354 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



on the west of Nagpur ; but it is seen abundantly within the trap- 

 district at Sagar N. of Dudhgaum, and at Pandaratalaw S.W. of 

 Umrec?. At Karanla, E. of the same town, it overhes plutonic 

 rocks, and from Pawani on the Wein Ganga it stretches in a broad 

 belt sometimes over sandstone and at other times over gneiss and 

 granite towards Weiragac?. South and west of this throughout all 

 the province of Chanda it occurs more or less. I have already men- 

 tioned the fact of its resting on dolomite at A'mbagiri. At Mahonda 

 on the Kanhan, straight east from Nagpur, — at Dharmapuri and 

 Karbi in the basin of the Sur River, which flows from Ramtek into 

 the Wein Ganga, — and again in the neighbourhood of Chandpur 

 further up the Wein Ganga, the same formation is presented to view. 

 But it is on the east bank of the river that its most extensive 

 development is witnessed. Crossing the Rayepur road at several 

 places it unites on the north of it to form extensive tracts in the 

 district of Lanji, and all around Hatta and Kamta. 



The superficial deposits that are superior to laterite are either red 

 or black. The former is found in general where plutonic rocks, 

 sandstone, or laterite prevail, though instances are not rare of the 

 latter being met with in such situations. The "regur," or black 

 soil, occurs almost universally where trap abounds. 



Desc7'iption of the Strata. — Having thus given some account 

 of the extent of the formations within our area, as they appear 

 on the surface, I shall now endeavour to point out in a descending 

 order their thickness, nature, contents fossil or mineral, as the case 

 may be, and age. 



I. Superficial Formations. 



1. Black Soil or Regur. — The regur is of no great depth in this 

 district, seldom if ever exceeding 20 feet. In some places, as at 

 Takli village, it is seen to overlie a stratum of brown tenacious clay, 

 which, like itself, is much mixed with " kunker." I have not suc- 

 ceeded in finding any organic remains in the regur except bones of 

 oxen and sheep, of very doubtful antiquity. 



2. Red Soil. — The red soil in our area is of greater depth than 

 the black, frequently displaying a section of 50 feet. Like it, it 

 seems to rest on a brown calcareous clay, at the bottom of which 

 there is in general a layer of conglomerate. In river-basins it alter- 

 nates with layers of loose sand and gravel, often imbedding existing 

 fluviatile shells of the genera Melania, Cyrena, and Unio. In the 

 district west of Nagpur, the rivers often expose a bed of sand and 

 gravel cemented by a small quantity of lime, and in its consolidated 

 state furnishing blocks of sandstone or conglomerate two or three 

 feet thick. This stratum for the most part is unfossiliferous, but 

 near the Kolar, about ten miles north of Nagpur, there occurs in it 

 an abundance of Paludina, Melania, and Cyrena, which, though be- 

 longing to existing species, from the nature of the matrix have been 

 much altered since the period of their deposition. Of some the 

 cavities are simply filled with siliceous and calcareous matter, but in 



