Chap. VIIT.] arrialoor grotjp — trichinopoly district. 133 



contained fossils of undoubted Trichinopoly age. We might hence infer these sands to 



be of Trichinopoly age, and might assume the Kannanore conglomerate to be at the base 



of the AxTialoor groups, but on the other hand, sands of precisely similar character are 



intercalated with fossiliferous beds of Arrialoor age near Shutambaudy and again to the 



East of Koloture, and as they include pebble conglomerates similar to that in question, 



but unfossiliferous, there is equal reason to beheve that this fossihferous conglomerate, 



which is quite local and does not extend 50 yards to the South 

 Apparent passage. j ^^^ ^ 



of the village, is merely a lenticular patch deposited under similar 



conditions to the sands themselves. So far as can be ascertained, the whole of the beds, apai't 



from frequent false-bedding, are conformable, dipping at angles of 2° to 4° to the Eastward. 



About half a mile to the South of the village, the dip changes to N. E. N or N. N. E., but that 



of the Trichinopoly beds changes likewise and a N. E, dip prevails through the beds in the 



neighbom-hood of Moulvoy and Serdamungalum, On the whole therefore I infer that the white 



sands of Kannanore, which are co-extensive with those to the North of Moulvoy, form the 



Northern exti-eme of the irregular deposits, which extend from Malarasure, and which can be 



classed neither with the Trichinopoly nor Arrialoor groups. Connected to some extent with 



both these groups, they appear to mark an intervening period of shifting deposits, ofFerino' 



conditions eminently unfavorable to the preservation of fossils. This period was possibly 



of long duration, so that a considerable change had taken place in the character of the 



local fauna before the recurrence of that period of regular deposition, which coincides 



with the commencement of Arrialoor time. 



For some distance to the North of Kannanore nothing is seen of the lower Anialoor beds, 



and near Koloture we first find the base of the group toler- 

 Bottom beds at Koloture. ,, ■,, -.r.-.., i-i ■■■.■^ 



ably well denned. About 150 yards beyond the Eastern end of the 



tank bund of the village, a ridge of blocks of conglomerate, full of fragments of Inoceramus 

 and pebbles of the Ootatoor (?) beds, is seen coursing along the hill side in a N. N. E. direction. 

 This bed belongs to the Arrialoor group, as is proved by its yieldinga number ofvery characteristic 

 fossils ; 50 yards to the West of it is another similar band of calcareous conglomerate, full of 

 pebbles of quartz and felspar, and fossils characteristic of the Trichinopoly groups, and there- 

 fore at this point either the conglomerate first mentioned is the bottom bed of the Arrialoor 

 group, or the base of the group must be somewhere between the two beds. Unfortunately 

 there are no sections in which the precise relation of the two formations can be ascertained On 



White saads and fossiliferous ^^^ '"S^ ground to the East of Koloture, however, the beds which 

 shales. Koloture. immediately succeed these lowest, are exposed to a considerable 



extent. They consist of white sands with shaly intercalations, in which are found a number 

 of characteristic fossils. Among the common species are iVawii'/ws JSottc/iarrfzawMs, D'Orb., 

 two or three Ammonites of the Khotomagensis and Lsevigati sections ; Inoceramus and 

 Cyprina with Nautilus Trichinopolitensis,n. s., and Nautilus rota, n.s., Rostellaria, Turritella, 

 Scalar ia, and several other species in smaller numbers. The most interesting fossil I found 

 at this spot was a tolerably perfect specimen of a Marsupite, almost the only one met with. 

 The general dip of the beds is East 6^. 



The white sands extend for some distance to the North, but are rarely exposed, owing to 

 the character of the country, which is low and flat, and evenly covered with black soil. They 

 are met with at Goodaloor and again to the South-East of Coothoor, and 2 miles to the East of 

 that village, I found similar beds in a M'cll just beyond the outlier of the Cuddalore sandstones 



