Sedimentation, tectonics and climate in Ladakh, NW Trans-Himalaya-with a special reference to Late Quaternary Period

Abstract

Ladakh, the newly formed Union Territory of India, is a cold arid high altitude desert lying in the Trans-Himalaya and is an important region for geographers and geologists, because of its lunar/martian landscapes, exposures of sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rock types, glacial, fluvial lacustrine sediments and active tectonic and climatic processes. This paper sums up the sedimentary characteristics, tectonic and climatic history with examples from the variety of sediment exposures along the Indus River. The overall geomorphological evolution of Ladakh is basically governed by two sets of geological processes—the continental scale geological processes that have primarily provided the basic framework for the landscape and second the regional/local scale geological processes in which the role of tectonics and climate which has been significant in determining the glacial, fluvial, lacustrine and aeolian processes. The transient topography of the region is attributed to (a) the movement along active Stok thrust, along the Indus Suture Zone; (b) long term steady state perturbed by climate change; (c) location in orographic rain shadow zone; and (d) the landscape being not in cosmogenic steady state due to topographic effect and methodological uncertainties of data.

Keywords

• Ladakh
• Trans-Himalaya
• Sedimentation
• Tectonics
• Climate