STRATIGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 33 



8. Barmer Sandstones. 



The only strata of later age than the Talchirs, excepting recent 

 deposits, that occur in the area I have personally examined, are the 

 plant bearing sandstones of Barmer, mentioned by Mr. Blanford. 1 

 These rocks consist of whitish and grey sandstones locally indurated 

 and breaking with a conchcidal fracture, but sometimes soft and veined 

 or blotched with purple or red. At the base is a thick band of con- 

 glomerate, the pebbles in which are well rolled and are all derived from 

 the underlying Malani lavas. Some of the sandstones are locally slightly 

 calcareous. The beds dip to the north-east at angles of 20 to 25 and 

 near the town of Barmer form a narrow fringe along the margin of the 

 hills of lava. A small outlier of the conglomerate occurs at the top 

 of a conspicuous conical peak about a mile north-west of the town, 

 rising to about 500 feet above the plain and 1,387 feet above sea level. 

 Patches of a similar sandstone, surrounded by sand and alluvium, 

 occur at intervals for about 18'miles to the north and there are others 

 on the eastern side of the Barmer desert not far from the Luni. Here 

 they rest directly upon an uneven floor of the lavas. At Barmer 

 the sandstones are extensively quarried for millstones and buildino- 

 purposes. 



The upper limit of the sandstones is concealed by the alluvium of 

 the plain, and nothing can be seen of the overlying beds. A fine 

 unctuous clay 01 fuller's earth, which may overlie the sandstones is 

 found at Kapuli, a village about 12 miles to the north of Barmer, and 

 is quarried for sale as " Multani rriitti." It may be of lower Tertiary 

 age, for the same substance is found and quarried to the north-east in 

 Jaisalmir and Bikanir territory and is there associated with nummu- 

 litic limestones. 



I spent several days at Barmer in attempting to collect more well 

 preserved fossils from the sandstones than had hitherto been obtained. 

 It is impossible to get perfect specimens as the sandstones will iiot 

 1 Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., Vol. X, Pt. 1, pp. 1 1, 18. 



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