Seminar

The Miocene limestone of northwestern Sri Lanka contains various marine fossils. Previous studies suggested that Sri Lanka was part of the Indian Peninsula until the Miocene. The formation of the vast extent of marine carbonate deposits might be related to marine transgression. The Miocene fossiliferous limestone may have recorded the separation of Sri Lanka from India in Miocene. However, detailed investigations for the entire Jaffna limestone unit are rare. This study aims to obtain the absolute age of the limestone. Strontium (Sr) isotope analyses were applied to obtain a numerical age of the marine biogenic deposit. Together with paleontological studies, the results would help answer fundamental questions related to paleoenvironment of the island.