192 FOOTE : SOUTH MAHRATTA COUNTRY. 



Section II. — Intertrappean Beds. 

 Between some of the diflFerent flows of lava making up the Deccan 

 trap series^ occur sedimentary formations, which, where they have been 

 found fossiliferous, prove, from the nature of their organic contents, to 

 be of fresh- water origin. From the similarity of mineral character, 

 there can be very little doubt but that all these formations, at least in 

 this part of the world, were formed in fresh-water lakes or jhils. 



The fossils found were Fliysa Prinsejpii, a small delicate species of 



Lymnaa and JJnio Deccanensis, all species typical 

 Fossils. 



of the intertrappean deposits in Central India 



near Nagpur and elsewhere, thus proving that the traps of both regions 



belong to one and the same period. 



The number of intertrappean beds found in the South Mahratta 

 region is small, and they are of small extent later- 

 a„S,;ichSrr -% ^^^ vertically; being apparently mere local 

 deposits. In mineral character they difler much 

 from the majority of the Central Indian intertrappeans which are cal- 

 careous (limestones or calcareous grits) or cherty, while those in the 

 south are chiefly arenaceous deposits, sandstones, conglomerates, grits 

 and clay beds. 



Of the southern intertrappean beds only one was found to be 

 calcareous and one cherty, and unfortunately neither proved fossiliferous. 



The intertrappean beds found in the South Mahratta Country all 

 lie low down near the base of the trap series. In one important ease a 

 fresh-water marl was found to be resting directly on the gneiss rocks 

 and underlying, therefore, what locally appears to be the lowest trap-flow. 

 Whether this flow really represents the lowest of the series, or has merely 

 overlapped some yet older flow, could not be determined, but from the 

 shape of the ground, it appeared quite probable that it might be a case of 

 simple overlap against an old rising ground of the original gneiss surface. 



( 192 ) 



