Panchet Series

It is the youngest series of the Lower Gondwana System, which derives its name from the hill of that name south ol Raniganj. The series consists of greenish- sandstone and shales. It is, however, devoid of coal-seams.

The iron-ore shales of the Lower Gondwana System are particularly well developed in the Raniganj coalfield of West Bengal. However, they contain inferior quality iron ore, i.e. siderite and limonite. Being inferior in quality, they are generally not mined for iron. The Gondwana System of rocks provides over 95% of the coal of India. Moreover, it provides iron-ore, limestone, sandstone and raw material for ceramic industry.

India’s best and largest coal deposits are found in the Gondwana System—mainly in the Damodar Valley of West Bengal, Jharkhand, the Mahanadi valley of Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the Godavari valley of Andhra Pradesh and the Satpura basin of Madhya Pradesh (Fig. 1.5).

As stated above, the beginning of the Upper Carboniferous Period is known as the Aryan period. The salient features of the Aryan formations are:

(i) During the Upper Carboniferous Period, the Himalayan region was occupied by a vast geosyncline which was connected to the Pacific Ocean in the east through China and the Atlantic Ocean in the west through Afghanistan, Iran, Asia Minor and the present Mediterranean Sea. This was called the Tethys Sea.

(ii) The area of the Kashmir Himalayas (from Pir Panjal to I lazara in the north-west and Ladakh in the north-east) witnessed violent volcanic activity.

(iii) The Upper continent of Gondwanaland developed fissures and its broken parts started drifting away from each other. The Subcontinent of India drifted towards north and north-east to collide with the Asian land mass (Eurasian Plate).

(iv) There was large scale eruption of lava in the Deccan Trap.

(v) The development and expansion of the Arabian Sea ami the Bay of Bengal.

(vi) The Tertiary mountain building gave birth to Himalayas.

(vii) The Subcontinent of India assumed its present shape.

(viii) The beginning of Ice Age, belonging to the Pleistocene Period, covering large parts of the earth under ice-sheet.

(ix) Evolution and spread of man in different parts of the world.