264 NERBUDDA DISTRICT. 



CHAP. IV. — THE DENUDATION. 



When discussing the question of the probable thickness of the schist 

 series and of the metamorphic group generally (see ante p. 131.) some 

 considerations were advanced which bear directly on the subject of the 

 denudation of the district. 



We know that beds now seen to out-crop in parallel lines on the flat 

 ground, and dipping in opposite directions, were 



Curved beds. , . 



once continuous, and that their curved prolong- 

 ation upwards must have formed great masses of rock, long since cleared 

 away. Evidence of this nature abounds; but besides this, many other 

 considerations go still further to increase our estimate of the extent of 

 denudation. 



For instance, we know that the Vindhyan fault was a down-throw 



_ , x . , , on the north, that is to say, the portion of the mass 



Denudation as suggested J . , 7 



by the Vindhyan fault. sou th of its line was raised above that north of 

 it. Since then, however, this elevated portion has been removed, and the 

 hill range now existing is that part of the mass which was at first 

 depressed below its original (relative) level. What, in short, is now the 

 Nerbudda valley must have been — just after the Vindhyan fault had 

 shifted the position of the rocks — a range of hills or a line of escarpment 

 looking down on a plain to the north. These facts show to what a vast 

 denudation this part of the surface has been subjected. But this is not 

 all ; for we find on the south side of the valley evidence precisely ana- 

 logous to what we have just described on the north of it. 



The Mahadeva fault was a down-throw to the south, so that here too 



Proved by the Maha- the P ortion of the surface now lower in level was 



deva fault. t j iat re i a tively elevated by the fault. Subsequent 



then to the Mahadeva fault the denudation must have been enor- 

 mous. 



