Jain Sanctuaries of the Fortress of Gwalior

Author(s): T V G Shastri
Publisher: Kundkund Gyanpith Indore

Page 28

Again, there are two principal zones of dense basic dioritic trap, on the trap concretions in the form of flatish balls of chert with a larger diameter upto 21/2 ft. long and always parallel to the bedding are common in shales. The jasper beds have concretionary structure. The concretions in jasper beds are 1/2 inch to 6 inch, but raising to 4 ft. in height and 4ft. in thickness. They are made of thin laminae of red jasper and hametite.
The lower zone trap consists of two or more beds with intervening shales occuring above 400 ft. from the base of Morar group and are well seen on both sides of the road leading to the Indore Highway, along 6 to 10 miles southwest of Gwalior city. The trap section is varying in thickness going upto 70 ft. at certain places. Sometimes they run through the shale beds.
The upper zone trap is considerably larger than the lower. Its least thickness is 500 ft. The whole plain of Morar is underlain by it and could be traced uniformly at certain places upto a distance of 30 miles (
West to East). It is prominently seen in the Vindhyan scrap of the hill fort of Gwalior that contain the Jain caves.
The Gwalior rocks are undisturbed having a steady northerly dip of 30 to 5o. The three southward ranges, that include the hill fort of Gwalior, raise to a height of 300 - 500 ft. above the plain, are formed out of Par sandstone. Away in the western side on a lower level, the hills are of Vindhyan sandstone.
In the Gwalior series, there is a conspicuous development of unmetomorphosed ferriginous shales, jaspers, porcellanites and hornstone associated with andesitic or basaltic lavas. The porcelainities according to the Geologists have originated from the effects of contact metamorphism of argellacious strata, while hornblende cherts and other sillicious rocks are due to the volcanic activity of the preriod.
In conclusion, the lower division of the Gwalior series resting upon the basement of gneiss is known as the Par and the upper designated as the Morar series. The Gwalior series according to the Geologists is an isolated horizontal outcrop of the unmetamorphosed Aravalli series.
PRE - HISTORIC REMAINS OF GWALIOR AND ITS ENVIRONS:
Earlier Discoveries :
Prior to 1954, not much work appears to have been caried out to identify the Prehistoric potential of the region. For the first time, Prof. V.S. Wakankar, accidentally came
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