138 BANIGANJ COAL FIELD. [ChAP, VII. 



Chapter VII. — Beds above the Panchet Grovp. 



I. Beds of Khyrasol. 



The ridge of high land running from North to South, over which the 



Grand Trunk Road is carried West of Khyrasol, about 16 miles East 



of Raniganj, and through which the Railway passes in a deep cutting 



near Kaliptir, is formed of coarse yellow and white 



Mineral character. . , 



felspathic grit, with beds of white, bluish-grey, and 



mottled clay, and thin bands of hard quartzose ferruginous grit. They 

 are well exposed in the Railway cutting just mentioned, where they 

 appear to dip about 2° to the North-east. There is no appearance of false- 

 bedding. The grits are more earthy than those of the Panchet group, and 

 abound in small angular pieces of felspar, which are much decomposed. 



These beds occupy a considerable area, stretching from the Damuda 

 near Khyrasol to the Adjai, but they are, in most part, covered and 

 concealed by laterite. This area is at some distance to the East of the 

 Raniganj field, so that these beds are not represented upon the map 

 which accompanies this Report. 



Similar beds occur further to the North, beyond the More River, near 



Muhammad Bazar, and East of Deocha, on the 

 Similar rocks in Beer- 

 bhoom. Dwarka River, just South of the end of the 



Rajmahal Hills. Other sandstones, probably belonging to the same for- 

 mation, have been noticed by Dr. Oldham and Mr. J. G. Medlicott, in 

 Bankura and Midnapur, and it is possible that the 

 In Bankura and Orissa. ^^ q£ sandgtone lying South-west of the town 



of Cuttack may belong to the same formation.* If so, these beds, 

 extending thus along the edge of the alluvium, deserve more notice 

 than has hitherto been given to them. They are probably of very 

 recent date, as their extension along the old coast line, and parallel to 



* Not, however, the Mahadeva of Talchir, which are very distinct in composition. 



