摘要: Description　　Rising abruptly from the Punjab plains west of the River Jhelum and ending equally precipitously on the Indus River, one hundred and eighty kilometres in the west, the Salt Range is a lon

Description

　　Rising abruptly from the Punjab plains west of the River Jhelum and ending equally precipitously on the Indus River, one hundred and eighty kilometres in the west, the Salt Range is a long linear formation of sheer escarpments, jagged peaks, rolling hills and desolate ravines. Nestling between these hills, are fertile valleys scattered with lakes and irrigated by spring fed streams. The Salt Range originated 800 million years ago when evaporation of a shallow sea followed by under thrusting of the Indian Plate formed a range that stretched for about 300 kilometres. The range derives its name from the occurrence of the thickest seams of rock salt in the world embedded in the Precambrian bright red marls of the Salt Range Formation. The Salt Range constitutes a narrow zone of localized strong folding, faulting and uplift, in contrast to the open folds of low structural relief in the Potwar Plateau and no deformation at all in the immediately adjacent Punjab Plain.

　　It represents an open book of geology with richly fossiliferous stratified rocks that include Cambrian stratigraphy, a Permian carbonate succession with brachiopods, the Permian-Triassic boundary, Lower Triassic ammonite bearing beds (the Mianwali Formation, formerly known as "Ceratite Beds") and Lower Tertiary marine strata composed of age diagnostic foraminifera. All the strata are excellently exposed due to lack of vegetation. The quality of the exposure also provides excellent opportunities to appreciate tectonic features in the field and attracts geologists from all over the world to study Cambrian stratigraphy, the Permian-Triassic boundary, and Lower Tertiary foraminiferal biostratigraphy.

　　The area is rich in paleontological finds: large and small land mammals dating to some 18 million years ago when the climate of this area was wet and humid; ichno-fossil dinosaur trackways, which were imprinted in the limestone in the upper most part of the Middle Jurassic ; a wealth of Cretaceous belemnites in the form of a "graveyard"; the 14 million year old fossil remains of Deinotherium discovered at Choa Saidan Shah; 12.3 million year old fossilised hipbone from a prehistoric ape named Sivapithecus indicus and the 10 million year old Gigantopithecus. The fossil record of the Salt Range represents a diverse range of floral and faunal fossils including well preserved complete body fossils of invertebrate and vertebrate fauna, their skeletal grains, faunal molds and castes along with a large variety of ichno-fossils

　　Hominidae remains have been found in and on the northern side of the Salt Range reflecting the presence of the Old World Monkey Colobinae in Late Miocene deposits at Dhok Pathan, Domeli and Hasnote and Middle Late Miocene fossil remains of Dryopithecinae at Chinji.The first evidence of human presence in the Salt Range is found in the Soan River valley where hundreds of edged pebble tools were discovered dated to the Lower Palaeolithc (500,000 – 125,000 bp). Nearby at Khaur a complete lower jaw is evidence of Rampithicus punjabicus living in the Potwar just north of the Salt Range as recently as 8 million years ago.

　　Within the Salt Range there is a dense clustering of historical sites and places ranging in date from the 4th c. when Alexander the Great fought his last battle with Raja Porus at the bank of Jehlum River, through the Hindu Shahi period, the Mughal Empire to the era of Sikh rule and the British Colonial occupation. Fortresses, monasteries and temple complexes such as Kafirkot and Malot (9th – 19th c.), Nandna, Tilla Jogian and the World Heritage site of Rohtas perch on high mountain platforms overlooking important passes through the Salt Range. Habitation sites and ancient centers of religious pilgrimage such as Katas Raj and Mari Indus, early Mughal sites such as Takht-e-Babri, the throne of Emperor Babar and his Bagh-e-Safa considered to be the first Mughal Garden in Asia, are found in Kallar Kahar in the middle of the Salt Range. Step wells, stone lined tanks, sacred ponds and banyans (Ficus indica) and groves spanning many periods are scattered across the landscape. However, the place which best illustrates the interplay between culture and nature, man and the geology of the Salt Range, is Khewra, one of the world’s richest salt deposits, where salt has been exploited for at least a thousand years. The Precambrian salt reserves at Khewra were known when Alexander the Great crossed the Jhelum and Mianwali region during his Indian campaign. During the Mughal era the salt was traded in various markets, as far away as Central Asia. On the downfall of the Mughal empire, the Khewra mine was taken over by Sikhs and then by the British who industriaized its running and it continues to function on a large scale today as a mine, research and tourism centre.