KHIRTHAR RANGE. 99 



appears to be a synclinal, and the Sowet hills, farther west, are composed 

 of several ridges forming an anticlinal, which sinks down and disappears 

 beneath higher beds farther south. Far to the westward a high range, 

 called Khuda, looks as if formed of Khirthar limestone. 



In this section at least 10,000 feet of strata must be exposed below 

 the main Khirthar limestone, yet nothing resembling the Ranikot beds 

 can be seen, still less any rocks resembling the Deccan trap, or the 

 cretaceous beds of the Laki range. It has already been shown in 

 Chapter III that the lower portion of the section, comprising the beds 

 numbered 11 and 12, is probably cretaceous, as Ammonites have been 

 found in similar beds in Kelat. 



The rocks beneath the Khirthar limestone extend for a considerable 

 distance, both north and south, along the western side of the Khirthar 

 range. They were seen from Dharyaro, and may extend much further 

 north, but they were only examined at the section just described on the 

 upper Gaj. 



From the Gaj to the Shakalwi pass, a distance of 2 or 3 miles, 

 Khirthar ridge south ^ ne Khirthar ridge is simple, consisting merely of 

 of Gaj river. grey Khirthar nummulitic limestone, scarped to 



the west, and dipping east-south-east at about 35°. There is a low saddle 

 (height by aneroid about 3,500 feet) at Shakalwi, and then the range 

 rises to Mamtal ; thence to the southward there is for many miles a 

 broad ridge of Khirthar limestone lying nearly flat, with more or less 

 level ground on the top, a precipitous scarp on the western side towards 

 Kelat, and a steep cliff to the eastward. On this tableland patches of 

 lower Nari limestones occur every here and there as usual, but all 

 appear to be small and unimportant. The valley running south from the 

 peak, called Chang Dang on the map, appears to be chiefly, if not entirely, 

 composed of Khirthar beds. Further south, the range near Phunsi has a 

 long slope of Khirthar limestone to the eastward, corresponding with the 

 dip of the rock. 



South of the Gaj river the Gaj beds occupy a considerable area, the 

 dips being very low, although higher near the eastern and western bound- 



( 99 ) 



