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Late Pleistocene-Holocene morphosedimentary architecture, Spiti River, arid higher Himalaya

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Abstract

The Spiti River drains the rain shadow zone of western Himalaya. In the present study, the fluvial sedimentary record of Spiti valley was studied to understand its responses to tectonics and climate. Geomorphic changes along the river enable to divide the river into two segments: (i) upper valley with a broad, braided channel where relict sedimentary sequences rise 15–50 m high from the riverbed and (ii) lower valley with a narrow, meandering channel that incises into bedrock, and here, the fluvio-lacustrine sediments reside on a bedrock bench located above the riverbed. The transition between these geomorphic segments lies along the river between Seko-Nasung and Lingti villages (within Tethyan Himalaya). Lithofacies analyses of the sedimentary sequences show six different lithofacies. These can be grouped into three facies associations, viz. (A) a glacial outwash; (B) sedimentation in a channel and in an accreting bar under braided conditions; and (C) formation of lake due to channel blockage by landslide activities. Seventeen optically stimulated luminescence ages derived from ten sections bracketed the phases of river valley aggradation between 14–8 and 50–30 ka. These aggradation phases witnessed mass wasting, channel damming and lake formation events. Our record, when compared with SW monsoon archives, suggests that the aggradation occurred during intensified monsoon phase of MIS 3/4 and that proceeded the Last Glacial Maxima. Thus, the study reports monsoon modulated valley aggradation in the NW arid Himalaya.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Directors of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, for encouragement. Prof. A.K. Singhvi and Prof. R.J. Wasson are acknowledged for pre-submission reviews on the manuscript. Bodo Bookhagen and two anonymous reviewers helped improve the manuscript. Drs. Rasmus Theide, Barun Mukherji, S. Mukherjee topic editors, is thanked for his efforts in bringing up this contribution.

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  1. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road, Dehradun, 248001, India

    Pradeep Srivastava & Yogesh Ray

  2. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53-University Road, Lucknow, 226007, India

    Binita Phartiyal & Anupam Sharma

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  1. Pradeep Srivastava
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Correspondence to Pradeep Srivastava.

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Srivastava, P., Ray, Y., Phartiyal, B. et al. Late Pleistocene-Holocene morphosedimentary architecture, Spiti River, arid higher Himalaya. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 102, 1967–1984 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-013-0871-y

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