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It is formed mainly by weathering and erosion. by Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Geologist. Above pictures are of Dome gneiss hill. This typical dome-gneiss (locally known as dongris) 26 km from Ranchi on Ranchi-Bundu highway (85 0 27 ” longitude and 23 0 14 ” latitude) has slopes on all sides (the average inclination being about 40 degree to 50 degree). There is little soil but oozing moisture from rock foliae supports tuft grass except the entirely bare rocky surfaces. A dome is a curved formation or structure. It is shaped like half of a sphere. Imagine cutting an orange in half, and placing it cut-side-down on a table. This is the shape of a dome, although most domes in nature are not perfectly rounded. Some natural domes develop when magma from deep within the Earth pushes up surface rock layers. This type of geologic dome can form as magma intrudes between two layers of sedimentary rock. The magma creates a dome or triangle shape as it pushes the other layers apart. The hardened magma ...

Bentonite may have played a major role in Fuller’s earth formation. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi   Fig. Mining of Fuller's earth.  Fig. Fuller's earth.  Fig. Mining area. Fig. Bentonite. Abstract: Pakur   is located in the north east corner of Jharkhand State of India. Major part of the district is characterized by undulating topography covered by basaltic flows of Rajmahal Trap. Fuller’s earth mining is limited up to a shallow depth only and it is done manually. Most of the Fuller’s earth is send to local market of Pakur and neighboring state of West Bengal. Local villagers have the ownership of the mining and the profit is distributed among them. Fuller’s earth is mainly of sedimentary origin. It occurs interstratified with geologically late sands and clays. It is thought that most fuller’s earth originated from volcanic ash. Montmorillonite and attapulgite are the principal constituents, and montmorillonite is characteristic of bentonite. There is further suggestio...

 The Dassam Fall is a natural cascade across the Kanchi River. by Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Geologist A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls are also called cascades. Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens slowly, while downstream the erosion occurs more rapidly. As the watercourse increases its velocity at the edge of the waterfall, it plucks material from the riverbed. Whirlpools created in the turbulence as well as sand and stones carried by the watercourse increase the erosion capacity. This causes the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed and to recede upstream. Often over time, the waterfall will recede back to form a canyon or gorge downstream as it recedes upstream, and it will carve deeper into the ridge above it. The process of erosion, the wearing away of earth, plays an im...

Hand Print was found in a rock shelter. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Fig. Hill near Ranchi where Rock painting was found. A few days ago, during my geological trip to the near by hills in Ranchi city of Jharkhand state of India , I had the opportunity to see rock art for the first time in the city. These rock paintings were found on a hill some 5 kms North of Ranchi city. This hill is composed of granite gneiss rocks. Earlier I saw such paintings far away from the Ranchi city in the villages or in remote areas during my field studies. Fascinated by the detail of their making, I chose them as the subject with geology.  Currently, as a researcher in Geology, I am elaborating on this topic further by studying the engravings of such paintings on the rocks of Ranchi Plateau. There are abstract of geometric symbols, parallel lines, and fence-like patterns. Other symbols hand- and footprints, dancing images etc. Most of the symbols were drawn with great care and were obviously arranged wit...

The waterfalls of Ranchi plateau are due to disturbances in late geological age. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Fig.1 Johna falls is the example of waterfalls resulting from upliftment.  Fig.2 Dasam falls formed due to upliftment.   Fig. 3 Hundru falls is the example of knickpoint falls. A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls are also called cascades. Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens slowly, while downstream the erosion occurs more rapidly. As the watercourse increases its velocity at the edge of the waterfall, it plucks material from the riverbed. Whirlpools created in the turbulence as well as sand and stones carried by the watercourse increase the erosion capacity. This causes the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed and to recede upstream. Often over time, the waterfa...

Theory begins some 50 million years back. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi. One of my friends suggested me to become non-vegetarian. He gave the interesting example about the benefit of becoming non- vegetarian. He said that all non-vegetarian animals like tiger, cheetah, wolfs are slim compared to vegetarian animals like buffalo, elephant, zebras etc. I started searching the mystery of why vegetarian animals are so fat? Some theories are hidden in pages of time million years back. Why did some prehistoric animals get so big in the first place? No one knows for sure, but there are lots of theories. One theory begins some 50 million years back. The past 50 million years appear to have been a time of progressive deterioration. On every vegetated continent, grasses and small hard leaves widened their domain. While certain herbivores accommodated to the new foliage- and evolved the art of eating coarse, fibrous fodder-other species, committed to Eocene and Oligocene ways, died. In many animal...

People confused it with flying object or a satellite. By Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi Venus planet near to Earth. Few of my friends call me up to know about the bright object in the sky above Ranchi city. They confused it with some flying object or a satellite. It is Venus, I told them. It’s the planet which is easily visible at nightfall around the world in early November. Venus continues to draw all eyes to the western sky after sunset. Observers have been watching the bright planet for many weeks, although it seems that a fairly large percentage is not quite sure exactly what they have been looking at. Venus has increased noticeably in recent days. Venus beams mightily in the west at dusk, as seen from across the Earth. You can’t miss it. It sets roughly two-and-one-half-hours hours after sunset at mid-northern latitudes in early November and close to three hours after the sun by the month’s end. Venus! It’s the beautiful “evening star.” The best time to observe Venus is actually in...