Soils on the hills of granite gneiss near Ranchi also support medicinal plants and flowers.

They are Orchid, Zingiber purpureum and Asparagus racemosus.

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Geologist.

Email: nitish.priyadarshi@gmail.com

Hill near Bundu on Ranchi-Jamshedpur road.

Introduction:

Medicinal plants have been identified and used throughout human history. Plants have the ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are used to perform important biological functions, and to defend against attack from predators such as insects, fungi and herbivorous mammals. At least 12,000 such compounds have been isolated so far; a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total.

The use of herbs to treat disease is almost universal among non-industrialized societies, and is often more affordable than purchasing expensive modern pharmaceuticals. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the population of some Asian and African countries presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.

A large amount of archaeological evidence exists which indicates that humans were using medicinal plants during the Paleolithic, approximately 60,000 years ago. (Furthermore, other non-human primates are also known to ingest medicinal plants to treat illness) Plant samples gathered from prehistoric burial sites are an example of the evidence supporting the claim that Paleolithic peoples had knowledge of herbal medicine.

Medicinal plant materials derived from the same species can show significant differences in quality when cultivated at different sites, owing to the influence of soil, climate and other factors. These differences may relate to physical appearance or to variations in their constituents, the biosynthesis of which may be affected by extrinsic environmental conditions, including ecological and geographical variables, and should be taken into consideration. They grow in wild also depending upon the soil and rock types. Soils cover over the granite gneiss or schist rocks supports some rare and common medicinal plants and flowers depending upon the presence of nutrients in soil derived from parent rocks.

Chotanagpur plateau is one of the oldest landmasses on earth. It is composed of Precambrian rocks which are more than 540 million years old. It is a collective name for the Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and Koderma plateaus. Of these, Ranchi is the largest.

Discussion:

During my recent field work near Ranchi city of Jharkhand State on the hills composed of granite gneiss rocks I came to know that such hills supports medicinal plants also. Hills are covered with soils supporting thick forest. Regionally the area is a part of Chotanagpur Gneissic Complex of Eastern Indian Peninsular Shied.

Ranchi District comes under the sub tropical region and characterized by the monsoon climate. It is a favorable condition for moderate physical weathering and moderate to strong chemical weathering. So the rock fragmentation by physical weathering and mineralogical alteration by chemical weathering simultaneously act to generate soil.

Intensive weathering under tropical humid climate of the granite gneiss rocks has helped in rather quick formation of soils which support forests. Plants extract minerals from the soil formed by mineral rich rocks.

The plants and the flowers in this picture were found in the forest on the slope near top of the hill some 20 kilometers south of  Ranchi city near Bundu. They are Orchid. Zingiber purpureum and Asparagus racemosus. These beautiful plants were found in deep forest on the slope of a hill.

Zingiber purpureum contains the true gingers, plants grown the world over for their medicinal and culinary value. Zingiber purpureum grow in tropical Asia, from India to Indonesia. Zingiber is commonly found in moist, partially shaded evergreen and monsoon forests on soils rich in organic matter, but also in secondary forests, open habitats at forest edges, disturbed sites and bamboo thickets on rocky soils at altitudes up to 3000 m. The rhizomes of zingiber are valued for their aroma and taste. The odour has been described as strong and reminiscent of a mixture of ginger, camphor and turmeric, the taste as hot and camphorous. Zingiber is used throughout tropical Asia for medicinal purposes, primarily as a carminative and stimulant for the stomach, and against diarrhoea and colic. Its effective in fever, headache, cough, stomach aches, colds, constipation, jaundice, Parasitic Worms, rheumatic, medicinal herbs, obesity, minimize stomach after birth. Additionally,it has been shown to exhibit pesticidal and fungicidal activity. The rhizomes of zingiber contain essential oils including terpinen-4-ol, which has been found to be effective against a range of pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella paratyphi, S. typhi and Shigella flexneri.

                                                               Zingiber purpureum



The other medicinal plant on the slopes was Asparagus racemosus.  Asparagus racemosus  (Satavar, Shatavari, or Shatamull) is a species of asparagus common throughout Sri Lanka, India and the Himalayas. It grows one to two metres tall and prefers to take root in gravelly, rocky soils high up in piedmont plains, at 1,300–1,400 metres elevation). It was botanically described in 1799. Due to its multiple uses, the demand for Asparagus racemosus is constantly on the rise. Due to destructive harvesting, combined with habitat destruction, and deforestation, the plant is now considered 'endangered' in its natural habitat.

Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) is recommended in Ayurvedic texts for the prevention and treatment of gastric ulcers, dyspepsia and as a galactogogue. A. racemosus has also been used by some Ayurvedic practitioners for nervous disorders.

                                                           Asparagus racemosus



The orchids are a large family of flowering plants, the Orchidaceae. They are herbaceous monocots. With an estimated 25,000 different types existing naturally, orchids are of the largest flowering plant families, but they have always carried an impression of rarity.

There are between 22,000 and 26,000 species in 880 genera. They make up between 6–11% of all seed plants. Orchids can be found in almost every country in the world except for Antarctica.
People have grown orchids for a great number of years. They grow orchids for show, for science, or for food (for example, vanilla).

Different cultures throughout history have believed in the healing, disease-fighting and protective properties of the orchid. In traditional Chinese medicine the orchid is used to help cure coughs and lung illnesses. The ancient Greeks associated it with virility, and the Aztecs were said to drink a mixture of the vanilla orchid and chocolate to give them power and strength.

                                                                          Orchids

Source of minerals in soil :

Most of the material that makes up soil comes from rocks and minerals. These rocks and minerals are weathered in place or weathered and transported, and become unconsolidated material on the surface of the earth. This material is called regolith. The upper part of the regolith is soil.

Important Primary Minerals

Quartz	SiO2
Orthoclase / feldspar	KAlSi3O8
Plagioclase /feldspar	(Ca,Na) AlSi3O8
Muscovite / mica	KAlSi3O10(OH)2
Biotite / mica	KAl(Mg,Fe)3Si3O10(OH)2
Hornblende / Amphibole	Ca2Al2Mg2Fe3Si6O22(OH)2
Augite / Pyroxine	Ca2(Al,e)4(Mg, Fe)4Si6O24
Olivine

Granite gneiss rocks around Ranchi consist of silica, aluminium, iron, manganese, magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium and trace amount of phosphorus and barium. Among the above calcium, phosphorus, and potassium are known as macronutrients and others like manganese and iron are known as micronutrients used by plants. Sufficient amount of water is also found in such rocks which is the most essential for the plants growth.

The macronutrients are consumed in larger quantities and are present in plant tissue. Micro nutrients are present in plant tissue in quantities measured in parts per million, ranging from 5 to 200 ppm.

In plants, silicon strengthens cell walls, improving plant strength, health, and productivity. Other benefits of silicon to plants include improved drought and frost resistance, decreased lodging potential and boosting the plant's natural pest and disease fighting systems. Silicon has also been shown to improve plant vigor and physiology by improving root mass and density, and increasing above ground plant biomass and crop yields. Iron is necessary for photosynthesis and is present as an enzyme cofactor in plants. Iron deficiency can result in interveinal chlorosis and necrosis. Iron is not a structural part of chlorophyll but very much essential for its synthesis. Manganese is necessary for photosynthesis, including the building of chloroplasts. Manganese deficiency may result in coloration abnormalities, such as discolored spots on the foliage. There have been reports that aluminium  may serve as fungicide against certain types of root rot.

Soil conditions on this hill can provide plants with adequate nutrition and do not require fertilizer for a complete life cycle.

The biodiversity of Jharkhand is under severe threat due to human induced activities, industries, mining, settlement, development projects and removal of forest products, overgrazing and forest fires. Majority of forest is lost due to industrialization and extraction of minerals from the earth crust. There is an urgent need to conserve the rich biodiversity of the state before the treasure is lost. There is an immediate need for the

in situ conservation of this special habitat,i.e., Chotanagpur Plateau on whole as well as its biodiversity. Being one of the oldest landmasses on earth, the Chotanagpur Plateau might be hiding some unforeseen information concerning the evolution of earth as well as its biodiversity.

Reference:

A manual of the geology of India and Burma, vol.1, 1973. Geological Survey of India publication, Calcutta, India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_racemosus

http://herb-drugs.blogspot.in/2011/02/zingiber-purpureum-roxb.html

http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/57536

http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js4928e/3.html

 

 
 

Slide show of Deluge in Jammu and Kashmir, India.

Heavy rainfalls battered the western Himalayas last week due to a clash between monsoon currents and winds from the Caspian Sea. 

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Geologist

Ranchi.

Deluge in Jammu and Kashmir.

Inadequate surface drainage and encroachment in the floodplains has caused the floods of Kashmir.

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Geologist

Ranchi.

Heavy rainfalls battered the western Himalayas last week due to a clash between monsoon currents and winds from the Caspian Sea. The Srinagar weather station – in the summer capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir – recorded 250 mm of rain between September 3-6.

For hundreds of million years Kashmir Valley is supposed to have remained under Tethys Sea and the high sedimentary-rock hills seen in the valley now were once under water. Geologists have come to believe that Kashmir Valley was earlier affected by earthquakes. Once there was such a devastating earthquake that it broke open the mountain wall at Baramulla and the water of the Satisar lake flowed out leaving behind latchstring mud on the margins of the mountains known as karewas. Thus came into existence the oval but irregular Valley of Kashmir.

In September 2014, the Kashmir region was hit by heavy floods from torrential monsoon rains. The regions of Jammu and Kashmir in India, as well as Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab in Pakistan, were affected by these floods.

The cause of the flood is continuous heavy rainfall due to which local rivers broke out into the streets. The areas affected by the flood are mostly districts in south kashmir which include Anantnag, Avantipore and Pulwama.

The main rivers in this region are Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum. These rivers are the tributaries of the Indus. They carry quite substantial discharges during monsoon and also large volume of sediment. They change their course frequently and leave behind vast tract of sandy waste. The major problem is that of inadequate surface drainage which causes inundation and water-logging over vast areas.

The river Jhelum rises from Verinag Spring situated at the foot of the Pir Panjal in the south-eastern part of the valley of Kashmir in India. It flows through Srinagar and the Wular lake before entering Pakistan through a deep narrow gorge.

Floods in Jammu and Kashmir aren’t exactly an uncommon phenomenon, if history and indeed its geography is to be believed. Starting last week, the state has seen an unprecedented amount of rainfall, resulting in its worst floods since 1959. Floods in the state are invariably linked to the Jhelum River and its history of crossing the danger mark, its streams and rivulets overflowing and thereby inundating the “Valley” (south Kashmir) in the process.

In the last 60 years, more than 40 percent of lakes, ponds and wetlands of Srinagar have been encroached upon for constructing buildings and roads. The banks of the Jhelum river have been taken over in a similar manner, vastly reducing the river's drainage capacity.

Jhelum which is a main source of irrigation in the Valley has been marred by extensive siltation in last few decades. In absence of any conservation measures, the river had lost its carrying capacity and led to blockage of its lone outflow channel in Baramulla, posing a risk of floods in the Valley.

The resultant floods – which have killed almost 400 people in India and Pakistan and displaced tens of thousands more – were perhaps inevitable. But they would not have become so devastating if the riverbeds and lakebeds had not been raised by silt, while their banks were encroached upon by ill-planned buildings.

There are three reasons why the floods have caused so much damage:

• deforestation in the catchment areas of rivers – especially Jhelum, Chenab and Indus – and of streams;
• unplanned construction of buildings and roads, especially in the floodplains of the rivers and the banks of the lakes;
• rampant and unchecked dumping of garbage in the rivers and lakes;

Taking the factors that exacerbated the floods one by one, deforestation has long been a major problem in the northern half of the Kashmir valley, in adjacent parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Without the roots to hold the soil on the steep mountain slopes, it has all been washing down to the streams in the form of silt, and raising the riverbeds. The obvious consequence – the water carrying capacity of the streams and rivers is much reduced.

Coming to the second reason, for decades the elite in the Kashmir valley has been building fancy villas right on the floodplains of rivers and streams, sometimes even on tiny islands in the middle of the river. The process has been repeated and accelerated on the banks of famous lakes like Dal and Nageen in Srinagar, with some hotels and restaurants even being built with their foundations in the lake – a result of the tourism boom.

As the Jhelum River meanders through Srinagar, every neighbourhood adds its untreated household garbage to the river – once again a recipe for choked riverbeds and lakebeds and for the water to overflow whenever it rains heavily.

Overuse of chemical fertilisers, especially in the fruit orchards throughout Kashmir, also exacerbates flooding. The excess fertiliser gets washed into streams and rivers, where it causes eutrophication, and again leads to algae blooms which choke waterways.

Jhelum meanders in a serpentine way from South to North Kashmir and settles in Wullar, Asia’s largest freshwater lake, before pouring into Pakistan administered Kashmir through Baramulla. Experts said the devastating flood in 1959 caused backwater effects to Jhelum due to low outflows from Wullar Lake in north Kashmir which has been nearly chocked by heavy accumulation of silt and narrow outflow channel.

There are number of rivers, tributaries and nullahs which are joining Jehlum River. For proper water resources management, sufficient amounts of hydrological data are required. But sufficient hydrological data on these rivers, tributaries and nullahs are not available. Some of the reasons behind the lack of the data are:

1) The area is mountainous with some of the world’s highest mountains situated in it.

2) The accessibility of many places is very difficult, especially in the winter season.

Observers are bemoaning that Srinagar is looking like a vast lake. Urban planners, environmentalists or anybody with common sense is not surprised. Without immediate corrective action, the calamity is likely to strike again.

Reference:

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/5Pq6ov9rVifupnpxQJUo1O/Jammu-and-Kashmir-has-had-a-long-history-of-flooding.html

http://www.dredge.com/jhelum-river-dredging.html

http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1379512604_Zakaullah%20et%20al.pdf

http://www.thethirdpole.net/choked-riverbeds-worsen-floods-in-kashmir/

Geology of Pithoria hills near Ranchi city, India.

The hills of Ranchi are generally small isolated residual hills. 

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi.

 Fig.1. A small hill in Pithoria.

The hills of Ranchi are generally small isolated residual hills. In Ranchi hills are generally steepsided made of massive granite-gneiss. We have also found the hills which are not steepsided but a mere irregular pile of huge boulders were found on the hills especially in Pithoria area of Ranchi district. This is the result of highly jointed elements of granite gneiss.

According to climatic geomorphologist like Tricart qualify such hills as inselbergs. They are steepsided residual hills made of massive granite-gneiss. But close by within a few kilometers or a few hundred meters we have residuals which are not steepsided inselbergs but a mere irregular pile of huge boulders.

The rocks disintegrate along these joints under the hydrothermal and atmospheric effects thus leading to the formation of tors or rounded shapes of these ancient granite rocks are the result of cracking and erosion from exposure to sun, wind and rain. The hill slopes are subjected to complex attack by a variety of erosive weapons, water being the most active agent for the removal of waste material from most of the slopes. 

A tor commonly appears as a pile of rock slabs or a series of slabs standing on end, according to whether the dominant joint system is horizontal or vertical. Weathering proceeds most actively along joint planes, thus reducing an originally solid mass first to piles of slabs and ultimately to a heap of loose boulders. Tors usually overlie unaltered bedrock and are thought to be formed either by freeze–thaw weathering or by groundwater weathering before exposure. There is often evidence of spheroidal weathering of the squared joint blocks. Tors are seldom more than 15 metres (50 feet) high and often occur as residues at the summits of inselbergs and at the highest points of pediments.

Fig.2.  This is a picture of small granite tor near Ranchi city.

Fig.3. Tor like structure on top of Pithoria hill.

  Fig.4. Irregular pile of huge boulders on the top of Pithoria hill.

Fig.5.Irregular pile of huge boulders. They are the result of highly jointed elements of granite gneiss. 

Fig.6. A balancing rock was also seen on the top of the hill. 

  

A balancing rock, also called balanced rock or precarious boulder, is a naturally occurring geological formation featuring a large rock or boulder, sometimes of substantial size, resting on other rocks, bedrock or on glacial till. Some formations known by this name only appear to be balancing but are in fact firmly connected to a base rock by a pedestal or stem.

Its an erosional remnant rock formation that remains after extensive wind, water and/or chemical erosion. To the untrained eye it may appear to be visually like a glacial erratic, but instead of being transported and deposited it was carved from the local bedrock.  

 

 

Beware of the hills.

Frequency of landslides in India is indeed increasing. 

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Geologist.

Malin, the village in Pune district that was flattened by a landslide few days back claiming more than 130 lives, has brought the focus back on the management –or mismanagement – of the vulnerable hills of India especially Western Ghats, Himalayas and North Eastern states.

The torrential rain on July 30 near Pune perhaps would not have brought down a side of the hill had it not been weakened by quarrying, leveling and deforestation activities banned in the old weathered hills and ecologically sensitive areas.

Last year it was Uttrakhand this year it is Malin and Nepal. A massive landslide in Nepal  triggered by continuous monsoon rains, caused 10 deaths, displaced 5,000 families and destroyed dozens of houses. The landslide has also blocked the Sunkoshi River and forming a lake which is threatening to cause downstream flash floods.

Heavy rainfall in June last year wreaked havoc across Uttarakhand, causing rivers and glacial lakes to overflow and triggering massive landslides – killing almost 6,000 people. Construction of hydroelectric dams, deforestation and the spread of unregulated buildings along riverbanks magnify the impact of the monsoons.

Development works carried out in pursuit of greater economic growth – such as the construction of dams and deforestation – are putting people and the environment at greater risk when disasters strike.
India is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, and many of its 1.2 billion people live in areas vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods, landslides, cyclones, droughts and earthquakes.

Landslides are a natural hazard that affect at least 15 percent of the land area of our country, covering an area of more than 0.49 million sq. km. landslides of different types occur frequently in the geo-dynamically active domains in the Himalayan and North-Eastern parts of the country as well as relatively stable domain in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri hills in the southern part of the country. Besides, sporadic occurrences of landslides have been reported in the Eastern Ghats, Ranchi plateau, and Vindhyan plateau, as well. In all 22 states and parts of the Union Territory of Pudducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands of our country are affected by this hazard, mostly during monsoons.

Landslides Zonation Mopping is a modern method to identify landslides prone areas and has been in use in India since 1980s.The major parameters that call for evaluation are as follows:

1. Slope-Magnitude, length and Direction
2. Soil thickness
3. Relative relief
4. Land use
5. Drainage- pattern and density
6. Landslide affected population

Causes of Landslides

Landslides can be caused by
1. Poor ground conditions
2. Geomorphic phenomena.
3. Natural physical forces
4. Quite often due to heavy spells of rainfall coupled with impeded drainage.

A Checklist of Causes of Landslides Ground Causes

1. Weak, sensitivity, or weathered materials
2. Adverse ground structure (joints, fissures etc.)
3. Physical property variation (permeability, plasticity etc)

The Himalayan mountain ranges and hilly tracts of the North-Eastern region are highly susceptible to slope instability due to the immature and rugged topography, fragile rock conditions, high seismicity resulting from proximity to the plate margins and high rainfall. Extensive anthropogenic interference, as part of developmental activities, is another significant factor that increases this hazard manifold. As a result, the landscape in the Himalayan and North-Eastern regions is highly susceptible to reoccurrence of landslides.

Similarly, the Western Ghats overlooking the Konkan coast, though located in a relatively stable domain, experience the fury of this natural hazard due to steep hill slopes, overburden and high intensity rainfall. The Nilgiri hills located at the convergence zone of the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats bear the innumerable scars of landslides due to their location in a zone of high intensity and protracted rainfall where overburden is sensitive to over-saturation.

Vast areas of western Sikkim, Kumaon, Garhwal, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, and several other hilly regions have been denuded of protective vegetal cover, which has been reduced to less than 30 percent, which is less than half of what would be considered desirable. As the pressure of population grew rapidly, more and more human settlements, roads, dams, tunnels, water reservoirs, towers and other public utilities came up in vulnerable areas. The road network in the Himalayan region is more than 50,000 km in length. A large number of dams have been built in the Himalayan region. Quarrying and mining, for example, in the Doon valley, Jhiroli (Almora) and Chandhak (Pitthoragarh) have inflicted heavy damages to the slopes and the associated environment.

According to the information obtained under RTI, In Mumbai city over 22,483 hutment in 327 hilly areas across 25 Assembly constituencies in the city, including Western and Eastern suburbs, are dangerous and the people living there need to be shifted as soon as possible. In the main city, 49 spots are dangerous in which total hutments are 3986, while in Mumbai Suburb 278 spots are most dangerous.

An overall evaluation of the pattern and nature of landslide occurrences in the Kerala part of Western Ghats and its corresponding eastern flank falling within Tamil Nadu reveals the following main features:

1.      Almost all mass movements occur during monsoons (SW and NE monsoon) in the western flank of Western Ghats and during occasional cyclonic events in the eastern flank indicating that main triggering mechanism is the over- saturation of overburden caused by heavy rains.

2.      There seems to be a relation between intensity of rainfall and slope failures.

3.      Majority of the catastrophic mass movements is confined to the overburden without affecting the underlying bedrock.

4.      Improper land use practices such as heavy tilling, agricultural practices and settlement patterns have contributed to creep and withdrawal of toe support in many cases.

5.      A common factor noticed in most of these vulnerable slopes deforestation in the recent past, cultivation of seasonal crops and increase in settlements.

6.      In some areas developmental activities like construction of buildings, road cutting, embankments, cut and fill structures causes modification of natural slopes, blocking of surface drainage, loading of critical slopes and withdrawal to toe support promoting vulnerability of critical slopes.

Frequency of landslides is indeed increasing. The main reasons for this are primarily unplanned development in landslide prone areas which can change the geomorphology of that area. Because of accelerated deforestation, rampant urbanization, high frequency of earthquakes, fragile geological structures, steep topography and intense rainfall in the mountainous regions of the South Asia, the number of fatal landslides, casualties and economic loss is increasing year by year. Increasing extreme events due to climate change are also responsible for this phenomenon. Rainfall is becoming extreme in India, either heavy or scanty. If there is a lot of rainfall in a short span of time, then the soil is not able to absorb the moisture, which makes it vulnerable to erosion and slope instability, eventually leading to landslides.

The Himalayan and North-Eastern regions are potential sites where landslides dams have formed at many places in the past and the potential of such occurrences in the future is high.

Reference:

National disaster management guidelines, June 2009. National disaster management authority, Government of India.

http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agriculture/agri_majorareas_disastermgt_landslide.html

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-india-s-worst-landslides-and-why-these-might-not-be-the-last-ones-2006836

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/PWWZWaeFPN70bXKgh78i8K/All-you-need-to-know-about-landslides.html

 

Importance of Geotourism, with special reference to Jharkhand State of India.

The aim of Geotourism is to make visitors aware of, and to gain some

understanding of, the geological features that surround them.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Geologist. 

Geotourism is the kind of travel that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place — its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

Geography—from which “geotourism” derives—is not just about where places are. It’s also about what places are. It’s about what makes one place different from the next. That includes not only flora and fauna, which is the realm of ecotourism, but also historic structures and archaeological sites, scenic landscapes, traditional architecture, and locally grown music, cuisine, crafts, dances, and other arts. Many people sum up that combination of elements as “sense of place.” Since most tourists travel with a variety of interests, geotourism’s holistic approach provides a synergistic effect unavailable to niches like adventure, eco-, or historic tourism. Geotourism speaks to the widest possible market that is compatible with sustaining a destination’s distinctive qualities.

At its simplest geotourism is tourism with some connection to geology or geomorphology.

For many years, environmentalists have strived to make the general public aware of the importance of preserving the quality of an environment. Most individuals are also aware of the many transgressions that are committed against nature in order to further money making industries. These have caused a massive decline in the well-being of the economy and to those who are living in it. This does not only refer to people alone but to the entire ecology including animals, plants, and other natural structures.

Protecting the environment from exploitation whilst encouraging economic and community development is one of the main reasons behind the formulation of the different approaches to tourism. There are currently three basic approaches and this includes ecotourism, sustainable tourism, and geo tourism.

Geo tourism is otherwise referred to as the knowledge based tourism. It seeks to provide tourists with relevant information on the formation of a place’s geology and geomorphology. This means that geo tourism goes beyond just showing off great sights. It takes things a notch higher by informing tourists of how these wonders came to be. An example of this is a discussion of rock formations and its mineral components or how a cave’s inner structure has been created with features such as stalagmites and stalactites. Apart from these, geo tourism is also involved in encouraging both the local community and the tourists to work together in maintaining the quality of each geological site by following the preservation guidelines that are already in place.

One of the major reasons for this is that geo tourism minimizes the negative effects of tourism such as environmental pollution. Places that implement geo tourism has been a huge advantage for many travellers, called geo tourists, since they are provided with an extremely rich experience that involves an immersion in the culture, heritage, and the natural resource of a certain tourist destination. The visitors do not only serve to improve the economy but also help in preserving the environment. It respects local culture and tradition. Foreign visitors learn local etiquette, including at least a few courtesy words in the local language. Residents learn how to deal with foreign expectations that may differ from their own.

Most geo tourists will patronize business establishments such as resorts, hotels, or restaurants that operate under environment friendly conditions. Tourist satisfaction is also enhanced. This means that when they get back to their place of origin, they will be able to tell their families and friends about how positive their travel experience has been. They will also be able to impart the knowledge that they have obtained from the trip to others. Those who hear of these tales will be encouraged to visit the tourist destination themselves.

Geotourism deals with the natural and built environments.

Geotourism was first defined (Hose, 1995) in England. There are two viewpoints of geotourism:

1. Purely geological and geomorphologically-focused Sustainable Tourism. This is the definition followed in most of the world.
2. Geographically Sustainable Tourism, the most common definition in the USA. This emphasises preservation of the geographical sense of a place in general, beyond simple geological and geomorphological features.

Case study of Jharkhand state.

Why does Jharkhand need geotourists ?

1. Tourism: an increasingly important contribution to the economy.

2. Creation of jobs for local people: tour companies, drivers, guides, accommodation providers, food outlets.

3. Although Jharkhand has beautiful and interesting wildlife, it cannot compete with the game parks of other parts of the world.

4. However, it has two big advantages over them: unique historical sites and unique and spectacular geology.

5. Therefore promotion of Jharkhand’s geological attractions is important.

6. Ensures that tourists appreciate fully ALL the attractions Jharkhand has to offer!

7. Conservation of important geological sites.

When we speak about Geotourism the attention is usually preferentially paid  to two main aspects involved

 in this concept: on the one side the Geology itself, and the geological values of the area, i.e. the scientific interest of the site, as the main subject of attraction for both geologists, visitors and tourists. on the other side, the Administrations, at local or national level, which should set an adequate legal framework, in close agreement with geologists, to define, promote, arrange, restore and support the maintenance costs of the protected sites.

Nature has sculptured many eye-catching features by geological processes. Jharkhand has been bestowed with a large number of such magnificent geological sites spread throughout its length and breadth and spanning over the entire length of the geological time scale. These sites attract not only the earth scientists but also the common man. These natural exquisite land sculptures have become nature lover's delight and are gaining importance as tourist spots.

The Chotanagpur Plateau serves as a meeting place for the Himalayan and Peninsular biospecies. Here, you find a portion of the oldest part of the earth’s crust, making it the most ancient geological formation in the country.

Jharkhand geological Heritage spans over million years (Archeans to Recent) with substantial part of it exposed at surface. World class exposures of rocks and fossil combined with breath taking scenery and culture make the perfect blend for life time geo-tourism experience. The Chotanagpur plateau region of Jharkhand is made up mainly of Precambrian rocks but has witnessed uplifts synchronously with the Himalayan uplift in the Cenozoic.

Many of the rock and fossil exposure can be utilized for their scientific value and serve as leisure trips at the same time. This sector is possibility orientated towards local, regional and international educational institutions and research centers.  The second sector is a general tourism which contains some element of geology in otherwise mostly scenic and cultural setting and mostly enjoyed by laymen tourists.

The Jharkhand state is well known for spectacular scenery and geology. The record of the Earth's history in Jharkhand is unique. It provides the best exposure in the world to study ancient rock types. Numerous areas in the Jharkhand state offer immediate opportunities for geotourism because of the presence of a diverse range of geological phenomena and outcrops including, amongst many, landforms, structures, residual hills, folding, faulting, water falls, ancient rock paintings, ancient rock carvings, caves, pegmatite intrusions, minerals and fossils. 

Places which can be developed as Geo-tourist spot in Jharkhand.

1. Ranchi district: Hundru falls, Dasam falls, Jonha falls, Sita falls, Hirni falls, Ranchi hill, Tagore hill, Joda (twin) hills, Bariatu hills, Panchghagh falls, Pithoria valley, Sutiambe hills.
2. Rajmahal Hills are hills formed from rocks dating from the Jurassic Period and named after the town of Rajmahal which lies to the east in the state of Jharkhand in India. Rajmahal hills are home to plant fossils which are 68 to 145 million years old. Moti Jharna may also be developed as geo-tourist spot.
3. Hazaribag district: Canary  hills, Parasnath hills, confluence of Bheda and Damodar river in Rajrappa near Ramgarh.
4. Suraj kund in Hazaribag district: Suraj Kund is a major tourist attraction given its unique distinction of being the 'hottest' hot water spring in India. The spring's waters which have curative properties are always at a temperature of 87 degrees celsius. There are five pools in this place namely Surya Kund, Lakshman Kund, Brahm Kund, Ram kund and Sita Kund which contain hot water of different temperatures. The main Kund is considered to be Surya Kund and it has the hottest water in it.
5. Dalma range in Singhbhum: The Dalma range marks the belt of Archaevan lava flows. "The structural base of the region is  provided by a series of batholithic intrusions of granite into  Dharwar strata, which were intensely metamorphosed by orogenetic movements.
6. Abandoned coal mines and other mines of Jharkhand including underground mines.
7. Roro hills:  About 20 kilometers west of Chaibasa, the headquarters of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, lies the Roro hills-- home to an abandoned chrysotile asbestos mine. The Roro mines were closed down in 1983 after Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd. (now known as Hyderabad Industries Limited) decided that they were no longer profitable.

This all looks very interesting but what is it?

How such rocks are formed?

 Mystery of Hazaribag Hot springs.

 How such big hills are formed?

 How such structures are formed on rocks?

 Typical rock weathering.

How such hills are formed?

How such caves are formed?

What is this?

How such hills are formed?

How falls are formed?

Formation of valleys.

 

How such structures are formed?

 To understand formation of folding.

How such caves are formed?

Mystery of dome gneiss.

What are there inside such mines?

 To understand formation of such caves.

How pegmatite intrudes in host rock?

                    Roro hills near Chaibasa.

 How such structure of the hills are formed ? ( Its near Jamshedpur).

CONCLUSIONS

Only if we are able to understand Geotourism as a touristic, not academic, activity and make a real effort to make Geology an attractive issue related with the explanation of the beauty of landscape and with disentangling the mysteries of life and earth, far from the complexity of scientific concepts and geological processes we shall be ready to make Geology an interest subject for tourists. If we are conscious that, when talking about Geotourism and its touristic components, besides Geology we are speaking about accommodation and eating facilities, the quality of accesses and services, and the excellence and attraction of merchandising products we shall be able to make Geotourism equally attractive as other classical modalities of tourism. On the contrary, if we identify Geotourism with teaching of Geology or with explaining Geology to groups, we will focus on a separate matter that may be interesting for some visitors but risks to be boring for the general tourists.

Reference:

Hose, T. A. (2012), “ 3G’s for Modern Geotourism ”, Geoheritage Journal, 4: 7-24

http://www.geocachetourism.com/the-advantages-that-geo-tourism-has-to-offer/

http://www.gcthosting.com/mot/new_site/abstracts.html

http://geoschools.geol.uoa.gr/cms_images/RESEARCH/publications/2011/What%20do%20we%20mean%20when%20we%20say%20Geotourism.pdf