258 VREDENBURG: SKETCH OF BALUCHISTAN DESERT. 



limestone forming a conspicuous ridge underlies a richly fossili- 

 ferous nummulitic limestone and immediately overlies the volcanic 

 conglomerates (g), which present generally the same characters as 

 in the north-eastern branch of the syncline. Continuing the section 

 in a south-west direction, we find that beneath a considerable 

 thickness of these agglomerates is a thick series of tuffs and ash-beds 

 (h), associated with shales, sandstones and limestones that often 

 contain a large proportion of volcanic material. All these rocks 

 assume brilliant tints on the weathered surface. A great thickness 

 of these rocks is travelled through in a south-west direction up to 

 the axis of an anticline. South-west of the anticline the section 

 ascends again and the same series of rocks are met with until the 

 agglomerates re-appear again in the Siah K6h ; they do not seem 

 to be so extremely coarse as further north, being probably further 

 distant from the original volcanic centre. The structure of the 

 Siah Koh is that of a syncline which appears to widen out in a south- 

 east direction where there appears to be, so far as can be judged 

 from a distance, another outcrop of eocene strata similar to those 

 of Saindak. 



South-west of the Siih Koh is again another anticline. After 

 crossing the axis of the anticline, the rocks begin to show signs of 

 great compression ; jointing sets in, which soon amounts to distinct 

 cleavage, the planes of the slaty-cleavage dipping south-west at a high 

 angle (/). These features become more and more pronounced up to 

 a point where a very clearly exposed overthrust (see Fig. 19) * brings 

 a series of rocks of quite a different aspect (/£). They are once more 

 the same green shales and calcareous sandstones which were met with 

 in the great ranges east of Nushki (page 41) as well as at Mirui 

 (page 6 1), and elsewhere, and whose exact stratigraphic position 

 remains doubtful on account of the absence of fossils. They are not 

 similar to the Khirthar strata of Saindak, and it seems that the 

 Ranikot horizon is here entirely occupied by volcanic strata. Per- 

 haps they do represent the horizon occupied by the coarse agglomer- 



• The thrust-planes in the Saindak ranges are very similar in appearance to thosa 

 represented by Mr. Oldham in Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., Vol. XXV, p. 28. 

 ( 80 ) 



