10 HUGHES. — KARANPUEA COAL-PIELDS. 



consists principally of red and green clays^ micaceous sandstones and 

 felspathic sandstones^ often calcareous. The ujDper group is almost 

 exclusively composed of ferruginous sandstones, grits and conglome- 

 rates. In tlie Raniganj field several forms of Labyrinthodont reptiles 

 have been found in the lower group, which help to establish the 

 age of these rocks. The extension of the Panchet series over other 

 areas than the Damuda valley is very great, and the definition of its 

 limits is one of the most important tasks on which the survey is now 

 engaged. 



The three series which I have just described embrace the principal 

 sedimentary deposits of the Damuda, and they are found in each of the 

 different coal-basins, with the exception of the Jherria and the Ram- 

 garh fields. 



The Talchir Series. 



It will be seen by consulting the map that the Talchirs occupy 

 an area of only 9 square miles; cropping out irregularly along the edge 

 of the field. 



I need not recapitulate the peculiar characteristics of the Talchir 

 strata, considering how fully they have been described in foregoing 

 memoirs. The bottom bed is the boulder conglomerate : and above it, 

 is the usual succession of fine-grained sandstones and shales with an 

 occasionally interstratified boulder bed of small thickness. 



Remnants of the series occur between the Bokaro and the Karan- 



piira fields. The largest of these outliers lies north-east of Rikba 



and due east of Khapia. It is chiefly composed of fine shales, but 



at the bottom is a greyish green sandstone. This is mixed with 



fragments of quartz along its western boundarj^ where a quartz breccia 



exists. This occurrence is apt to create an idea that there has perhaps 



been a fault, subsequent to the deposition of the sandstone. I could, 



however, perceive no signs of crushing, and it is more probable that the 

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