A note on the origin of petrified rice of Kathghar.

Rajmahal traps are part of the Rajmahal–Bengal–Sylhet (RBS) Province formed during the Early Cretaceous by the magma plume activity of the Kerguelen hotspot. The hills of Rajmahal are famous for their geological features like columnar basalt, intertrappean beds, fossils of a rich diversity of flora, pyroclastic materials, and many other volcanic features associated with volcanic traps and fossilized floral remains common in intertrappean beds of Rajmahal volcanic province. One such popular feature that attracts tourists and researchers is rice and cereal-shaped silica grains common in wells and ponds of the Kathghar and Taljhari areas of Rajmahal. Although commonly mistaken for fossilized floral remains (of rice or cereal), they are amygdaloidal silica occurring as vesicle fillings in pitchstones. The pitchstones are the product of violent volcanic eruptions during the initial phase of Rajmahal volcanism. Here, we propose a hypothesis that elucidates the origin and occurrence of these rice-shaped silica grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]