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An Ultimate |Destination for,the Geoscientists © GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA 2018 An Ultimate Destination for the Geosclentists MAY 2018 & SWEST BENGAL: FOREWORD ‘am glad that SU: WB & AN, GSI Eastern Region, Kolkata s bringing outa special volume tied "West Bengal: An Ulimate Destination forthe Gooscentss' tc highight and showcase the pictorial presentation of varied features pertaining tothe diverse geological domains of West Bengal ranging In age from Precambrian to Recent ‘A plethora of datasets covering wide aspects of geoscientfic studies have been generated over the years by diferent stalwart worker of SU: WB & AN. However, a majo hurdle was the consolidation of relevant photographs having immense geoscentfc values under a single umbrella ‘The state of West Bengal represents a classic framework of heterogeneous landmass comprising of mighty Himalayas, high grade Proterazoleschstose rocks of Purlya, Gondwana sediments with rich coal resources, ivalks and vast streiches of Indo-Gangetc Plans. The state of West Bengal holds an important rol in mineral production ofthe country. In trms of value, the state accounts for 3.8% of mineral production in India and hosts various metalic and rnor-metalc mineral deposit ike coal, china day, fire clay, apatite, dolomite, imestone sca sand, base metals, wolfate, having widespread economic importance. & wide array of information on incate structural features related to Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) & Main Central Thrust (MCT), found inthe ‘selsmotectonicaly active Extrapeninsular Himalayan region of West Bengal ke thrusts, schuppens, folds and fauls have also been incorporated in this volume, ‘Sundarbans, a mangrove dominated complex ecosystem, which has evolved through progressive deta building activity ofthe Ganga-Padma rver system comprises of a set of detaic landforms lke iner-cistrbulary istands/marshes Separated by intricate network of cstibutary channelsfidal creeks associated with ial las, levees and sub-aqueous bars. Sundarban National Parks a UNESCO World Heritage site and hotspot of biodiversity, which holds great ‘signiicance across the lobe. | am happy to lear that some prominent photographs from this deltaic system have been assimilated inthis special volume, ‘This wil definitely havea far reaching significance before the commencement of ied stucies in the light of forthcoming IGC-2020. Bringing outa special pictorial volume wil deftly help geosclentsts, academicians, researchers and policy makers in visualizing the diverse geological ‘domains of West Bengal. | strongly believe this book wl gather fame and popularity among the public in general and earth science rate in patio. W Metebo (N. Kutumba Rao) Director General, GSI PREFACE aso shares ilemaional boundaries with counties ke Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The sate hosts geological uns ranging om Precambrian age to Recent mes, making ita storehouse of various minerals rocks and fssis. A varity of economic deposits found inthe state such as Coal, ‘Apatite, REEs, Dolomite, Ti-Tungsten, Copper, el..nake it one of the important contours to the Indian economy. Apart fom ts host of geological treasures, the stale is unique in having a vary of geomorphological features staring fom Hielayes inthe Noth othe Bay of Benga nthe south This geological diverse state isthe envy ofthe geosceific community of he country and the wold. The Precambrian fo Quaterary sequences found in the slate comprise of Precambrian basement flowed by huge col reserves of Gondwenas, over by he vest tracts of alia plains belonging to the words largest dela system- the Gango-Brehmaputa Dea. Also the Guaterary sequences at Gangani Bankura Dist) ae similar othe Grand Canyons CofA which adds to ts glial hetage Apart om is rich geological content the slate is unique among other states ofthe county as thas the Darjeeling Himelays in the north as wel a vast recs of coasial ree inte Digha-Fasergan;Namiana areas The slates also home to the wold famous Sundarban Bo-Diverty region whic has been designated as UNESCO Word Heage Site due o its vast mangrove planation. ‘All these features make the state of West Bengal an ultimate destination forall goosientsts which is why this cofee table book s tiled 'WEST BENGAL: An timate Destination fr Geosclentss’. This Coffee Table book sa pictorial presentation of some of the famous and unique geological and geomorphological features seen in the stat, curated by oficers of SU: WB-AN. This book does not contain detailed discussions onthe geology of the state however itis. intended for ight heered technica discussions between geoscientsts. ‘The officers of SU: WB-AN are thanked for their tireless efforts that have gone into preparing this book. ADG, HOD, GSI ER is thanked fr hs inspiration, ‘encouragement and fnancial support without which this book would not have been possible. T ‘state of West Bengal is at the eastem end of India, sharing domestic boundaries with the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. it “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort” Frank, D. Roosevelt (Kamal Kumar Gangopadhyay) Deputy Dict General SU: WB AN, ER, GSI fad >WEST BENGAL: , An Ultimate Destination forthe Geoscientists (GEO-TECHNICAL LABORATORY CHOTANAGPUR GNEISSIC COMPLE: NORTH SINGHBHUM MOBILE BELT SUNDARBAN, @NtTRoOoOUCTION o ete had been cl for interview as prospective Assistant Geologists atthe UPSC inenew cei. The Chairman ofthe Board asked me | knew about a geological window. As was expected | did not now about but had to pay along, | was asked to draw a cross-section and | ver inligenty drew abutercake stratigraphy and puta valey ats ener and sad the window waste over staa peeping outa he centro th valley The Chaiman perhaps knew even less about a geclgical window. He Ket looking a itand didnot make any remars. The nxt candidate entered tha hall shivering. He was asked whether he knew about a geological window. Before entering, my fend had asked me about what questions were ‘asked. | explained the geological window as | crew i The Chaiman looked a his cross-section ina very gum manne and sid "The erier boy must have told you about the cross section, Now | want a geological window ona hilltop". Obviously he could not raw it Lie did | know that my respected colleagues would begin playing in geological window n the Darjaeling Himalayas forthe next several years, However, Id not have the good frtune of colaborating wit them. LLetme go many more years back. As a young boy | had readin one ofthe popular Bengali magazines (Probasl, or Bharatbarsa or Basumat)) that ‘somewhere near Garbeta under the supervision of te then Distict Collector, the skeleton ofa human being was excavated. It was reported in that ‘magazine thatthe skeleton belonged toa man nearly seven feet tal, However, since then, | have red to get hold of any sort of confirmation about the incident and confess thatt was one of those things which motivated me to read geology. When | read about the Okiuval Gorge in Aca where evidence of he eaiest human population has been recorded, my mind travels back to what | had read asa boy. Ist not possible that some day ‘some of our successors wll be able o ig out human palaeo-emains from some ofthe red sols of West Bengal Now our ime is up but the time machine takes us back to our younger days when trekking klometers after Klometers was not a chore but a pleasure. Good fortune has allowed me to have some acquaintance with the old metamorphic rocks of Odisha and Bihar but gneisses of Chhotanagpur remained beyond my reach ‘The Puruia Pumped Storage Scheme was visualized in the late seventies and early eighties. Nobody believed then that the reservoir would hold enough water o run a pumped storage scheme successful at tha place. Yet itis perhaps the fst such scheme executed successfully ny where within India, ‘The green and white hls ofthe Himalayas pont thelr pies a the blue sky above; the verdant grean ofthe pains conceals so many mysteries; between the Rajmahal and Garo hils the concealed parts ofthe Bengal tough ae so deep as o have been almost beyond the technical capat of dling for ol. Since the eighties the discovery ofthe concealed coal bel of Bitohum promises to change the economy of West Benga ~ WEST BENGAL: of, An Uitimate Destination forthe Geoscientsts ‘Come to Kolkata and tle would you imagine that 6000 years before present, Kolkata was par ofthe Sundarban mangrove zone. The plains have been built up by the capricious interplay of rivers, Where the Damodar takes @ southward tum, you can even see a cone, an old smal delta pressing against the present river pain. The deli is clearly visible ona satelite imagery map. Nobody knows what underground resources are there, May be the next generation of workers can analyze and tel us what the prospects are. Rocks most pecular are encountered in some of the hardrock areas. The lead-zinc- suiphides and magnet rocks ofthe Garubathan areas can be globally interesting in terms oftheir origin. The mineralized zone from Purula into Bihar may mark the nothem extremity ofa fundamental fracture zone which has been welded into the Indian subcontinent On the easter seafront, one would find lines of dune ridges stretching from Digha in West Bengal to Andhra Pradesh, punctured by such rivers as, the Subamarekha. Nowhere else would you find such zone where the entire lateral width of Indian Geology has been squeezed by such a narrow pincer. The present book is a compendium of fled photographs from West Bengal. Betwoen the blue sky above, the red earth in between and the biue sea beyond, West Bengal beckons the earth scienlsis, May be one day it would yield even more secrels about her. Dr. Sujit Kumar Mazumdar Sr. Deputy Director General (Retd,) Lamprophyre dyke within sitstone bed in =| Raniganj coalfield a anigan| Coal isthe birtplace ofthe indian coal Industry that ushered in coal mining activi in bis county in lat eightsenth contr. Major part ofthe coalfield es in West Bengal wih oly the northwestem par piling vero sharkhand Earbest reference to coal exploitation i a meme presented to the then Goverment by 8. Healy and J. Surnerin 1774. Heal, Sumner and Redfere obtained the fst mining ight in Raigany Cold and bought 2500 maunds of anche oalin 1775. However, the coal was ot accepted as itwas found to be much infrrto that of Besh coal. Duarkanath Tagore purchased the fist Indian coal min in Ranga in 1882, wich eventally became te Bengal Coal Company. Rupert Jones (182) fst published the geology of Ranigan| Coal, Since then geology ofthe oad was refered to bya numberof workers. During 1925-28, Fox, Auden, Gee and ‘bers mapped the ete coal on 4 nch = 1 mile scale which was pubished by Gee (1932). Gee's emai foms the edifice forall subsequent geological survey, Rariganj Coats tho only callin india whore the known resource of ile Permian Rarigan| Formation surpasses that ofthe Early Perian Barakar Formation andthe coals the storehouse of uk ofthe superior ‘ually non-oking coal ofthe county. As on 01.04.2017 the known resource of coal of Raigan Coa in West Bengalis 24,806 59 milion tonne. However, vera large prt ofthe basinal area the Barakar Formation has not yt been explored due fo depth constant which would have substantially reroased te resource gue 2G Mr tinate Destination ortheGensintists 3 ; é : H 8 é