GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 31 



small scale of 16 miles to an inch, represents only the main features of the 

 geology. The large areas remaining to be mapped in India, and the 

 want of detail in many of the topographical maps available, prevent the 

 devotion of time sufficient for a close examination of any region, unless 

 the presence of valuable minerals justifies a departure from the general 

 rule. This is not the case in Sind. On the other hand, the geology of the 

 Sind hills is singularly simple ; many of the ranges are perfect geological 

 diagrams, and from the absence of vegetation and the clearness of the 

 atmosphere, the outcrop of formations, such as the nummulitic and 

 miocene limestones, may frequently be traced for many miles on the 

 hill-sides, with absolute certainty, from a distance. In some places the 

 want of population, and even of water, throughout considerable areas, 

 renders surveying difficult, and very possibly this drawback accounts for 

 some of the deficiencies of the Revenue Survey map, especially in the case 

 of the Laki range. In some seasons no rain falls in parts of Sind, and 

 then whole tracts of country become only accessible by the troublesome 

 and expensive process of carrying water from a distance. Fortunately, 

 in the years 1874, 1875, and 1876, heavy rain fell in most districts of 

 Sind and rendered the examination of the wilder tracts comparatively 

 easy. 



CHAPTER III. 1 — GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 



The following is a general section of the formations found in Western 

 Section of formations Sind. It must be recollected that the whole 

 in Western Sind. section is not found in any single place; that the 



lower Khirthars, seen on the western flank of the Khirthar range, are 

 not actually exposed within the province ; and that they are very possibly 

 represented by the Ranikot beds of the Laki range. The list is in 

 descending sequence. 



1 This chapter is copied, with a few alterations, from that published in the Manual of 

 the Geology of India. 



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