The peripatetic fossils: part 3
The articles printed below are by co-authors of some of the papers called into doubt by Talent. Two are by close colleagues of Gupta at the Centre of Advanced Study in Geology at Panjab University.
The case of the peripatetic fossils
Through the activities of one Indian scientist, the palaeontological literature on the Himalayas has become shot through with disinformation.
Palaeozoic Stratigraphy of Kashmir, Kishtwar and Chamba (Panjab Himalayas)
The paper gives a review of the Palaeozoic successions of Kashmir and the region adjoining in the SE (Kishtwar, Pangi, Chamba). Special reference is given to the diverse notes on fossil contents of the beds. The b a s a l formations show a distinct geosynclinal (greywacke) facies. They range up from the Late Precambrian .to the Silurian as shown by rare fossil horizons. The T a n a w a l s (Ordovician-Upper Carboniferous) indicate a persistence of flyschoid deposition which has become more arenaceous. This facies is intertonguing with the shallow water facies of the M u t h Q u a r t z i t e (Devonian) and partly with the dark S y r i n g o t h y r i s L i m e s t o n e (L. Carb.) and the F e n e s t e l l a S h a l e s (Mid. Carb.). The stratigraphic range of the Tanawals becomes larger when followed from the inner to the outer (southwestern) zones of the mountains. Facies becomes more uniform with the deposition of the A g g 1 o m er a t i c S l a t e s (Up. Carb.). This formation has its unique character from climatic (glacial) influence and the beginning of volcanic activity. Thick lava flows follow — the P a n j a l T r a p s . In the Permian the G a n g a m o p t e r i s B e d s and marine Z e w a n S e r i e s are deposited on the trap. Locally, however, volcanicity persists into the Upper Triassic. GENERALIZED LOCATION