SATPURA BASIN.*
The
Satpura region, so called from one of the ranges of hills, consists of
a hilly tract separating the valleys of the Narbada and Tapti rivers.
It
is difficult to speak of this area as a single expanse of
coal-measures, since, as a matter of fact, they only appear at
intervals under the margins of younger groups, covering a wide extent
of country, which stretches for a distance of about 170 miles.
Accordingly, the estimated dimensions of the basin vary much according
to different authorities.
About
2,000 square miles appears to be a safe minimum, but besides this it
should be remembered that there is a considerable tract in which the
underlying formations are concealed by the tertiary Dekan traps, and a
large area towards. Jabalpur, in which no coal-measures have been
proved to exist under the younger formations which prevail there.
In
this region the several groups of the Gondwana system are developed to
their maximum extent. They have been named and classified by Mr. H. B.
Medlicott as follows :—
