GEOLOGY OF INDIA AND BURMA BY M. S. KRISHNAN M.A., PH.D., A.R.C.S., D.I.C., M.A.I.:M.E. GEOLOGICAL SUR.VEY OF INDIA THE MADRAS LAW JOURNAL OFFICE MADRAS 1949 Co/tPtight by 1111 Author PRINTED AT THE IlADRAS lAW JOURNAl. p ... IIY LAP<llU, MADRAS 1949. UNIVERSITY OF A.)RICU~ TlJn ,L SC:"NCES UNIVERSITY lIBRARV. UANuAlO"E Accession No _g_~2.6" Ddte .. _., .•• _•......•............ Pl{EFACE. The first edition of the official Manual of the Geology of India by Medlicott and Blanford appeared in 1879 and a second edition by R. D. Oldham was published in 1893. They were out of print by IglO or thereabouts. Students of geology were, however, fortu­ nate in the publication, by Mr. D. N. Wadia, of his excellent book 'Geology of India' in I gIg, and the subsequent editions. For about a quarter of a century it has been the only book available on the subject. A new book on Indian Stratigraphy needs therefore no apology to make its appearance, especially at a time when the subject is attracting the attention of an increas­ ing number of students and the educated public alike. I have endeavoured to include all the most import­ ant and useful information up to the time of going to Press subject to the limitations set by the size and standard of this book. But, as my official duties have kept me away from Calcutta since the latter part of 1941, I have not had the advantage of the unrivalled library facilities available at Calcutta at the time of the final revision of the manuscript. From the time I began the manuscript, I have received constant encouragement from Dr. Cyril S. Fox, Director of the Geological Survey of India, who found time, amidst his manifold duties, to read it through. I am indebted to him for many useful suggestions, for permission to make use of the Geological Survey publications for illustrations, and for obtaining for me the sanction of the Government of India to publish the book. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the valuable help I have received from my colleagues Messrs. N. K. N. Aiyangar and M. S. Venkataraman at all times during iv GEOLOGY OF lNDIA AND 1}uRMA. the preparation of the manuscript and during its publi. cation. To Dr. K. Jacob I am grateful for assistance and helpful criticism in conn~ction with the chapter on the Gondwana System and in the preparation of the plates illustrating that chapter. Several difficulties cropped up soon after the manuscript was handed over to the Madras Law Journal Press for publication. My warmest thanks are due to the management and staff of the Press for surmounting the difficulties and sUl.cessfully bringing out the book in spite of the unprecedented conditions created by the war, and for the courtesy shown to me at all times. M. S. KRISHNAN. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGES. INTRODUCTION AND PHYSICJ\L GEOLOGY • 1-45 The Chit.f divisions of India and their physiographic, stratigraphic and structural features. Climate. Pen­ insular mountains-Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Vindhya mountains, Assam and Aravalli ranges. Extra-Penmsular Ranges-arcuate dispositIon; Tibe­ tan, Karakoram, Kailas, Ladakh and Zanskar Ranges; HImalayas proper j Baluchistan and Burma arcs. Glaciers, snow-line, dimensIOns, recession. Rivers, Peninsular and Himalayan; Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra systems; Rivers of Burma. Geological action of flvers. Lakes-Prnimular, Extra-Peninsu­ lar and Burmese. Earthquakes. Volcanoes. Mud volcanoes. CHAPTER II. STRUCTURE AND TECTONICS OF INDIA Peninsula: Regional strikes-Aravalli, Dharwarian, Eastern Ghats, Mahanadi and Satpura; Cuddapah basms; Faults; Western and eastern coasts. Extra­ Prnimula' Himalayas-four parallel zones;. the Kashmir, Simla, Garhwal, Nepal and Sikkim Hima­ layas. Burma: Arakan, Central and Eastern belts; the Bay of Bengal; the Andaman and other ridges; Igneous belts of Burma; Orogemc periods. Trend lines in the north-western arc-Hazara, N.W. Fron­ tier, Baluchistan; Mekran coast and the Arabian Sea. Potwar and Assam Plateaux. Origin of the Hima. layas and the Gangetic Plains; Geodetic observations and Isostatic anom~lies. CHAPTER III. GENERAL REVIEW OF INDIAN STRATIGRAPHY 82-93 Principles of Stratigraphy: Lithology, fossil content, facies, order of superposition, conformability, distur- bances. Standard scale of FormatIOns and Stages. VI· GEOLOGY OF INDIA AND BURMA. PAGEL General review of Indian Stratigraphy. Geological formations of Indw and their dIffel ent [dcies. CHAPTER IV. TilE ARCHAEAN GROUP-PENINSULA Introduction The terms Archaean, AlgonkIan, Dhar· warIan and Gneis~i(' complt-x. Distribution. Mysore and Southern Bombay-Dh,lrwars, Champion gneiss, Peninsular gneiss, Charnockite, Closcpet and Belial y granite. Hyderabad-Dharwars, Grey and Pmk gneIsses Nellore-Dharv. ars, Carnatic gneiss, grani­ tOid gneIss and Mlca-pegmatItes. Southern Madras -Ferrugmous rocks and gneisses, Alkali rocks, Ultra­ basic rocks. Ceylon. Metamorphism of the South Indian Archaeans. Eastern Gh.lts-Gneisses, Khoncl­ ahtles, Charnockttes, Koduntes, etc. Jeypore-Bastar­ Chanda. Sambalpur. Sonakhan beds. R,upur­ Drug. Bilaspur-Balaghat-Cllilpi and Sonawani series. Nagpur-Bhandara-Sakoli series. Nagpur­ Chhmdwara-Sausar series. Bengal. Singhbhum­ Iron ore series, Ultra-basic rocks, Gneisses, Kolhan senes. Gangpur State-Gangpur series. Son valley. Jubbulpore Bundelkhand. Rajputana-Gneissic complex, Bundelkhand gneiss, Aravallis, Raialos. Assam-Gneisses, Shillong series, Greenstones and Granite. Correlation of the Peninsular Archaeans­ CrIteria for correlation; ~uggcsted equivalents. CHAPTER V. THE ARCHAEAN GRoup-ExTRA-PENINSULA North-western Hunalaya-Salkhala series, gneisses, Dogra Slates. Spiti-Vaikrita and Haimanta systems. Simla-Garhwal-Jutogh and Chail series. Nepal­ Slkklm-Dalmg and Darjeeling s('rics. Bhutan and Eastern Hlmalaya-Buxa senes. Burma-Myitkyina, Mogok tract, Shan States, Te'nnasserim ; Correlation of the Burmese Archaeans CHAPTER VI. MINERAL RICHES OF THE ARCHAEANS Gold, Copper, Chromite, Iron, Manganese, Lead, Tin, Tungst~n, Nickd, Cobalt, Titanium, Molybdenum, CONTENTS. Vl," PAGES. ColumbiurnwTantalum, Mica, Asbestos, Apatite, Corundum, Garnl't, Graphite, Magnesite, Sillimanite, Kyanite, Steatite and Talc, Gemstones, Building and Ornamental Iltones CHAPTER VII. THE CUDDAPAH SYSTEM 17 1- 186 General. ConstitutlOn. Absf"nce of fossils. Divisions. Distribution. Cuddapah basin of Madras. Kaladgi series. Pakhal series. Penganga beds. Bijawar series. Delhi system. Gwalior system. Economic mineral deposits. CHAPTER VIII. THE VINDHYAN SYSTEM 187- 198 - General. Semri, Kaimur, Rewa and Bhander series. Kurnoo} system. Bhlma and Sullavai series. Mineral dl"posits. CHAPTER IX. THE PALAEOZOIC GROUP: CAMBRIAN TO CARBONIFEROUS •• ' 99-!240 Cambrian system-Salt Range, Kashmir, Spiti, Burma. Ordovician and Silurian systems-Spiti, Kashmir, Garhwal-Kumaon, Hazara, Burma. Devonian sys­ tem-Splti, Kashmir, Chitral, Burma. Unfossili­ ferous Palreozoics-Kashmir, Hazara, Simla-Garh­ wal. Correlation. CHAPTER X. THE GONDWANA SYSTEM Introduction. Nomenclature and Extent. Two-fold division. Talchir senes. Umana marine bed. Da­ muda series-Barakar, Barren Measures and Rani­ ganj; Motur stage; Kamthi beds; Pali, Himgir, Bi­ jori and Almod beds. Panchet series-Mangli and Deoli beds; Parsora stage. Mahadeva series-Pach­ maThl stage, Malen and Tiki beds; Denwa and Bagra stages. RaJrnahal series-Rajmahal, Kota and Chi­ kiala stages. J abalpur senes-Chaugan and J abalpur stages. CQastal develQpment-Kathiawar, Cutch, vw... GEOLOGY OF INDIA AND BURMA • PAGES. Orissa, Godavari, Ongole, Madras, Trichinopoly, Ceylon. Igneous rocks. Features of Gondwana areas. Climate amI sedimentation. World distribu­ tIOn of the Gondwana system. Permo-CarbonIferous floras. Structurt" of the Gondwana basins. Palit'o­ geography. Mmt"ral deposits. Gondwana Coalfidds ; Ramganj and JharJa fields. CHAPTER XI. THE UFPER CARBONIFEROUS AND PERMIAN SYSTE\{S 299-326 Upper Palreozoic unconformity. Spiti. Hundes. Mt. Everest region. Kashmir-Panjal volcanics, Agglo­ meratic slates, Gangamopteris beds, Zewan beds. Salt Range--Boulder-bed, Olive series, Speckled sandstones, Productus lime tone. Faunal characters and evolution. Sub-Himalaya-Kashmir-Hazara Slmla-Garhwal. CHAPTER XII. THE TRIASSIC SYSTEM 327-363 General. Spiti. Pamkhanda. Byans. Johar. Kash­ mir. Sikkim. Review of Himalayan Trias. Salt Range. Hazara. Attock. Baluchistan. Burma. Fauna of the Triassic. CHAPTER XIII. THE JURASSIC SYSTEM General. Spiti. Nlti Pass and Shalshal cliffs. Byans. Garhwal. Kashmir. Hazara. Attock. Salt Range. Bannu. Samana Range. Baluchistan. Rajputana. Cutch. Madras Coast. Burma. CHAPTER XIV. THE CRETACEOUS SYSTEM 387-41 7 General. Extra-Peninsula-Spiti, Johar, Kumaon and Tibet; Kashmir; Hazara; Attock; Samana Range; Chitral ; Baluchistan-Sind; Salt Range. Peninsular areas-Bombay; Cutch; Narbada valley; Trichi­ nopolv; Vnddhachalam-Pondicherry; Rajamahen­ dri. Assam. Burm.l. Igneous rocks. CONTENTS. IX PAGES CHAPTER XV. THE DECCAN TRAPS General. Distribution and extent. Structural features. Dykes and sills. Petrology and petrography. Che­ mical characters. Alteration and weathering. Lameta series. Infra-trappeans. Inter-trappeans. Age of the Deccan Traps. Mineral deposits. CHAPTER XVI. THE TERTIARY GROUP General. Break-up of the Gondwanaland. Elevation of the Himalayas. Fluviatile and marine facies. Distnbution-Smd and Baluchistan; Salt Range; Potwar Plateau; Jammu and the Punjab; Assam; Burma; Eastern coast; Travancore ; Western India and Rajputana. CHAPTER XVII. THE EOCENE SYSTEM General. Distribution-Sind and Baluchistan: Rani­