Thar Desert at Jaisalmer
Thar Desert: Thar Desert This desert has been under seawater at least four times since the Triassic period (225 million years ago) whereafter the sea reclaimed the land at periodic intervals of some twenty-five to thirty million years. Animal and wood fossils of those days have now come to the surface in a few places. During the following Cretaceous period between 135 and 63 million years ago, this area became a land mass covered with forests. The sea came and left behind rocks with marine fossils. Slow accumulation and disintegration of these bodies at the bottom of the sea is believed to be responsible for the formation of oil and natural gas in the Thar region. Nearly 35 million years ago, the sea finally withdrew from the Thar and it is this sea bed that surrounds you when visiting Jaisalmer.