attributes of sandstone:
Sandstones of Badabagh Member consist of hard rock samples and some samples are friable and easy to peel off.The sandstones of the study area are well-cemented with majority of the grains lies in the range of moderate to well sorted.The majority of the grains have floating contacts followed by point, long, concavo-convex and sutured contacts as revealed by microscopic analysis.Sand-sized particles, matrix and cements are analogous to monomineralic components (i.e., quartz, feldspar, mica) and polymineralic components (i.e., rock fragments) which is supported by the framework structure of Badabagh Member sandstones.Microscopic analysis reveals that the primary constituent of the sandstone is quartz, feldspar, mica, rock fragments, and heavy minerals (Table 3).Quartz is the dominant detrital mineral (avg.91.85%) of the study area.It is divided in two parts in which monocrystalline quartz (avg.86.32%) supersede polycrystalline quartz (avg.6.76%).The petrographic delve of the sandstone of Badabagh Member suggests that these sandstones are medium to fine-grained (mostly fine) and are moderately to poorly sorted.The majority of it belongs to quartz arenite and some of it to sub-arkose and very few of it belongs to sub-lithic arenite with varying shape from subangular to well-rounded with come well-rounded having a modal composition of Q 91.8 F 4 L 4.2 (Fig. 4).The followings the prominent minerals of Badabagh Member sandstone:

Monocrystalline quartz (Qm)
Monocrystalline quartz is the most prominent mineral of the study area with a range from 76.9 to 93.3% (avg.86.3%) (Table 3).The majority of quartz grains have sub-angular to sub-rounded shapes (some are well-rounded) (Fig. 5a).Most of the quartz grains are often dissolved by calcite cements everywhere.Some quartz grains show silica overgrowth (Fig. 5a).Most of the monocrystalline quartz shows undulatory (Fig. 5b) with a few grains showing non-undulatory extinction.Some monocrystalline quartz grains contain heavy mineral inclusions (Fig. 5c).

Polycrystalline quartz (Qp)
An average of 6.78% of the total grains constitutes of polycrystalline quartz grains, mainly sun-angular to subrounded (Fig. 5d).The grains differ in size and generally comprises four different internal crystals such as: (a) grains with interlocking mosaic having straight contacts (Fig. 5d); (b) haphazardly arrangements of intercrystalline quartz grains (Fig. 5e); (c) elongated internal crystals of different sizes depict the marginally sutured boundaries (Fig. 5f); (d) preferred orientation for an internal elongated crystal that mostly exhibits undulose extinction (Fig. 5g).

Feldspar (F)
Polysynthetically twinned plagioclase (Fig. 5h) and crosshatched microcline (Fig. 5i) grains constitute feldspar having sub-angular to sub-rounded shape.The plagioclase plays a dominant role among the feldspar in the study area, having the average (avg.)P/F ratio of 0.51 (Table 4).It was observed that (P) plagioclase (avg.2.1%) is slightly greater than (K) microcline (avg.1.9%) as shown (Table 4).Distorted lamellar twinning and cross-hatched twinning were observed in the plagioclase and the microcline, respectively (Fig. 6a).Plagioclase and microcline feldspars have had their edges significantly corroded by calcareous cement, and some of these grains have also been corroded by iron oxide cement (Fig. 6a).

Accessory minerals
All the samples consist of various accessory minerals such as muscovite, biotite, zircon, tourmaline, glauconite, epidote, rutile and a few opaque grains.Micas have the average proportion of 0.45%.Micas (especially muscovite) are generally flake shaped (Fig. 6f) and some are kinked.Heavies such as zircon (Fig. 6g), tourmaline (Fig. 6h), glauconite (Fig. 6i), epidote, rutile with angular to sub-angular in shape (some are euhedral) have the average proportion of 0.4%.

Cements and matrix
The analysed sandstones contain cements made of carbonate (Fig. 5b), iron (Fig. 6b), and silica-overgrowth (Fig. 5e).Calcareous cement dominated in almost all of the samples of the studied area.Floating detrital grains show that the sandstone has significant cementation and little compaction.Ferruginous (or iron) cement also is present in many samples but is less significant than the carbonaceous cements.Silica overgrowths present in some samples are mainly abraded (Fig. 6l) and this overgrowth is not authigenic, meaning that it must have a source from which it has been derived.The matrix is very small in the studied samples.

Petrofacies attributes
Sandstone petrofacies plays a pivotal role in unriddling the tectonic settings of the provenance (Dickinson & Suczek, 1979;Ingersoll, 1990;Ingersoll et al., 1993;Ingersoll & Eastmond, 2007).Reckoning of framework grains and  4) which are key factors for the petrofacies analysis (Dickinson, 1985;Ingersoll & Suczek, 1979), and plotted as a triangular diagram in terms of QtFL, QmFLt, QpLvLs and LmLvLs (Dickinson, 1985;Dickinson et al., 1983).The recalculated mean values of QtFL and QmFLt percentages of sandstone of the study area are Qt 91.8 F 4.0 L 4.2 and Qm 85.2 F 4.0 Lt 10.2 , respectively.The composition of QtFL petrofacies include quartz ranges from 85.3 to 95.8% and the lithic fragments and the feldspar ranges from 1.5-7.6% to 1.5-8.2%,respectively.The accumulation of data along the Qt-L leg of the Qt-F-L diagram alludes recycled orogen provenance along with the craton interior region (Fig. 7a).Altogether, petrofacies of sandstone unveils that monocrystalline quartz is abundant in the study area, with the range of 75.3-92.4%(average 85.2%) having moderate total lithic fragments (average 10.8%) and low feldspar (average 4.0%) in the QmFLt petrofacies composition.The majority of the samples in QmFLt diagram lies in the quartzose recycled orogen with aid from the continental block (Fig. 7b).Moreover, QtFL and QmFLt signifies that the sandstones of the study area are quartzolithic.Metamorphic-clastic sediments comes under QpLvLs and LmLvLs, having a proportion of Qp 86.3 Lv 0.0 Ls 13.7 and Lm 58.4 Lv 0.0 Ls 41.6 , respectively.In QpLvLs and LmLvLs petrofacies the Qp, Lv and Ls have a range of 71.4-100%, 0.0-0.0%,0.0-30.6%while Lm, Lv and Ls have a range of 35.7-100%, 0.0-0.0%,0.0-64.3%,respectively (Table 4).
With reference to polygenetic source, QpLvLs is completely based on rock fragments population allocated, which ascertain the scenario of tectonic settings.The triangular diagram of QpLvLs (Fig. 7c) of Badabagh Member sandstone clearly demonstrate that the majority of the data comes from mixed orogenic sources with some from fold-thrust belt source.LmLvLs plot signifies that majority of the data derived from suture belt provenance (Fig. 7d).Dominancy of metamorphic rock fragments with less amount of sedimentary rock fragments and almost devoid of volcanic rock fragments in the triangular plot of LmLvLs signifies that provenance of the sandstones of Badabagh Member is recycled collision orogen/suture belt along with rifted continental margins which is very much coherent with the tectonic setting of the Aravalli-Delhi Fold Belt (Javed et al., 2023).

Paleoclimate
Sandstone detrital methodology have also been used to depict the paleoclimate prevailed at that time of deposition.Sedimentary processes along with the paleoclimate, the tectonics and the modes of transportation, severely affects the composition of the sandstone within and its depositional basin (Suttner & Dutta, 1986).Along with Suttner and Dutta (1986), Weltje et al. (1998) also gave conformation opinion on the paleoclimatic history.Therefore, the detrital were recalculated in terms of Qp/(F + L) and Qt/(F + L) and were studied by plotting on the bivariant log/log graph (Suttner & Dutta, 1986) which is the most prominent way to ascertain the paleoclimatic conditions.The area on this graph is mainly used to depict the prevailed climatic condition at the time of the sedimentary rock formation.The Qp/F + L ratio of the sandstone ranges from 0.4 to 1.7% (average 0.9%) while Qt/F + L ratio of the sandstone ranges from 6.4-27.8%(average 12.7%), respectively.This plot clearly show that the sandstone of the Badabagh Member sandstones derived from the provenance area under humid climatic condition (Fig. 8a).In order to ascertain the relief and the paleoclimate of the source rock region, Weltje et al. (1998) has given certain semi-quantitative weathering indices.So, the sandstones of Badabagh Member have high weathering indices ranging from 2 to 4 as shown in the bivariate plot of Log Q/F and Log Q/L (Fig. 8b).A combination of low relief, a hot humid climate, and a lot of flora can result in quartzrich debris (Franzinelli & Potter, 1983).These indices of the study area show that the sediments are derived from source rock located in low plains (relief 4) to moderate hills (relief 2) under tropical humid climate (Fig. 8b).
Relief of moderate hills to low plain permits chemical weathering to take place as it allows sediments to spend more time on the surface.The concept that the area had a warm, humid climate is supported by the fact that enormous volumes of carbonate were deposited during the Jurassic Fig. 4 QFL compositions of the Badabagh sandstones of the study area superimposed on the sandstone classification ternary diagram of Pettijohn et al. (1987).Q total quartz, F feldspar, L lithic fragments (Weltje et al., 1998).So, climate of the study area might have played a pivotal role in the development of compositionally mature quartz-dominant sandstones.Moreover, robust chemical weathering is persistent with the warm climate and globally humid periods of Jurassic (Thompson & Barron, 1981).

Diagenetic alterations
Instantly after deposition and burial below the sediment water interface (i.e., compaction), incipient diagenetic processes affected the sands.Packing readjustment, bending of flexible grains (such as micas in thin-sections), fracturing of brittle framework grains and plastic deformation of soft lithic grains were the result of compaction (Mahender and Banerji, 1990;Ahmad et al., 2017;Quasim et al., 2021).The diagenetic alterations which is clearly observed in these thin-sections encompasses floating contacts prominently (Fig. 6i), followed by point contacts (Fig. 6j) followed by long contacts (Fig. 6e) and few concavo-convex contacts (Fig. 5g), suture contacts (Fig. 5b), carbonate cementation (Fig. 5b), iron cementation (Fig. 6b), silica overgrowth (Fig. 5a), iron oxides, pseudo-matrix, alterations of feldspars (Fig. 6a), dissolution of quartz grains by calcareous cements (Fig. 6j) and bent micas (Fig. 6k).The rare occurrence of sutured contacts signifies low to medium amount of overlaying pressure.Many grains have floating contacts which signifies the prevalent development of carbonaceous cement and iron cement which might be precipitated at a very early stage of diagenesis (Ahmad et al., 2013(Ahmad et al., , 2017;;Quasim et al.,  2021).A few quartz grains have iron oxide stains (Fig. 6l), and there are silica overgrowths that are well-developed and worn down as well (Fig. 6I).As a result of external pressure during digenetic processes, quartz grains can develop fractures, which are noticeable in some grains.Grains dissolution along with infillings of carbonate (Fig. 6j) are also observed in the study area.Ample amount of carbonaceous cement reckons to be pivotal diagenetic features in thin-section of the study area.Authigenic iron-oxide in thin-sections occurs as grain coatings /or filing the interstices (Fig. 6i).
QtFL demonstrates that the source is low-medium metamorphic to upper and high-grade metamorphic rocks (Fig. 9A).
The monocrystalline quartz from the sandstone of the study area shows many inclusions such as zircon, tourmaline, apatite which shows it has plutonic source, whereas monocrystalline quartz with fluid inclusion shows its sources from igneous, metamorphic or hydrothermal (Bernet & Bassett, 2005;Boggs, 2009).The severity of the ductile deformation in the source (or from the higher metamorphic rank of source) can be predicted by the undulose extinction in the monocrystalline quartz (Bernet & Bassett, 2005).Polycrystalline quartz (disintegrated) grains are more prone to weathering than some of the non-undulose monocrystalline quartz grains (Blatt, 1992).Polycrystalline quartz is benignant in resolving the source area composition (Young, 1976) as they are best indicators of a metamorphic source (Basu et al., 1975;Boggs, 2009).Elongation of internal crystals along with the sutured boundaries in a polycrystalline quartz are known as sheared or stretched quartz (Fig. 6b) which has metamorphic rock as a source juxtaposed to fault zone (Blatt, 1992) whereas straight inter-crystalline boundaries within the polycrystalline quartz (Fig. 5d, shown by blue arrow) shows that it has metamorphic rock as a source which occurs as a last recrystallizing event (Voll, 1960).
The abundance of undulatory quartz grains with an extinction angle greater than 5(a), the abundance of the non-undulatory quartz grains with an extinction angle equals to or, greater than 5(b), number of sub-crystals which have three or, less than three quartz grains in a single polycrystalline quartz grain (c), number of sub-crystals of quartz grains which have more than three quartz grains in a single poly-crystalline quartz grains (d), are the four parameters which plays pivotal role in unveiling the source rock of quartz.Moreover, to enable the simultaneous usage of the four above-mentioned parameters, a diamond diagram is made (Fig. 9A).On provenance discrimination diagram, quartztype data are plotted (Basu et al., 1975).With the help of recalculated data (Table 5), the provenance discrimination diamond diagram is drawn (Fig. 9A).The polycrystalline quartz grains are approximately equant grains with sutured inter-crystalline boundaries and undulose monocrystalline quartz extinction advocate low to medium grade metamorphic rock as a source under humid climatic conditions (Folk, 1974;Blatt et al. 1980;Basu, 1985aBasu, , 1985b;;Pettijohn et al., 1987).When compared to the frequency of the other quartz varieties in the Badabagh Member sandstone, the frequency of the undulatory quartz (Qu) is comparatively greater than the non-undulatory quartz (Qnu) whereas polycrystalline quartz with 2-3 crystals (Qp2-3) outnumbered polycrystalline with > 3 crystals (Qp > 3).The plot on the diamond diagram signifies that the Badabagh Member have lower to middle and upper rank metamorphic source rock (Fig. 9A) (Basu et al., 1975).By comparing the diamond diagram of Tortosa et al. (1991), the data of Badabagh Member sandstone demonstrate granitic rock provenance for quartz (Fig. 9B).QFR ternary diagram developed by Suttner et al. (1981) depicts that sandstone of Badabagh Member has metamorphic source rock under humid environment (Fig. 9C).As the samples are displayed in the metamorphic humid region, this Q-F-R diagram (Fig. 10) can only discriminate between metamorphic and plutonic rock sources (humid or desert conditions), and it cannot discriminate between other tectonic settings (Suttner et al., 1981).Monocrystalline quartz grains present in the sandstone of the Badabagh Member are denotative of a granitic source (Ahmad et al., 2022).Moreover, presence of strong undulatory extinction in the monocrystalline quartz along with the metamorphic rock fragments of the study area suggests that the sediments were from metamorphic sources which are probably the Aravalli Delhi Fold-Belt (ADFB) and Malani Igneous Suites (Javed et al., 2023) (Fig. 11).
Sandstones of Badabagh Member has lower concentrations of plagioclase than K-feldspar, and this, along with low Lv concentration, points to a recycled orogen provenance (Dickinson, 1985).Orthoclase and microcline (Fig. 5i) have been shredded from granites and/or gneisses whereas plagioclase from the low-grade metamorphic sources (Pettijohn et al., 1987).Moreover, low concentration of P/F ratio (i.e., 0.5) suggests that feldspars are mainly derived from an acidic igneous rock (e.g., granite) and/or high-grade metamorphic source rock (i.e., gneisses).Apart from major framework grains, the accessory and the heavy minerals are also helpful in depicting the lithology of the provenance   (Pettijohn et al., 1987).The numerous dense minerals present, including zircon, tourmaline, and apatite, point to a plutonic parent rock (Boggs, 2009).

Extent of the provenance
In the Badabagh Member of the Jaisalmer Formation, the paleocurrent is generally orientated north to north-west (Fig. 3a, b, indicated by black arrow in front of the primary secondary structure), signifying that the south and southeast of the basin were the locations of the provenance terrain (Ahmad et al., 2019(Ahmad et al., , 2020(Ahmad et al., , 2022;;Asjad et al., 2021).So, corroboration of sediment dispersal (Fig. 3a, b), sedimentological as well as petrological data of the sandstones of Badabagh Member acts as a pathfinder for identification of source which are possible Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt and Malani Igneous Suites located on south and south-east of the basin (Fig. 11).

Conclusions
This study has given pivotal tidings on the petrography, petrofacies, diagenesis, and provenance of the sandstone of Badabagh Member of Jaisalmer Formation, western Rajasthan, India.The following are the inferences observed from the analysis.The sandstones of the Badabagh Member of Jaisalmer Formation are fine grained, moderately-to poorly-sorted with majority of quartz arenite with some inclination towards sub-litharenite to sub-arkose showing low plagioclase to total feldspar ratio and mainly belonging to metamorphic-sedimentoclastic quartz arenite petrofacies.Metamorphic, plutonic felsic, and recycled sedimentary origins are indicated by the sandstone composition.Geotectonically, the QFL and QmFLt ternary diagrams indicate that the sediments may have originated from a number of places, such as recycled orogens, cratonic interiors, and quartzose.
Surplus diagenetic alterations are present in the sandstone of the study area which encompasses high cementation, moderate compaction, ductile deformation of some of the labile grains, carbonaceous, iron, and silica cementations, floating, point, long, suture, and concavo-convex contacts, alterations of feldspar and quartz grains along the periphery of the grains, silica overgrowth, bent micas.
Petrographic and paleocurrent attributes of the sandstones of Badabagh Member allude that these were extrapolated from the Aravalli-Delhi Fold Belt (ADFB) and Malani Igneous Suites which is located in south and south-east of the basin under the tropical humid paleoclimatic conditions with moderate hills to low plain conditions.

Fig. 1 A
Fig. 1 A Map of north and north-western India showing the study area and outcrops of possible provenance end Members (after Chaudhari et al., 2020).B Geological map of the Jurassic strata of the Jais-

Fig. 3
Fig. 3 Field photographs from the Badabagh Member of Jaisalmer Formation with significant importance, such as: a dolomitised sandy limestone; b ferruginous (marked by black arrow) cross-bedded calcareous sandstone; c clast-supported sandstone; d intercalation of sandstone and siltstone; e intercalation of siltstone and mudstone; f

Fig. 5
Fig. 5 Photos of selected petrographic slides showing: a Sub-angular to sub-rounded monocrystalline quartz, yellow arrow indicating dissolution of quartz detrital by carbonaceous cements, blue arrow showing silica-overgrowth; b monocrystalline exhibiting undulatory extinction (shown by black arrow), yellow arrow indicating carbonaceous cements, blue arrow shows suture contact; c heavy mineral inclusion in monocrystalline quartz; d bub-angular to sub-rounded quartz grains with internal crystals showing straight contacts (shown

Fig. 7 Fig. 8 a
Fig. 7 Detrital modes of the Badabagh Member sandstones that were recalculated and superimposed on provenance fields of the a QtFL, b QpLvLs, and c QmFLt ternary plots from Dickinson et al. (1983) and

Table 1
Lithostratigraphic classification of Jurassic sediments of the Jaisalmer Basin, based on information from Narayan et al. (1961),

Table 2
Grain Parameters used in the modal analysis (after Dickinson

Table 3
Recalculated mineralogical composition of the sandstones of Badabagh Member, Jaisalmer Formation, western Rajasthan calculating parameters i.e., Qt, Qm, Qp, P, K, Lt, L, Lm, Ls and Lv (Table

Table 5
Relative abundance detrital modes of the Badabagh Member sandstones of the study area Fig. 10 Ternary QFR diagram for source rock's influence on composition as a function of climate, based on the work of Suttner et al, (1981) S. no.Qp 2-3 (%) Qp > 3 (%) Qnu (%) Qu (%)