308 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Section from Selmds to the Plain of Kho'i. Fig. 18. 



At about 3^ miles due north from the town of Dilman is a small 

 artificial *' tepeh," or mound, constructed upon the extremity of a 

 gravel spur from the east, at the village of Moranjiik. This gravel 

 is chiefly composed of angular and loose fragments of blue Hme- 

 stone. On quitting Moranjiik, the road turns to the N.E,, and 

 at the pass called Khonli Dereh, ascends over extensive and undu- 

 lating calcareous marl hills, the horizontal stratification of which is 

 partially concealed under a gravel-capping. On descending into the 

 Plain of Kho'i, the marls, c, fig. 18, make their appearance in power- 

 ful beds of light-blue and white layers, alternating with each other. 

 The next lower rock is a deep-red, indurated, calcareous marl, c?, 

 which rises into a beautifully rounded dome, called Kara Tepeh, on 

 the north side of which these red marls are again overlaid by the 

 white and blue beds, and these again by a thin layer of brownish- 

 yellow limestone, h. From the foot of the Pass to the Diizlak, or 

 *' Salt Hill," is a distance of 'd\ miles across a plain covered with 

 salt efflorescence on the surface. The glare arising from it renders 

 the short ride exceedingly painful to the eyes. The Duzlak is a 

 small and conspicuous hill in the centre of the plain, nearly circular 

 in form, three-quarters of a mile in circumference at its base, and 

 150 feet high. It has a remarkable appearance in the distance, and 

 is composed of a deep-red marl dome, e, rising from among super- 

 imposed beds of light-blue or grey marls. On examination, the red 

 marl proves to be exceedingly friable, and to be associated with a 

 fine-grained, exceedingly hard, red sandstone, impregnated with small 

 crystals of salt ; sometimes this sandstone is grey and of a fibrous 

 structure, and the mineral forms clear stalactites between the layers. 

 The blue or grey marls are capped by fine loose-grained sandstones, 

 which pass into a coarse gravel, abounding with Corals in a beautiful 

 state of preservation ; some of these undoubtedly lived during the 

 deposition of the gravel ; but others have been decidedly derived 

 from an old bed of crystalline yellow limestone, f and are much 

 rolled and worn. Large water-worn blocks of the limestone lie at 

 the base of the hill. I am unable to state whether they have been 

 transported from another locality, or whether they are projecting 

 fragments of the rock iii situ. I am inclined to regard them as 

 in situ, because they do not elsewhere appear on the plain. 



Immense excavations have been made into the blue marls for the 

 purpose of obtaining salt, which valuable mineral here occurs — 1st, 

 in a state of powder ; 2nd, in a sohd mass of irregular blocks, firmly 

 imbedded and locked with each other, hard and crystalline ; 3rd, in 

 transparent and very pure cubes. The second variety is the most 

 abundant. The transparent cubes are only met with at the lowest 

 parts of the excavations, which are now quite abandoned, owing to 

 the slovenly manner in which they have been conducted, and con- 

 sequently to the danger attending the working. The great wonder 

 is, that the labourers are not frequently buried by the falling of the 

 walls of the excavations. Some of the holes are 60 or 70 feet deep ; 



