FOURTEENTH SIR ALBERT CHARLES SEWARD MEMORIAL LECTURE 22 JANUARY 1967
SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN THE GEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF COAL-BEARING FORMATIONS OF INDIA & COAL RESOURCES
BY A. G. JHINGRAN Professor and Head of the Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi Director General, G.S.I. (Retd.)
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BIRBAL SAHNI INSTITUTE OF P ALAEOBOTANY LUCKNOW
ISSUED 1967 SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN THE GEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF COAL-BEARING FORMATIONS OF INDIA & COAL RESOURCES
BY A. G ]HlKGRA?' Professor and Head of thc Departmcnt of G,"ology, Delhi Univcrsity, Dclhi Dircctor Gencral, G.S.I. (l{ctcl.)
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Published by
BIRBAL SAHNI INSTITUTE OF PALAEOBOTANY LUCKNOW
ISSUED 1967 FOURTEENTH SIR ALBERT CHAl SOME RECENT ADVANCES IN THE GEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF COAL-BEARING FORMATIONS OF INDIA & COAL RESOURCES By A, G. JHI);GRA::--J FEEL \'Ery pri\'ileged to be called uron foundation of the Institute was laid. It to give a lectlne that has been named mllst, howe\'er, go to the credit of the family I after the great scientist, Sir Albert that Sm. Savitri Sabni, wife of the Professor, Charles Seward, who attained outstanding took up the challenge ;ind successfuJly success not only as a scientist but also as nur5'ed the baby Institute so well. Ward a teacher, an autbor 2nd an administrator. ing it off from the teething troubles and His passion for scientific studies knew no se\'eral critical situations, she has made it bounds. Tbe fields that attracted his grow into a healthy blossoming institute attention included both botany and geology. which has already earned a reputation all Palaeobotany was his special love and he over the world. studied in detail the :Mesozoic flora, his We have gathered here to pay an humble results being incorForated in a series of tribute to the sacred memory of the great Catalogues of the Britieh .l\Iuseum between doyen, Sir Albert Charles Seward. I take the \'ears 1894 and 1904, His book entitled the liberty of menticning the name of , Fossil Plants' in four volumes is classical Dr. Birbal Salmi also on this occasion for and will continue to rem~ljn a treatise of it was that master-mind which conceived reference for many ,·ears. Anotber \\'elJ the idea of the Institute whose hospitality known book by him is the 'Plant Life we are enjoying today. The~e two great Through Ages', \vhich is also unimitahle doyens, Seward and Sahni, shalJ continue ~md has won highest reputation. During to brighten the firmament of science for the long years of his de\'oted career he ali times. Their spirit of devotion shalJ guided many students, several of whom continue to inspire the seekers of truth attained distinctions as men of science for generations and generations. The high in their own turn, Perhaps the most standards of ,elfiess work that tbey set brilliant amongst them was Dr, Birbal will continue to be in the realm of envy Salmi, who earned the reputation of being for long ages. the builder of Indian Botanv and Palaeo botany. Walking in the foot-steps of his INTRODUCTION teacher, Professor Salmi foJlowed a life of selfless de\'otion, dedicating n'ery ounce of The subject I have selected for my his enprgy, e\'er\' moment of his life and address this e\'ening embraces some recent e\'en' bit of his resources to the one single ad\'ances made in our knowledge of the task, ad\'ancement of knowledge. One of geology of the coal-bearing formations of the fruits of his endless de\'otion is this India and the economic evaluation of coal Institute of Pabeobotam', It was a cruel resources. In this connee-tien it may be hand of destiny that snatched a\\'ay this reca]]ed that, e\'en though it may have great scholar and man, soon ,!fter the been circumstantial, the pride of first 4 STl:DTES ()F CO,\L-BE.\T\l::\G FOn.:-'IATIO?,\S (JF J::\DI.-\ 8: COAL RESOrRCES plac(' for COIllIlH'nCCmrJlt of "tudie" In India, ..\c1dil ional team" of scientish from mocll'ln tinw" III Indi;ln Gl'()log\' gee... to tltr rccently q,lrtcd si"ter crg,',nizations coal. Faced Ilith thl' prohlem of h~I'ing like the Indian Burl'all (;f ;\Iine" ;,nd the to hring coal all the W;I\' fH m Englilnd :i\~tiGnal Coal Dt'\'elopmu1t Corporati(,n, en'n for t llc' r('tUi n \'o\'age frcm I nc!i;l rl>inforcc(\ the tempo of il1\-e"tig:ttic,n~, to Engbnd, tll(' E;\~t India Comp'll1\' The purpo"e of this work ha" been primarily aPl-:lOin tl'cI a Bri t j<;h officer who had eCOnl)mlC and wa,; del'otrel tOI\'ards the experience of the Engli"h coa'-fielcl~, in location of Jresh co~1 resources, "prcialJy the middle of the ninrt('('nth centun' ,mel of gr;lele" 'tlitable for production of metal a,;"ignecl Ilim the ta"k of locating source" lurgical coke and good qualih' blcndable of co~l in tht' Indian '-.uh-continent. It coal ~o :l,; to augment the coking coal II,\', In Llet that ll1cipi('nt heginning of potenti,,jity uf thc COllnt1'\', Scic nti~t, geological exploration th~t laid the foundation I\'ork: ng Ifl "peciali~ed I nstilu: ions 1ike of til(' Gcological ~un l'\' of [nell;1 whicll the Fuel Re... carch ln~titutr and Birb:tl h,l~ grown into ;1 1,lrge In~tituticn, ,\', ~;lill1i ]n~titllte of Palco!Jotam' ~nd liniver \IT "re it tOcl;l\', Pioneer Il'ork dOlw bl' "itil'~ hall' carried out "peeiaJized studies, \\illiam ... , Olclh:im, BL nfo:'d, Ball, Huglw<;, SImI' of the"" arC' dirrcted tOI\'Md" the Fei<--tm,'ntel, ,;\b lle-t, anc! ,;\Irdli"ott and uncler"t ,mel sandstones, The ca rliest r('[e1en«' t l) and han' cllgge~t('d ,I Pel mi;'n age for tIl(' tbe age of thesi' beds is that gi\fn by ,.:h;dL's ,!nd ~cll1(bt('IWS o\Trh'ing the boulder feistmantell 1 who groured thrm along \I'itll h('d, It thus appears that tIl(' oH~rall DamnclJs and P'1l1c.hct,.: as tll(' Lo\\'er ('\'idrnec i~ mOJ"(' in Lt\o\lr of tlll' )o,,('r Gond\\'ana system ,111d assIgned ,I Tria,.:sic limit of (;cn(I\,'"na SYStl m being p!:'cee! :ct ;rgc, Soon after the elisco\"\'rY of LO\\Tr PC'I mi,'n, ' Gondw;\n,\ pbnh ,~s,.:oC'iated with nnrine fossib in Ka~hmi, ~ii ,:nd Salt langL,iil, a PERMIAN COAL-BEARING contro\"t'rsy deYelopcd regarding the ,'rff of FORMATIONS Lower Gondwanas which continuc'd for se\'('r'1.l ,'ears, until the rminent palac('nto Karharbari Stage lo:zisb like )\octlini',35, Kokl'n29 ane! oth\'rs admitted a P"laeowic "ge for tbe Talchir Tlll' co,ll-Iw:ning fOI mations of the "tr,lta, H, B, .:\lee!licott "nd \\', T Permian ,Ige ,nl' "Til knO\\"J1 in the' Indian Bl,mforcl32 assigncd them a Pel mi2,11 age, "tr,ltigr,lph,' ,h tl1l' J):1111l1da Series of the but R. D, Oldham~6 regarded them to be Lower GCind"'ana s,'"tem, thell' being three of Upper Carboniff'rous age, G, de P, principal hori7cns, the Karharb"l i, B"rakar Cotter10 and C. S, FO\:14 agreed with tIll' ,me! n,mig,'nj ,.:tagc,.: "'hich together ;ICCO\ll\t latter "]('\\ and so did Thomas Holbnd2o for mort; than ljO per cent of the coal pro \I'ho cll::;cus"ecl the problem at great length, duced in tIl(' countr~, Of t!l('S(" Karhar Since then, this \'iew has been follo"rd in bari~ fcrm the b,I~"J unit l'ntil rl'C'I'ntly most of the literature and Text Boob on thi, stage had heen recognized only in a Indian geolog\' although at G!W stage k\l' fiekb, the most important heing tIll' Vrcdenburg65 had opil1E'd them to be of Giridilr which pro\ided the t\"]1f' area, Permian age, Quitl' often e!ouht had \)een exprh.'I'd if The disco\'en' of marini' beels aS5'ociated there ,,'a.' ackquate jll"tificatio)1 to recog With tire LO\H'r Gonc\"'anas at Umaria. nIze thi,.' stage a~ a st'parate "tr;ltigl aphic :\bnendrag,uh, Bap "nd, \'erY recentl~', unit :ll1d 0Plll!oJ]~ differed con,.:iclel'lbly Rajhar<1. in Peninsular IndiZI ZInd their about its position, ,omt' allthor~ being in faunal ~tudie~ haye thro\l'n ne\l'light on this clined to regard it ,IS the uppermost part problem, The buna from l'm,lri,1 ,,'a~ of the Ttlchir Series, ,,'hile others ,,'cre originalh' described h,' I~eed50 and "';~s inclined to tr~'at it ,r:; a part and parcel of 62 later restuclif'el by Thom;h , The liltter the Barakar ,;tage \I'ith in t!le J);lmuda~, has opined that it has a close affinity "'ith It may be recalled that the term K;lrhar the fauna from the L,'ons Group of til\' hari stage W;IS origin,Jily introduced by Clrna\'On Basin and a~signC'd it a Lower Blanforcl in ] 878 ,,'hill' m,lppmg the C;iridih Pelmian age, Ahm,ld :rnd A.hmad4 ha\'e coalficlc1, the stage being clwracterizecl by discus~ed the age of the Gone!"'an,1 glaciation plant fo~~il,.:, Gond' These studje~ thus re\'e3] that the ba~al greater res mhlance to that of the Barren coal-bearing beds in many of the coalfiekls Measures than the microflora of the Lower like ]haria, Talchir, Daltong,lDj, K;J.ranpura, Barakar 64. Hasdo-Arand, Bisrampur, Lakltanpur, etc. The discovery of C/ossoplnis in Kameng which were formerly considered to belong division, NEFA21 has proved the existence to Barakar stage arc actuallv refer:\hle to of undoubted fresh-water Gond\\'anas, in the Karharbari stage. h.eening in \'Iew that di 'tant north-eastern part of the its economic importance, a thorough search sub-continent. A little further to thr east for thi~ horizon is called fur in othrr coal in Subansiri di\'ision Sahni and Srivastava!;6 fields. [t is worthwhile in this connection established the presence of beds bearing to examine closely the basal portions of <~la.rine fossil' including Eurydcsma and the Barakars and conduct systematic pala('o C01111!aria in close association with the botanical studies. Examination of drill fresh water Gondwanas indicating a marine cores, wherever cases of overlap arc sus transgression in the Permo-Carboniferous pected, will be \'ery useful. Cncloubtedly period. these wide-spread occurrences of Karhar An attempt is being made in the Geo baris have an important bearing on inter logical Survey of India to utilize the palyno basin correlation 111 the Gondwana logical studies in correlation of coal seams stratigraphy all over the southern hemi both within a single field as also in different sphere. basins, with some success. It is expected that in cour 'e of time this may become one Barakar Stage of the most successful methods for this kind of \\'orlc The I3arakar stage which succeeds the Karharbaris forms, of course the most lIn Raniganj Stage portant coal-bearing horizon In the Gondwanas. ft has also a much wider Raniganj, next to Barakars, IS an Im geographical distribution. Accordingly this portant coal-bearing stage, and has been stage has attracted attention of a large studied in much drtail. Workable coal number of workers. The Barakar flora seams a sociated with this stage have been comprise the Glossopteridae, Equisetales, found only in the Raniganj, ]haria and Filicales, Sphenophyllales and Cordaitales Karanpura coalfields, although its presence along with a few cycads and conifers. In had been proved in several other Gond\l'ana recent years the detailed study on the basins. Palaeontologically this stage is of Sporae dispersae from this stage is indicative considerable importance as the Glossopteris of the fact that the flora was much more flora attain d maximum development during di\'(crsifled than what had been realized this period and as such largest number previously on the basis of megafossil record. of genera and species are recorded from The Barakar microflora is !.[ ui te distinguish these bed-, The occurrence of miospore able from that of the underlying Karharbaris, GOlldisporites indicates the presence of being more diversified and having a much Lycopodiales, which has been hitherto un larger number of genera of triletes and known by megafossil record from this 6 disaccate spores, many forms b2ing com horizon . pletely absent in the Karharbaris including Recent studies by A. i\-l. Khan and Gopal 7 triletes, monosaccates, disaccates, etc. ,31 Singh26 in the Geological Survey of India Within the Barakar stage itself the have proved the existence of Raniganj microflora of the upper Barakars sho\\'s a horizon in the western part of the Talchir 8 STUDIES or CO.-\L·BE.\RJ:'\G FOR:-L·\T!O:,\S 01' I:'\DJ.-\ & CO.'\L RESOL'RCES coalfif'id. Initially these beds in Talchir 3. Classific,ttion of the sedim~nts in the area had been taken to be a part of the field into ea"ilv recognizable units and :\Jahadeyas, and later were suspected to pr('paration of lithofacies maps. be of Panchet age. ,[h~ present stud\' 4. Preparation of isopach maps based on has confirmed the Raniganj age for them, measured thickness for interpretation of the which is incidentally a corrohoration of an structures in the basins. earlier assumption of Fox about the pr(' 5 Study of structural aspects especially sence of Raniganj stage, southeast-\\ards faults and their effects on the adjoining from Chhatisgarh toward:; i\1ahanac\i, in basins. the direction of Talchir coalfield in 01';""0.. 6. Collection of specimens from different lithological units for petrological exami Sedimentological Studies nation. mechanical and hea\'y mineral analyses for pro\'enance and the nature of Sedimentological studies of th, Gondwana depositional environments. rocks ha\'e been corn Illl'nced in recent A very large amOt~nt of data has been years nnly. Ganju and Sri\'a"ta\'aI6 :;tudied obtained both from the field ancl laboratory the Talchir Boulder Bed:; of the jharia studies. Emphasis on ;"conomic work of coalfield with special reference to the fabric higher priority has, however, prevented of the pebbles that constitute it. The the completion of scrutiny of the data and study shows that the pebbles are preferen their systematic studies, which is still in tially oriented and exhibit an upstream progrl'ss. The tentative conclusions arrived imbrication. The inclination is of the same at indicate that: order of magnitude as determined by Caillf'ux (a) The total thickness of the preserved for fluvial gTaycis. The streams that depo sediments increases towards east from Rutar sited these ancient gravels came from to ]haria. westerly and northwesterly directions, in (b) The sorting coefficient of the secliments general. The source of the deLlris was the docs not show any marked lateral change. moraine material left by the melting glaciers, (c) Garnets are dominant, in general, in and the debris was transported east and the Talchirs; zircon ratio fluctuates; tourma southeast-ward by fast flowing streams into line is an important constitu2nt in the the basin of df'position. Barakars in the eastern coalfield but it K. Jacob, assisted by S. K. Ramaswamy, becomes subordinate in the western fields. S. R. A. Rizvi and A. Krishnamurthy,22,23.48 Opaque ores mcrease generally 111 the carried out detailed sedimentological studies younger strata. on the Gondwana rocks in the Damodar (d) Majority of the faults in these fields Valley between 1957 and 1961. The work are of post-Jtlhacleva age, a minor set of in the coalfields of jharia, East and \rest pre-illahadc\'a age is also distinguishable Bokaro, part of ::-':orth Karanpura, Auranga, towards the \\'estern coalfields. All the Hutar and Daltonganj, stretching for about faults are of normal gravity type. Conti· 300 km. from east to west, was carried out nuation of "ome of the major faults in on the following Jines: arljoining basil.s is common. 1. Large scale geological mapping, where (e) Stratigraphical correlation and clastic necessary. ratios point that these coalfields \\'ere 2. Measuremen t of the nala sections in possibly once joined together and had a the coalfields with a view to compile strati dommant \I('sterly source for their sedi graphic sequence based on actual thickncs:; ments, though material from local sources of the sediments. \-\'as also available. STlTDII'::S 0[' CO.\L-BE\RIl\G FOHM.\TJONS OF I:\DI.\ & COAL HESOl;RCES 9 Simila,' :;ludic,.; ha,'e been carried out by t\'IWS of sediments in juxtaposition with Hiz\i:;z in the Giridih coalfield and the arca each other, there being lenses of coarse lwt\ITCIl tIle Giridih field and tht' we"tcrn sand embedded in a matrix of fine grained part of tilE' ]ainti field of Deogarh group, sedimer. ts. con~ring an area of 600 km. A large n1lmber A study of hc,lVy mineral assemblages in of fault" and fault-zones haye been maplJ('c1. the sediments from East and \\'est' Bokaro, The ~tudy tends to indicate that the '>edi and North KaranplJra coalfields has shown Dll'nraticll \l'a<., not bounded by a1l\' tectonic a very close correspondence to each other structure.... Thl' faults arc normal gnl\'ity which is sugge"ti\c of the three fi2lds ha\'iug type and occurred in tlle post-Barakar and been part,; of the same master basin in the pre-c1olrritc period. C~rtain parts of the Lower Gondwaua times23 . basin \\Tre sin king con tem poraneously with the sedimentation and that the remnants MARINE TRANSGRESSIONS of the decpest points of the basin are the original sagged spots, \1 hich I\"ere prescf\'cd The discovery of marine bed:; in con I h,' Barakar faulting. junction with the otherwise fluviatile Kar and his colleagu2s24 have attempted formations of the Gondwana System at 6 to makl' detailed studi"s in Bokaro, Karan Umaria in i\Iadhya Prade~h by K. P. Sinor 0 pura alld Ramgarh coalfidds, which indicate has hcen hailed as one of great significance thi'lt the earlier concept of the cyclic ,edi (rom the point o( palaeogeographic studies mentation il1\'olving a repetition of sand and mi'lrine transgressions cLlring that stone-shale-coal sequenccs is not tenaille in period. In recen t tinles similar beds havc most of the cases. In fact it is found to be hecn located at a numher of other localities morC' of an e:-:ception than a rule in the induding ManendragarhIi ll1 Madhva Gorldwana basins. On the hasis of reo-ult Pradesh, Khemgaon">6 ll1 Sikkim and obtained from drilling m Bokaro and Subansiri i'alley in KEfA36, Bap:",:,8 in adjacent coalfields it has become possible western I~ajasthan and DaltonganjIUB in to cbssify the Barakar-Barren i\lf'asure~ Bihar. It is, thus apparent that a much sequence into five distinct stratigraphic more extensive area was cO\'pred by the sub-units as foIlO\·\s: sea in th" Peninsular India during the (e) Barrrn ;\fe:lsures. Permo-Carboniferous period than had been (d) Upper Barakar - dominantly argil rcali7,cd in the past. laceous. Fermor, in appreciating the \ alue of (c) Middle Barakar - \\'itl~ high:,r shale Sinor's discovery of th':' Umaria marine bcd, ratio than in the underlying horizon. had obo-en'ed that the Cmaria area was (b) Lower Darakar- mostly coarse unit pos:;ibly connected by an arm of Permian \I'itlt subordinate coal 'ieams. sea from the Salt Range, i,e. the Himalayan (a) Basal zone, barren of coal seams. Permian sea (see Fox, 1931, p. 235). Fox: The fluviatile origin of the hulk of thf himself accepted this vie\\' and postulated Gond\\'ana <;ediments has been indicated bv a nlarinE' connection bet\\'een Umaria and II umerous features which characterize t he,,(' Salt Range ilcross the Aravallis, the Ganga sediments such as cross stratification, thick Yamuna valley and 13undelkhandH to massive lenticular bedding, numerous Krishnan28 , ho\\c\'('r, disagreed with this conglomerate horizons, channel fills and poor sllggestion, rnainh- because the area im-ol\'ed to moder8tcly sorted naturt: of the deposits. forms mostly highland and shows no trace All additional evidence 111 this direction is of any rocks YOitnger than the \'indhyans, the frerluent presence of two contrasted and snggested tllat the connection to 10 STUDIES OF CO,-\L-BEARI:--:G FOR?vU,TIO):S OF J?\DL\ 8: COAL RESOCHCES sea to Umaria may have been through 3, The Manendragarb fauna offers greater the Narbada Yalley, Kutch and Western resemblance to the fauna from the Rajasthan, Bihar (D:dtonganj) and Sikkim Ahmad 1,2,3, on the other hand, is of the (Khemgaon) localit;es. opinion that the marine connection was Since Eurydesmids indicate cold water po""ibly from the south-east, Focussing conditions and the Productids are favoured attention to the work done by Thomasti2 by Il'armer waters, :'II. V, A, Sastry and S, C. and Thomas and Dickins63 on compari'ion Shah"7 have postulated that the incursions between the fauna of Umaria ann that of of sea represented by the marine heds at Lyons group of N,W, basin in "'estern Umaria, and Bap on tbe one hand and Australia, wherein they established close :'IIanennragarh, Daltonganj. Khemgaon on similarity between the two, Ahmad has th,; other were different and not identical. sUl5gested that the logical corrolary is the On the basis of stratigraphic and faunal exi,tel~ce of a marine link bctlveen th~ two studies they have concluded that Um:Lia areas, Of particular in terest i11 this connec and Bap beds repre~ent an Upper Talchir tion is the occurrence of Calciosp01:gia in transgression, whereas i\lanendragarh, Dal Umaria, known so far only from the tonganj, and Khemgaon berj~ corr('spond Australian Permian, This peculiar crinoid, to a transgres into the continent, I venture to suggest mana and other associated localities III that the entire area enclosed betl"ccn the south. The inten'cning areas have not Sastry and Shah's arms of s~a was suhjected provided so far any positive C\"idence of to the encroachmen t of the Tethyan sea for marine conditions during that period. But at least ~oIlletime in the Permian, and that absence of c\'idence is reall\ no evidence. the sedimentary record left thereby ha" Wait and sec. Futt;re \\ork may estahlish been mostly denuded a\\ay, leaving only fresh localities with marine Lee!:; in the area sporadic left-outs here and there. It may involved. be noted that it is only in recent years that marine beds have heen discovered in the.,(' STUDIES IN COAL PETROLOGY far flung localities. It ma:y certainly not be tr.e end of such finds. It is sigpificant In recent vears much emphasis has heen that the we"tern and north-western tip,;; of laid on studie~ in coal petrology and con the major Gondwana basins abut against siderable \\'ork has Leen donf' b,· sc\·er;.r! the ~outhern margin of the postulated ex worker" including P'neek. Pant. Sam-al tension of the Tethys. The comparative al,d others. Data ha" he011 ohtained \\'ith cold watc-r conditioll illdicated by the regard to the nature of the plant:" that Emydesmidc at Manendragarh and Dalton have gone into thl' making of the COil I a-: ganj etc. is apparently connected with the a1so on the nature of coal itsplf. This IJ,1'-, glacial conclitions that prevailed around that oeen utilized succe;osft:ll\" in "eani irlenti time, The record of corresponding hxls !lcation ar,d i~ also hclpft:J in ]Jredictin~ tilt' along the \n:-;,tern part oj the ro,-tubted economic C:\'alLiiltiol1 of C()~ll. extension of the sea ha~ so far not been located, but may wdl be e'(pect,'d Bright coal is useful for metallurgical coke the kinds \vhich would be used either and the dull coal finds use in boiler:" of the directl:; as mined or after heneficiation, for locomotives, thermo-electric plants and coke manuFacture had to he pro\'cd and other industries. Coal can be imrroved more dc-tail;; about the knowll areas had by changing its physical composition. to be obtained f0r drawing up future e:\ Petrographic studiC's and practic81 expE'ri ploitatioll programme. nwntation have already established that ImFort:Ll1t findings in tbis rr~rect arC' as blends of non-coking coals \vith strongly follo\\'s: coking coals are useful in production of metallurgical coke \\hich \vould hdp in Raniganj Coalfield, West Bengal increasing the life of the resen'es of our coking coal. , E:->pJoration in Raniganj field \\a~ aimed The differences m the petrologic and at praying the dO\\J1-dip extension of the chemical characters of coals would obviously Barakar coal scams containing metallurgical he ir;dicative of the varying conditions during grade coal and the pro\'ing of the e:\trnsion the times of their formation and at lea~t of the coalfi2Jd in the eastern 8nd north broad in ferences can 'he drallP with regarcl eastern areas belo\\ the 11 antic of the to the salient physiographic features and aUL1\ium. Drilling operations that lw\"e attendant characters of the corresponding been carrj('cl out hy the Gcological Sur\"CY period. The follO\ving conclusions lllay be of India Ita\"e heen successful in both these dr;.l\\·n from the present studies: spheres. The dO\\ll-dip (':\tension of tIle 1. The Son valley ba"in was not connected coal seams has loeen pro\ed to depths of to the Damodar va]JC'y basllJ, although the order of 600 m. The limits of the there is a possibility of the Son valley being coalfield have also been extended sizeably connected with the Mahanadi basin.' Simi bv proving the presence of coal seams laritv in the characters of the coals from under the laterite-allu\ium co\"er at depths "' Son and l\lahanadi valleys is strongly sugges- ranging between 180 and 250 m. The tive of such a link. most important seam met \\'ith there is the 2. Conditions of vegetal deposition and of Samla (Disergarh) scam \\hich bas a thick coal formation were similar in the Son, Dl'SS of about 6 metres. j\Iahanadi and Goda\ari valley basins, as compared to those in the Pench-Kanhan Jharia Coalfield, Bihar and Tawa valleys. The coals from the former are non-coking, whereas those from Jharia coalfield is of special importance the latter 8rt~aS are of semi-coking types. being the main store house of the ' parent coking' coal in India. Accordingly it \\as ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF THE considered very neCCSS:lrv to explore this COAL-BEARING FORMATIONS field in tensively and check if additional resources of coking coal could he locatrd Prior to the con,mencement of extensi\c there. An interesting enquiry tha.t by the Geological SUlTry of India ha\'c an , sub-anthracitic' rank (\lith \'E'ry low vola aggregate thickness of about 21 m. Coals tile matter and high carbon content) due from this field will be uo,cd as a matching to tpctonic disturbances. The coal is high blend with the ]haria and Kargali coals for lv disturbed and crushed and, therefore. in the Bokaro Steel Plants. spite of the high heating \'alue, is not \'ery promising. Madhya Pradesh Coalfields In the jamnlu area of th(' \\'estern Hima laya, se\ eral ~mall coalfields \·il., ]angalgaJi. Exploratory drilling operations were con Kalakot, Metka, etc., contain coal of ducted in all the major coalfields of ';\f.P. Tertiarv age. The coal is highly' disturbed In a number of areas the work has been and crushed. The erratic nature of the completed and in a few others it is ~tilJ scams makes economic e'xpJoitation in most being continued. In the Pench Kanl1an of the arcas difficult. Tl1l' coal, although Tawa valley coalfield, so far 333 m. tonncs high 111 rank, often contains a high of good grade, blcndable coal has been percentage of sulphur. proved and the Caking Index of coal from one of the seams has been found to be 22 The Tertiary Coals of Assam (BSS). A Block in this coalfield has been recommended for development. A number of coalfields occur in Assam. ln the Singrauli coalfield the discovery But owing to communication difficulties, of the 134 m. thick ]hingurdah Top seam most of the fielcb ha\'e lagged in develop with about 25 per cent as partings by the ment. Onl'.! the fields in Upper Assam, Geological Survey of India, is of great particularly the ::vIakum coalfield is weB economic importance. This seam is the develo]Jed. '1 here are five \vorkable seams, thickest coal seam known in India and is of \\'hich the 10\\ et thick seam records a probably the second thickest seam in the maximum thicknpss of 30 m. Tertiarv world. coals of Assam have, by and brge, a very Amongst the other coalfields of M,P. low ash content and high Caking Inde'.\:, superior quality coal has been located in which would ha\'e normally made tlwm Lakhanpur (one new seam 1·5 m. to 7·0 m. highly suitable for the production of metal with 7·9 to 17 per cent ash), and lurgical coke. But high percen tage of Bisrampur (one new seam 3·5 to 4·8 tn. with sulphur in them, sometime extending up to 10-4 per cent ash). 8 per cent poses a big obstacle for their Karharbari formation 111 some minor utilization in the metallurgical industries. coalfields like Daltonganj and Deogarh Attempts ha\-e, !Jo\ve\'er, been made by group has been pro\-ed to contain coals Central Fuel Research Institute to reduce of superior quality. Some of the seams also the residual percentage of sulphur in the show caking properties, indicating their resultant cokes produced by blending Assam suitability for utilization in the metallurgical coals from JI'Iakum field with lo\\'-shulphur industries. coals of Jharia and Ranigani coalfields, in pilot plants. It has been indicated that Himalayan Belt 20-30 per cent of coal from .JIal~um field, hlended with 50-55 per cent of 10\v-\'0Iatile, In the Darjeeling di~trict of West Bengal , paren t coking' coal of ]haria and 25-30 and in Sikkim, isolated OCCUITellC2S of coal per cent of medium \'olatile, semi-cokll1g are being worked. Coal in these areas, coal from ]-<.al1lganj coalfield, would yield although of Gondwana age, has attained metallurgical coke of acceptable Cjuality 16 STl'DfES OF CO_\L·f3E.\.R[~l, FOR\L\TIO~S 0[' I~D1.-\ 8: CO.\L IU:SOl.-RCES with admi,;si1>l(' limits of ;inlphur content, Suhstantial conselTation 01 prime coking Final opinion on this a~pect can, hOllel'er, coal ha,; been achieved by the henefici REFERENCES \H\I.\D, l-. (1957). Ohsen'ations on the 21. JACOB, 1';:. & B.':"ERjEE, T (195+1. Occurrf'~ce l'maria :lIarine hec\. UI'(. pfol. SlIn'. fndia. of Glossopteris fronds in K.E.F tracts. 1',.0r.. 94 (2): 469-76. .Yal. Sci. 20, I, 53-61 2. l 41. PIHEEK, H. S. (1965) On the Karharbari.\ge 53 RrzvI, S. R ..'\. 8: SE:\', .\. K. (1959). Progress of the coal 1I[ea'llres of Ha\'-Bachra area, Heporl;; of Geological SUri}ey of Ilidia on sedi J'\orth l\:aranpura coallield. ·Palafo/lOlalli,l. mentolo~ical ,;tudies in H utar, :\uranga and 14: 73-8. Ualtonganj coaltields (unpubli,;hed). 42. Ielem (1965). Petrographic studies 01 the coal 54. SIH>:r, n (1947). Palaeobotany in India from haranpura coaHielcb. ;vIew. gcol. Sun'. J 1'ldi(llI hoi. Soc. 26. 2+1-73 Jlldi~. 95. 55 SAW'!, M. R.. & Durr, 1) t\:. (1959) \rgentine 43. Ide'n (1966). Pdrographical stud,· of coal and .\ustralian alhnitie,; in LowC'T Permian from Singrauli coalfield, i\l. P., India. Her. Fauna from :\Ianendragarh, Central India. geol. Sw'v. illdia. 99: 2 Rci'. geol. Surv. India. 87' 655-70 Idem (In press.) The Applicability of coal 56 SIH>:r, :'1. R.. & SRIV.IST.IVA, ./. P (1956). Petrology in correlation of Gondll ana Seams DiscO\'en' of EUC\'desma and Conularia iu of India. Slee/ alld ll1illel'al Rn'iew. the Ea,.,teIll Himil!a\'as and de"cription of 45. Idem (1966). Fusinizt'd Resins in Gondwana a~sociated fa u nas. ;' palaeonl. So, india. 1: (Permian) coal of India. ECOll. Ceo/. 61 202-14 137-46 57 S'ISTRY, 111. \. .\. & SH.\H, S. C (1964). 46 PAREEK, H. S., DEEKSHlTL'Ll', 111. ~ & Pcnnian i\Iarinc Transgrc:-,:-;ion in l>cninsular RAM,\:"A J\'IURTHY, B. Y. (1964). Pctrolog" Indra. XXII Jill. Grol. Cong .. :\e\\ Delhi, abs. of Salarjung and Ross ,;eam coal,;, Tandur 141-2. area, Goda"ari ",dley coalfield, .\. P. Neseanh 58 SHAH, S. C. (1963) Marine Permian Fauna Papers in Pelrology, Ceol. Surv. J lid.: 141 from Bap Boulder Bed, Rajasthan. Indian 58 Mineral,. 17 (2). 47. PAREEK, H. S., SA:"'Y.U, S. P. & CH.IKl<.IBORTY, 59 Idem (In press.) Eurnle"ma fauua from N. c.. (1964) Petrographic studies oj the Talchir "eric,; of Daltonganj coallield, Bihar. coal seams in the Pench-Kanhan coaltielcls, il/diall J1Iincra/s. India. XXll Inl Geol. Cong., '\ell' Delhi, 60. Sr"oR, E. P (1921) See I~ox, .Hrm. gl'o/. abs. 140-141 Srn·i'. India 58. 233. 48 R,,"IAS\I'A~IY, S. 1\: .. Rrzv!, S. H...\. 8: 61. SRrl'·lsT,IIl.I, \'. h. 8: ISRAELI, S, S. (1964). I(RrsH;-':A;\I0RTHY ..\. (1959). Report on the Bearing of heal \. mineral ,tuclies on the detailed mapping of the area around Keella p'l'ition of the harharbari bee],; in the Dalton and Loi 1'0, \\"est Bokaro coaltields Froa ganj coalfield. Bihar. Prol'. iild. S(i. Congo Rep. geot: SlIrv. india (llnpublislled). '. .,. 62 THO'f\S. G. .\ (1954). Correlation and 49. RAO, .-\. R. (1958). Fungal remains from some faunal aftinities oj the Marine Permian oj Tertiary deposits of India. Pa/ai'obolanisl. \\'estern .-\u"tralia (ALlSt.). Pew. Jml. OCt'{/l1. 7: 43-6. Sci. Cong., Perth. 50 HEED, F. H.. C (l92S). .\ Permo-Carboni 63 THo\IAs, G .\. 8: DrCJ(I)