MANIHARI PERFORATED MASS
25.333300,87.616700
Description
What appears to be a man-made mine exploited for "kankar" (calcareous caliche) reported HAMILTON (1828, 2: 429) from »Purnea« or Purnia (note 1) where »the only rock that has been discovered in the country is a small detached hill at Manihari [note 2], where a calcareous mass reaches the surface and is of considerable dimensions. It appears to be an aggregate rock composed of many small pebbles or nodules united by a common cement. In many places the stone has been reduced to a white substance like chalk, usually disposed in large beds, with galleries as it were formed in the stone four or five feet wide [1.2 to 1.5 m], and as many high, perforating the mass in very irregular directions. A man rents the privilege for digging of this substance, which afterwards made up into little balls, and sold all over the country to women employed in spinning cotton, who rub it on their fingers. It contains not the slightest trace of vegetable matter or of animal exuviae.« CAVE LIFE: HUTSON, MICKLEBURGH & RACEY (2001: 4): »In temperate areas, caves and mines provide ideal conditions for hibernation and, in their warmest parts, for nursing. Other smaller underground structures, such as rock crevices or ledges, may also be of importance in some areas. The world’s largest aggregations of bats are found in caves in both temperate and tropical regions, where millions of animals may be found in a single site. Abandoned mines may also house hundreds of thousands of bats.«
NOTE 1: »Purnea« (HAMILTON 1828, 2: 429) or »Purnia« (India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 43 F3): »Lying towards the eastern limit of the Gangetic plain, Purnea presents an almost dead level, with the exception of a few tracts … and a small hill of nodular (kankar) limestone near Manihari in the south, and outlying spur of the Chota Nagpur plateau« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 20: 413). NOTE 2: Manihari N25°21': E087°38' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) or at N33°27': E073°17' (Everest 1830, IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 17: 182).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | MOOTTEE JHURNA (Cave at) | ||
| 201.3 | DARJEELING, Observatory Hill top (Cave at) | ||
| 201.3 | DARJEELING, Observatory Hill: west side (Cave at) | ||
| 212.7 | RAMMAN NATURAL BRIDGE | ||
| 220.4 | BE PHUG 2 | ||
| 220.4 | BE PHUG 3 | ||
| 220.4 | DAJONG mine | ||
| 222.8 | GUPHA POKHARI | ||
| 223.8 | KAHDO SANG PHUG |