Abstract
We present here lithofacies and mineral magnetic results from a ∼50 m thick composite record of fluvial, lacustrine and aeolian facies within the Leh valley basin of Indus River in Ladakh Himalaya. Mineral magnetic studies decipher interplay of two contrasting sediment sources viz., the unimodal ferrimagnetic source derived from Ladakh batholithic glacial domain and mixed ferri-to antiferromagnetic source derived from Indus sedimentary sequence. The lithofacies variability expresses dynamic changes in the depositional regimes controlled by base level fluctuations that are governed by the interaction of basin fill conditions and the response to Late Quaternary climatic perturbations. A three stage evolution of the Leh valley basin is proposed after comparison to other characteristic lithofacies changes within the valley as: (I) the basin under-fill conditions marked by fluvial and fluvio-lacustrine phase till ∼24m (∼64 Ka OSL age) above modern base level followed by (II) predominantly varved, glacio-lacustrine, basin overfill phase till 38m (∼28 Ka) gradually passing into an aeolian phase; and (III) basin incision that began at the earliest Holocene warming. Advancement and retreat of glaciers from the transverse valleys, attributed to climatic oscillations, appears to have greatly controlled the basin-fill conditions in the Leh valley. The present approach demonstrates its larger scope in recording the Late Quaternary response of individual valley basins to delineate local and regional attributes of climate change in the Himalayan and Karakoram region.
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Sangode, S.J., Rawat, S., Meshram, D.C. et al. Integrated mineral magnetic and lithologic studies to delineate dynamic modes of depositional conditions in the Leh valley basin, Ladakh Himalaya, India. J Geol Soc India 82, 107–120 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-013-0129-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-013-0129-0