GSI-CHQ-70

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA

PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE FIELD-SEASON 1956-1957.

A NOTE ON THE GYPSUM OCCURRENCES NEAR KILAKARAI,
RAMANATHAPURAM DISTRICT, MADRAS.

By

V. Gopal,
Assistant Geologist,
Geological Survey of India.

*****

MAY, 1958
 GSI-CHQ-70

PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE FIELD-SEASON 1956-1957.

A NOTE ON THE GYPSUM OCCURRENCES NEAR KILAKARAI,
RAMANATHAPURAM DISTRICT, MADRAS.

By

V. Gopal,
Assistant Geologist,
Geological Survey of India.

******

CONTENTS.

Page No.
INTRODUCTION ---- 1

Previous observers ---- 1

GEOLOGY OF THE AREA ---- 2

GYPSUM OCCURRENCES ---- 3

1.Alavakkaraivadi ---- 3
2.Chinna Alam Tank ---- 3
3.Periya Alam Tank ---- 4
4.Valinokkam ---- 4
ORIGIN OF THE GYPSUM ---- 4

OTHER MINERAL DEPOSITS ---- 5

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ---- 6

Plate 1:- Sketch map showing gypsum

occurrences near Kilakarai,
Ramanathapuram district
Madras.
**********
 GSI-CHQ-70

PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE FIELD-SEASON 1956-57

A NOTE ON THE GYPSUM OCCURRENCES NEAR KILAKARAI,
RAMANATHAPURAM DISTRICT, MADRAS

By

V. Gopal,
Assistant Geologist,
Geological Survey of India.

*****

INTRODUCTION
Under instructions from the Superintending Geologist, Geological Survey of India, Southern
Circle, Madras, I under-took the investigation of the gypsum occurrences, near Kilakarai (Survey of
India toposheet 58 K/l6 9°14':78°47'), and Uttarakosamangai (Survey of India toposheet 58 K/11
9°19':78°44'), in the Ramnad taluk, Ramanathapuram district, between the 24th January, 1957, and the
5th March 1957. The earlier part of the field-season, 1956-57, was spent as an instructor in the Field
Training Camp, of the Geological Survey of India, in Bihar.

Kilakarai is a minor port, and an important fishing village, in the Gulf of Mannar. It is about
10 miles south of Ramnad, the taluk headquarters, which is on the Madras-Dhanushkodi line, of the
Southern Railway. Uttarakosamangai is a big village, about five miles west of Ramnad. Kilakarai and
Uttarakosamangai are connected to Ramnad by good motorable roads.

Previous observers:- R. Bruce Foote (1883)@ described the calcareous sandstone, occurring
all along the Kilakarai coast. He also described the Valimukkam (Valinokkam) Bay and a submerged
forest occurring about a mile north of Valimukkam, where decaying stumps and logs were found in
peaty, carbonaceous clays. Though I came across the peaty clays described by Foote, I could not find
any large tree stumps, reported by him. Probably these have been removed subsequently by local
villagers for use as fuel.

@ Mem. Geol. Surv. Ind., Vol.XX, Pt.l, pp.103-183 - On the Geology of the Madura and Tinnevelly districts
 GSI-CHQ-70

Dr. A. K. Dey and I investigated during 1951-52 the coral reefs around the small islands in
the Gulf of Mannar, between Tuticorin and Rameswaram, with a view to estimate the reserves of
coral limestone suitable for the manufacture of heavy chemicals. A brief account of the rocks
occurring along the coast is given in the joint report*. The areas adjacent to Uttarakosamangai,
Ramnad, and Kilakarai were examined by me, during 1955-56, in the course of the systematic
mapping, of the Ramanathapuram district, and the geology is described in my progress report for
the season, entitled "Geology of parts of Mudukalattur taluk, Ramanatha-puram district, Madras
State".

The area under review is a coastal plain, which becomes swampy during the rainy season,
between October and January. It has an average annual rainfall of about 40 inches. As the soil is rather
saline and unfertile, no food crops are grown. There are however, a number of coconut plantations
flourishing all along the coast. Fishing, and shell collection for large sea shells (gastropod shells) and
conches are other important occupations in the area.

II. GEOLOGY OF THE AREA

The area under review lies to the south of the Vaigai River near its delta and therefore is
mostly under cover of thick alluvium. However, fringing the coast of the gulf of Mannar, is a hard
calcareous sandstone which carries coarse grains of quartz and feldspar. This sandstone which is buff-
coloured, extends from Mandapam and Rameswaram, in the north, to Cape Gomorin (Kanyakumari),
in the south. The quartz and feldspar grains are well-rounded, fairly sorted and upto 0.5 mm. in size.
Under the microscope they show dark rims of overgrowth. The cementing material is calcareous. The
sand-stone carries plenty of broken lamellibranch and gastropod shells and occasional fragments of
corals and marine algae. The marine organisms belong to living species. The sandstone appears to
have formed under very shallow, littoral or sub-aerial conditions and at places it represents hardened
beach sands. For instance, about a mile to the south of Valinokkam along the coast, garnet and
ilmenite beach sands concentrated by wave action into alternating layers, have consolidated to form a
banded sandstone.

Overlying the calcareous sandstones along the coast are dunes of fine, well-sorted wind-
blown sands, 10 to 15 feet thick. The sands occupy a tract three to four miles wide and they form soils
of poor fertility. However, palmyra and coconut trees seem to thrive well on the sandy stretches.

* Report on detailed survey of the coral islands in the Gulf of Mannar between Tuticorin and Pamban, Madras.
 GSI-CHQ-70

About half a mile N . N . W . of Valinokkarn, there is a small patch (about two acres in extent)
of black clayey soil, which appears to be the site of a disused salt pan. The clayey soil contains soft
decayed plant remains at a depth of about one foot from the ground level. The woody material is
easily crushed and resembles peat. This is the spot where Foote had found a submerged forest and
"tree stumps standing up out of a bed of soft and tenacious black clay, containing oysters and other
marine shells embedded in it". The tree stumps are no longer there- probably they were removed and
the ground levelled for the salt pans which are now abandoned. Foote also seems to have recovered a
small bono ornament, a rude car pendant of pre-historic age from this spot.

III. GYPSUM OCCURRENCES

There are no indications of the occurrence of gypsum or any other mineral of economic value,
i n the Uttarakosamangai area, which is completely covered by alluvial soils supporting paddy
cultivation. But gypsum, in the form of transparent selenite crystals, is found under the sand cover in a
few localities, close to the sea shore, near Kilakarai (see sketch-plate 1). The occurrences are small
and scattered. In no case is the gypsum found as a bedded deposit.

(1) Alavakkaraiyadi (9°14'0":7 8°48 '0" ): In Alavakkarai-vadi hamlet, about one mile N.E. of
Kilakarai, gypsum is found in a thin layer of calcareous mud, about two feet thick, spread over an area
of less than two acres, about 100 yards from the sea shore. The mud layer occurs over the calcareous
sand-stone and is in turn covered by 12 feet of sand. Two trial pits, put down, sometime back, by
some private parties, seem to have yielded slender crystals of gypsum, 11/2 to 2 inches long. In the
course of my investigation, two trial pits were put down quite close to the old trial pits. While no
gypsum was found in one pit the other yielded only a few pounds of small crystals of gypsum less
than half an inch long and occurring mixed with calcareous mud at a depth of 11 foot. Well-diggings
in the area do not also give any indication of the existence of a sizeable deposit. It is therefore
surmised, that the gypsum crystals occur in small lenses and pockets. The total workable reserves of
gypsum in Alavakkaraivadi hamlet may not exceed 700 or 800 tons.

(2) Chinna Alam Tank (9°23'0":78°45'): Gypsum occurs in the bed of a tank, known locally as
"Chinna Alam", about 21/2 miles S.W. of Kilakarai and less than a furlong from the sea-shore, The
tank is about four acres in extent and carries about five feet of water. The gypsum varies in size
from minute grains to crystals about two inches long and upto an inch wide. It occurs disseminated
in a bed (about three feet thick) of white calcareous clay and fine sand. The tank is believed to have
been once a reservoir for a salt pan and the water is still saline, though according to local reports it
is said to be derived from rains. It is very likely that the water is contaminated to a large extent with
sea water during high tide.
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About two years back, some persons from Kilakarai are stated to have mined about 1300
tons of gypsum from the "Chinna Alam" tank. While I was camping at Kilakarai, efforts were being
made by another party, to pump out the water from the tank, and mine gypsum. I was given an
opportunity to examine the tank bed after the water was pumped out. There are no indications of
gypsum in the northern and western portions of the tank, while in the central and southern portions
there are excavations and trenches indicating that the major portion of the gypsum has been
removed earlier. On a tentative estimate the unmined portions in "Chinna Alam" tank may yield
about 500 or 600 tons of gypsum.

(5) Periya Alam Tank (9°12'30":78°45'0"): About a furlong west of the Chinna Alam, is another
tank, about 8 acres in extent and carrying about 6 or 7 feet of saline water. At the northern edge of
this tank, known locally as "Periya Alam" are exposures of calcareous sandstone which carry marks
of wave erosion as on a sea shore. Wells and pits adjacent to the tank do not contain any gypsum
and it was thought not worthwhile to pump out the water, as it would involve very heavy
expenditure. However, from its similarity to "Chinna Alam" occurrence, the calcareous mud
constituting the bed of this tank is also expected to carry some gypsum crystals, and the probable
reserves of the gypsum may not exceed 2000 tons.

(4) Valinokkam (9°10':78°39'): Small crystals of gypsum (selenite) are also found in the dark,
carbonaceous, or peaty, clay, occurring in & shallow low-lying area, about a mile N.N.W. of
Valinokkam. This area forms the mouth of a large lagoon known locally as "Pambaru Taruvai".
There appears to have been a large salt factory at this site, in the past, and the gypsum is found, in
dark, sticky clay occurring in the abandoned salt pans, at a depth 2 to 3 feet. A trial pit 5 ft. x 5 ft. x
6 ft. (depth) yielded only 6 lbs. of gypsum crystals of one inch size. It may be possible to recover
about 300 tons of gypsum from the old salt pans, but as the fragile gypsum crystals will have to be
washed free from the very sticky and plastic clay, recovery may entail considerable losses and also
be costly.

IV. ORIGIN OF THE GYPSUM

The gypsum occurrences in the Kilakarai area, are quite close to the sea shore and are
evidently formed by the evaporation of small bodies of brine, in shallow lagoonal depressions (locally
called "Taravai"s) cut off from the sea by sand bars. Such bodies of brine have been used in the past
as reservoirs in the salt factories, as in the case of "Chinna Alam" and "Periya Alam" and the
"Taravai" at Valinokkam.

As evaporation, of sea water, proceeds in a small tank, gypsum crystallises, when the density
of the brine is 17° be (i.e. it contains 17% dissolved salts) and the needles of gypsum grow and sink to
 GSI-CHQ-70

the bottom till the brine reaches 23° Be as measured by the "Beaume" hydrometer. The gypsum
crystals must be at least l1/2 inches long to find any market value. In some of the salt factories in
Madras State, it has been found that ½ to 1 ton of gypsum can be recovered for every 100 tons of salt.
This is also possible only in those salt pans where the floor is hard and well tamped and from which
the gypsum crystals can be easily scraped. If the floor of the salt pan is clayey and soft, the gypsum
crystals get lost in the mud.

No gypsum has been found interceded with the calcareous sandstone exposed along the
Kilakarai coast. The gypsum, in this area, occurs only in the beds of small and shallow lagoonal
depressions and. in old salt pans. The total-reserves of gypsum may not far exceed 3000 tons. As all
the occurrences are close to the sea, and the water table is high, it will be necessary to pump and drain
large quantities of water, before the gypsum can be worked. Further the entire area is flooded, after
rains, and so the gypsum can be mined only in summer, that is between April and September.
Sufficient care should however be exercised as excessive pumping in proximity to the sea is likely to
cause the ingress of sea water underground which may destroy or seriously affect the more valuable
coconut crops in the area. Arrangements and equipment for washing the gypsum crystals free of
plastic clay and calcareous mud sticking will also be necessary.

Thus, it is seen, that the occurrences of gypsum, in the area, are all very small, and there are
many difficulties to be overcome and precautions to be taken, before mining can be undertaken. It is
also to be indicated that no large-scale mining of gypsum is possible in the area, around Kilakarai and
Valinokkam. However, in view of the cheap labour available it may be possible for local persons to
collect small quantities of gypsum during summer months, from such of those occurrences, which can
be easily worked. Gypsum finds considerable use in the cement industry, in making "plaster of paris",
and in the fertiliser industry, and there are also numerous other industries requiring gypsum. As there
is no large deposit of gypsum in South India there is always a demand for gypsum.

V. OTHER MINERAL DEPOSITS

The calcareous sandstone along the sea coast is quarried at Kilakarai and Valinokkam for use
as a building stone and finds considerable demand as there is no other building stone available for
many miles around. There are small patches, of ilmenite and garnet sand, along the sea shore, near
Alavakka-raivadi (9°14'0":78°48'0") and about a mile north of Valinokkam. The placers are of
small dimensions and the deposits are not of economic importance.
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VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Crystals of gypsum (selenite) occur in small quantities at Alavakkaraivadi
(9°14'0'':78°48'0") about a mile N.N.E. of Kilakarai, in the beds of the "Chinna Alam" and "Periya
Alam" tanks (9°12'30":78°45'0") about 21/2 miles S.W. of Kilakarai and in the old salt pans at
Valinokkam (9°10':78°39"). The total reserves of gypsum in the above localities may be of the order
of 3000 tons, and the gypsum appears to have been derived by the evaporation of small bodies of
sea water occurring near the coast. The occurrences are too small to warrant systematic, large scale
mining.

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