504 Report on the Salt Range, [Nov. 



the neighbourhood of Pind Dadud Khan, at Noorpoor to the westward, 

 and are much developed at Kalibag. To the east of Pind Dadud Khan 

 they are very deficient, and do not exceed a few feet in thickness, being 

 represented by a soft yellow fine grained friable calcareous sandstone 

 and yellow marl. 



In these strata organic remains, exclusively of marine origin, are found 

 in considerable abundance, particularly at Kalibag, Musakhail and Noor- 

 poor. Nummulites and other Foraminifera abound, becoming more and 

 more plentiful at a higher position in the series of rocks forming the 

 range. 



At Kalibag Belemnites associated with Ammonites, species of Echino- 

 dermata corals, &c. occur, their color being light brown. The former 

 have never been found in strata inferior to the Lias formation, and this 

 circumstance, together with the fact stated by Professor Ansted in his ex- 

 cellent work on Geology, that Echinidae for the first time in an ascend- 

 ing order appear in rocks of the Oolitic iEra, induce us to believe that 

 the variegated strata of the salt range are succeeded by others of a dif- 

 ferent formation, which in all probability belong to an age more recent 

 than the Lias. At Musakhail, about 10 miles E. of the Indus, the 

 fossils found in the limestone differ considerably from those of other 

 localities, and will be noticed hereafter. 



Lower Yellow Marl. — We have alluded to a yellow marl as occurring 

 above the calcareous strata. This is seen along the whole of the range, 

 presents a strikingly uniform appearance and is full of marine shells, 

 some of which do not occur in the strata inferior to it. 



Bituminous Shales including Seams of Coal. — The marl forms the 

 basis of a series of bituminous shales interlaminated with beds of blue 

 clay and full of iron pyrites and large crystals of gypsum. These shales 

 differ much in thickness at various points, and include seams of coal. A 

 few shells are occasionally to be found in the shales similar to those of 

 the marl on which they rest, and in a marl of the same character which is 

 superimposed and passes into a very compact limestone of a light grey 

 color, sometimes however separated from it by strata of a yellow calcare- 

 ous sandstone of no great thickness. 



Upper yellow Marl. — The upper marl is in some places so compact 

 and composed of the comminuted remains of shells and a few corals, as 

 almost to entitle it to the name of shell limestone. From it we obtained 



