J^evieivs — Geological Survey — Geology of India. 123 



the only serious orogenic movements occurred in late Tertiary times, 

 there is a general physical parallelism amongst the lower Tertiary 

 strata, but the interruptions in deposition are, according to 

 Mr. Vredenburg, none the less pronounced when the palseontological 

 evidence is sifted. Thus there is found to he a conspicuous break, 

 both stratigraphical and faunistic, throughout the regions under 

 description, between beds of Eocene and those of Oligocene age, which 

 latter pass upwards by gradation into the equivalents of the Lower 

 Miocene. A break again occurs before the establishment of the 

 Mac char (Siwalik) strata. 



At the base of the Tertiary system itself there occurs an important 

 break, sepai'ating it from the Cardita £eaumo7ifi-heds of Cretaceous 

 age, which are placed by Mr. Vredenburg as low as the Maestrichtian. 

 It is concluded, therefore, that the uppermost Cretaceous beds of 

 Western India are separated from the Tertiaries by a gap, occupied by 

 the Thanetian and Montian stages in Europe. 



Under the heading of "Tertiary" we must advert briefly to the 

 geology of the Andaman Islands, which attracted the attention of 

 Indian surveyors some years ago. According to a recent survey 

 it would seem that beds of Tertiary age are largely represented in 

 these islands. Mr. Tipper shows that beneath recent and sub-recent 

 formations of no particular interest there are clays, foraminiferal 

 limestones, sands, and shell-marls of Miocene age ; also in North 

 Andaman a large outcrop of coarse sands and conglomerates with 

 JVummulites atacica, Leym., and AssiUna granulosa, D'Arch., of 

 Eocene age. In South Andaman the Eocene beds are represented by 

 micaceous sandstones and shales with leaf impressions, etc. The 

 underlying serpentines, gabbros, and diorites are probably of Upper 

 Cretaceous age. A comparison with the rocks of the Aracan Yoma 

 shows that the Andamans are a continuation of the same system. 



Cretaceous. — As a further contribution to the probability of the 

 Cretaceous age of the Deecan Trap, Mr. Vredenburg announces the 

 recognition, amongst beds of Maestrichtian age in Beluchistan, of 

 the characteristic Intertrappean fossil Physa Prinsepii, Sow. In 

 Central India the examination of the Deecan Trap and Intertrappeans 

 has continued, and some interesting facts with regard to the old soils 

 and the fresh-water deposits have been noted. At one locality, where 

 an Intertrappean bed is well developed, it was found to consist of 

 6-10 feet of cream-coloured marl and limestone, the upper layers 

 of which were crowded with well-preserved specimens of Fhysa. It 

 is of interest to note that the respective areas, where red clay bands 

 and Intertrappean aqueous deposits are found, do not commingle, 

 a fact which bears out the interpretation that the former represent old 

 land surfaces and the latter areas more or less under water. 



Triassic. — A special memoir on the Triassic fossils of the Central 

 Himalayas appears in the Falceontologia Indica, and supplements the 

 descriptions of older collections. There is a strong similarity between 

 the Himalayan and the Alpine Muschelkalk. The upper beds are 

 especially rich in Brachiopoda, whilst in the lower beds Cephalopoda 

 predominate. Amongst the Cephalopoda described in the memoir 

 twelve species are either closely related to or identical with those 



