PLEISTOCENE. 



30 



Here, perhaps, we have a miocene series which would fill in the gap 

 represented by the unconformity at Madar and in other parts of 

 Kahmard. 



In Kahmard; Saighan and Bamian there are large deposits of clay, 

 pebbly sandstone and conglomerate, which are presumably of Siwalik 

 age ; they are more argillaceous than the Siwaliks which occur in their 

 typical facies of conglomerate and pepper-and-salt sandstone throughout 

 the Kabul plain, at Khurd Kabul, Jagdallak, Gandamak, Daronta 

 and, in fact, at intervals all over the area between Kabul and the 

 Khyber. At Khurd Kabul the upper conglomerates are underlain by 

 marl and carbonaceous clay, the latter containing a few poorly pre- 

 served plant remains and also fragments of a small Planorhis. Similar 

 carbonaceous beds also occur to the east of the Lataband. 1 



The supposed Siwalik age of all these rocks is not supported by any 

 definite palseontological evidence, and lithological resemblance is often 

 a very misleading guide. They are undoubtedly old river-deposits, laid 

 down in the wide valleys which were formed during a Middle Tertiary 

 period of crust-movement, and in the absence of other evidence, it 

 seems best to group them with the similar Indian deposits of Upper 

 Tertiary (Siwalik) age. They have undergone a considerable amount 

 of disturbance since their deposition. On either side of the gorge of 

 the Kabul river above Gogomanda, they are seen capping the cliffs a 

 thousand feet or more above the present river-bed, whilst in the 

 neighbourhood of Jagdallak their dip is almost vertical where they 

 abut against the older crystalline limestone and schist. Out in the 

 more open plains, however, they are often quite horizontal and 

 apparently undisturbed. 



Pleistocene. 



Milch of the alluvium of Koh-i-Daman, of the Kabul plain and of 

 the valley of the Kabul river is no doubt of pleistocene age, but there is 



1 Infra, p. 45, 



