Tosham hill range (Tusham hill range old spelling), located at and in the area around

Tosham Tosham is a town and a Gram Panchayat on the foot of Tosham Hill range in Bhiwani district in the Indian state of Haryana. It has been awarded the title of "Adarsh Village". It is situated in the foothill of Tosham hill range of Aravali Mountain ...

, with an average elevation of 207 meters (679 feet), and the rocks exposed in and around Tosham hills are part of subsurface north-western spur of ''Alwar group'' of ''Delhi supergroup'' of Aravalli Mountain Range, belong to the

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

Malani igneous suite of rocks and have been dated at 732 Ma BP (million years before present).Kochhar, Naresh,1983, Tusham ring complex, Bhiwani, India. Proc. Indian Natl.Sci. Acad.v.49A, pp.459-490Kochhar, Naresh, 2000 Attributes and significance of the A-type Malani magmatism, NW peninsular India. In M.Deb (ed.) Crystal evolution and metallogeny in northwestern Indian shield. Chapter 9, Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi This range in

Aravalli Craton India is situated north of the equator between 8°4' north (the mainland) to 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' east to 97°25' east longitude. India Yearbook, p. 1 It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of . Total a ...

is a remnant of the outer ring of a fallen chamber of an extinct volcano. Tosham hill range covers the hills at Tosham, Khanak, and Riwasa as well as the small rocky outcrops at Nigana, Dulehri, Dharan, Dadam, and Kharkari Makhwan. Among these, Khanak hill is the largest in area and tallest in height. It is an important

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

area within the "western-southern Haryana" spur of the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor.

Geology of Tosham hill

The main Tosham hill is an

extinct volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

which erupted sometime 732 Ma BP (million years before present). Geologic province o
Khanak-Tosham-Dharan-Riwasa-Nigana Khurd-Dulheri-Kharkari Makhwan-Dadam-Khanak
is an narrow oval shaped

ring dike A ring dike or ring dyke is an intrusive igneous body that is circular, oval or arcuate in plan and has steep contacts. While the widths of ring dikes differ, they can be up to several thousand meters. The most commonly accepted method of ring dik ...

of eroded extinct volcanoes on the periphery of a collapsed

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

(

magmatic Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

chamber) of roughly diameter on its longest Khanak to Nigana Khurd NW-SE axis and on its narrower Dadam to Tosham E-W axis. This sub-surface ring dyke is now buried under the later era soils. Much of the area to the west of ring dyke is covered with

Aeolian sand Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials ...

flown from the fringes of

Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, ...

. The remaining area is covered under

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

alluvium soil of Harka river of Ghaggar-Hakra River system (paleo

Sarasvati River The Sarasvati River () is a deified river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, ...

) to the north and east, and paleo channel of

Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

through Bhiwani in the south and east. Among these hills, Khanak hill is the largest and tallest, and Tosham hill is the second largest smaller hill. The other neighbouring hills, in the order of decreasing size, such as Nigana Khurd, Riwasa, Dulehri, Dharan, Dadam etc. are composed of granite porphyries.

Tosham Igneous Complex

Tosham Igneous Complex has 3 main hills (Khanak, Tosham and Riwasa) and several other smaller rocky outcrops, mainly around the ring dyke: # Tosham Hill:
The main Tusham hill is the second largest hill in the range. It has ancient rock inscriptions and rock paintings, paleo eroded rocky glacial channels and water cascades, and small hilltop lakes. It consists of a

quartz porphyry Quartz-porphyry, in layman's terms, is a type of volcanic (igneous) rock containing large porphyritic crystals of quartz. These rocks are classified as ''hemi-crystalline acid rocks''. Structure The quartz crystals exist in a fine-grained matrix ...

ring dyke,

felsite Felsite is a very fine-grained volcanic rock that may or may not contain larger crystals. Felsite is a field term for a light-colored rock that typically requires petrographic examination or chemical analysis for more precise definition. Color ...

welded tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

and

muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...

biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron- endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

. The country rocks ( Archean Bhilwara basement rocks) native to the area are

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

with chiastolite belonging to the Delhi Supergroup. The Tosham Sn-W-Cu rocks are the source of primary tin as well as

Tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

, but found to be not viable commercially. The granites and granite porphyries are high heat producing type.

Spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter ...

studies indicate that they have high abundance of

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmos ...

(K),

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

(U), and

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high ...

(Th), a sign of radioactivity. Highest heat flow in India is recorded from this area. # Khanak hill at Khanak:
Khanak hill is the largest and tallest in the range, followed by neighbouring Tosham hill, Nigana Khurd, Riwasa, Dulehri, Dharan, Dadam etc in the order of decreasing size. These hills are mainly composed of granite porphyries. # Riwasa hill near Riwasa village:
Mainly composed of granite porphyries. The rocky outcrops include the following: # Nigana hill near twin Nigana villages, Nigana Khurd and Nigana Kalan:
Hilly outcrop in the vicinity of , are mainly composed of granite porphyries. # Dulehri hill near Dulehri village:
Mainly composed of granite porphyries. # Dharan hill near

Dharan Dharan ( ne, धरान) a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Province No. 1, Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and It ...

village:
Mainly composed of granite porphyries. # Dadam hill near Dadam village:
Mainly composed of granite porphyries. # Kharkari Makhwan hill near Kharkari Makhwan village:
Mainly composed of granite porphyries.

Mining

Based on the scientific study of artifacts from

Rakhigarhi Rakhigarhi or Rakhi Garhi is a village and an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilisation in Hisar District of the northern Indian state of Haryana, situated about 150 km northwest of Delhi. It was part of the mature ...

and other sites, the people of

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

sourced the raw materials for making beads and figurines from the Steatite mines of Tosham Hill range.A golden chain of civilizations: Indic, Iranic, Semitic, Page 252
/ref> Commercial scale mining for stones used for construction is done in the government auctioned mines at Tosham, Khanak and Dadam hills, with several stone crushers in the zone.

Sacred sulphur ponds of Tosham Hill

There are several holy ponds on Tosham Hill inside the caves, namely Pandu Teerth Kund, Surya Kund, Kukkar Kund, Gyarasia/Vyas Kund and a reservoir or a small tank on the summit of the hill to store rain water. Water in these kunds (ponds) in various caverns contain

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

which is considered sacred by the devotees and pilgrimages as it heals skin diseases.2004
"Records, Volume 135, Part 1."

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

, Page 144.

Pandu Tirath, Tosham

There are several sacred kunds or reservoirs on the hill; one of them, the ''Pandu Tirath'', is considered so sacred that some of the neighbouring villages deposit the ashes of their dead in it instead of taking them to the Ganges.

Surya Kund, Tosham

The Surya Kund is one of many kunds (pond) found in caverns of Tosham hill. It is considered sacred.

Kukkar Kund, Tosham

The Kukkar Kund is one of many kunds (pond) found in caverns of Tosham hill. It is considered sacred.

Gyarasia Kund, Tosham

The Gyarasia Kund (Vyas Kund) is one of many kunds (pond) found in caverns of Tosham hill. It is considered sacred.

Scientific studies

From 1894-96, Lt-General C.A. Mcmahon (1830-1904), who was also the president of British Geologists' Association, was the first modern geologist to study these rocks. He described the

petrography Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. The class ...

of the rocks in 1884 and 1886 and published his work in the ''Records of

''. During 1994-96, Khorana, Dhir and Jayapaul of

carried out the first mineral survey and scout drilling of several hills in the Tosham range.RK Khorana, NK Dhir and D Jayapaul, 1996
"Report on investigation for strategic and basemental mineraisation around Nigana, Khanak, Kharakari, Devrala, Bhiwani district, Haryana", field report 1994-95 and 1995-96

. During 2014-2016, Ravindra Singh and Dheerendra Singh of Banaras Hindu University undertook first ever Indus Valley Civilization archaeological excavations of the area to confirm the connection of ores mined from these hills with the smelting metallurgical work of IVS.

Malani Supercontinent

The plume related Malani magmatism in the NW Indian shield is intraplate, anorogenic, A-type and is indicative of extensional tectonic environment in the region. There is a relationship between mantle plume related anorogenic magmatism and assembly of a supercontinent. In this research paper similarities between TAB of NW Indian shield, Seychelles, Madagascar, Nubian-Arabian shield central Iran and South China constituting Malani supercontinent in terms of bimodal anorogenic magmatism, ring structures, Strutian glaciation and subsequent desiccation are discussed. Paleomagnetic data also support the existence of Malani Supercontinent The TAB is unique in the geological evolution of the Indian shield as it marks a major period of anorogenic (A-type), ‘Within Plate’, high heat producing (HHP) magmatism represented by the Malani igneous suite of rocks (MIS). The Neoproterozoic Malani igneous suite (55,000 km²; 732 Ma) comprising peralkaline (Siwana), metaluminous to milidly peralkaline (Jalor), and peraluminous (Tusham and Jhunjhunu) granites with cogenetic carapace of acid volcanics (welded tuff, trachyte, rhyolite, explosion breccia and perlite) are characterized by volcano-plutonic ring structures and radial dykes. The suite is bimodal in nature with minor amounts of basalt, gabbro and dolerite dykes

Tosham Hill range Indus Valley civilization mines and smelters

There are several

sites in and around Tosham Hill range as the area falls under the copper-bearing zone of Southwest Haryana & Northeast Rajasthan of the Aravalli hill range.N Kochhar, R Kochhar, And D.K. Chakrabarti, 1999, "A New Source of Primary Tin Ore in the Indus Civilisation", South Asian Studies, vol 15, pp 115-118.D.K. Chakrabarti, 2014, "Distribution and Features of the Harappan Settlements, in History of India-Protohistoric Foundation",

Vivekananda International Foundation The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) is an Indian public policy think-tank. It is considered to be aligned to right-of-centre in its policies. Origins and history The Vivekananda International Foundation describes itself as an " ...

, New Delhi. Investigation of IVC network of mineral ore needs for the metallurgical work and trade shows that the most common type of grinding stone at Harappa is of Delhi quartzite type found only in the westernmost outliers of the Aravalli range in southern Haryana near Kaliana and Makanwas villages of Bhiwani district has bears red-pink to pinkish-gray color, crisscrossed with thin haematite and quartz filled fractures in sugary size grain texture.Randal Law, 2006, "Moving Mountains: The Trade and Transport of RocNs and minerals within the greater Indus Valley Region in Space and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology," (Eds.) E.C. Robertson, R.D. Seibert, D.C. Fernandez and M.V. Zender,

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

Press, Alberta, Canada.R.W. Law, 2008, "Inter-regional Interaction and Urbanism in the Ancient Indus Valley: A Geologic Provenance Study of Harappa’s Rock and Mineral Assemblage",

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, pp 209-210. Ravindra Singh and Dheerendra Singh of Banaras Hindu University, in association with

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, carried out ASI-financed excavations of

site at the ground of Government School in Khanak, during September 2014 and Feb-May 2016. They found early to mature Harappan phase IVC materials, pottery, semiprecious beads of

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mine ...

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used ...

and others. They also found evidence of metallurgical activities, such as

Crucible A crucible is a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. While crucibles were historically usually made from clay, they can be made from any material that withstands te ...

(used for pouring molten metal), furnace lining, burnt floor, ash, and ore slugs.

Ceramic petrography Ceramic petrography (or ceramic petrology) is a laboratory-based scientific archaeological technique that examines the mineralogical and microstructural composition of ceramics and other inorganic materials under the polarised light microscope in ...

Metallography Metallography is the study of the physical structure and components of metals, by using microscopy. Ceramic and polymeric materials may also be prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the terms ceramography, plastography and, collect ...

, Scanning electron microscope (SEM, non-destructive, surface images of nanoscale resolution),

Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, EDX, EDXS or XEDS), sometimes called energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA or EDAX) or energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDXMA), is an analytical technique used for the elemental analysis or chemi ...

(EDXA and EDXMA, trade name EDAX, non-destructive, qualitative and quantitative elemental composition) and

Transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a ...

(TEM, destructive method) scientific studies of the material found to prove that the Khanak site was inhabited by the IVC metal-workers who used the locally mined polymetallic tin, and they were also familiar with metallurgical work with copper and bronze. Since excavation did not reach natural soil, it is believed that finds at Khanak site might go as far back as the pre-Harappan era to Sothi-Siswal culture (4600 BCE or 6600 BP). A.L. Vasiliev, M.V. Kovalchuk, and E. B. Yatsishina, 2015
"Electron Microscopy Methods in Studies of Cultural Heritage Sites"
Crystallography Reports, Pleiades Publishing, Vol. 61, No. 6, pp. 873–885, ISSN 1063-7745.

Concerns

Due to the ongoing mining activities there are environmental, pollution and noise related concerns, as well as

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, a ...

, aridification, reduced

groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...

and loss of wildlife habitat related to the encroachment and loss of forest cover in the mined area. The archaeological heritage in the hills, that includes the indus valley civilization habitation, smelter and mine sites, ancient rock inscription and ancient rock paintings, etc, are at risk due to the mining, lack of awareness and efforts for the natural resources conservation and archaeological and historic heritage preservation.

External links

Haryana state geology and mineral maps
Geological Survey of India.
Report on investigation for strategic and basemental mineraisation around Nigana, Khanak, Kharakari, Devrala, Bhiwani district, Haryana

field report 1994-95 and 1995-96, by RK Khorana, NK Dhir and D Jayapaul.
Dyke Swarms: Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation, Rajesh Srivastava - 2011

Indian Minerals,Volume 58, Page 39, 2004

References

{{GeoSouthAsia Volcanoes of India Geology of Bhiwani Geology of Hisar Bhiwani district Mountains of Haryana Tourist attractions in Haryana