×

UPSC Courses

DNA banner

DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 06 May, 2020

  • 5 Min Read

Enhancing Erosion in Himalayas

Enhancing Erosion in the Himalayas

Part of: GS-I- Geography (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Scientists and students from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) have explored the Zanskar catchment area. The study was conducted to understand the landform evolution in transitional climatic zones, using morphostratigraphy, Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating and provenance analysis of landforms like valley fill terraces and alluvial fans.

Valley Fill Terrace: The fill terrace is created by either a stream or river that starts to incise into the material that it deposited in the valley. Once this occurs benches composed completely of alluvium form on the sides of the valley. The uppermost benches are the fill terraces.

Alluvial Fans: Triangle-shaped deposits of gravel, sand and even smaller pieces of sediment, such as silt.

Note: WHIG is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.

Morphostratigraphy: The organization of rock or sediment strata into units based on their surface morphology (landforms).

Optically-Stimulated Luminescence: It is a late Quaternary dating technique used to date the last time a quartz sediment was exposed to light. As sediment is transported by wind, water or ice, it is exposed to sunlight and zeroed of any previous luminescence signal.

Provenance Analysis: It aims to determine the source region (provenance) of a sediment sample. It is aimed to reconstruct the parent rock or rocks of sand bodies, the time of deposition of the sand and, if possible, the climate conditions during the formation of the sediments.

Key Findings

  • Scientists traced where the rivers draining Himalayas and its foreland erode the most and identified the zones which receive these eroded sediments and fill up.
  • The study suggested that the wide valley of Padam in the upper Zanskar is a hotspot of sediment buffering and has stored a vast amount of sediments. The sediment contribution from such transient basins is significant when compared to the sediment reportedly eroded from the entire Indus system in Ladakh.
  • Most of the sediments in the Padam valley were derived from Higher Himalayan crystalline that lie in the headwater region of Zanskar.
  • The dominant factors responsible for sediment erosion were deglaciation and Indian Summer Monsoon derived precipitation in the headwaters.
  • The provenance analysis suggested that despite the presence of the deep narrow gorge and a low gradient, the upper and lower Zanskar valleys remained connected throughout their aggradational history.

Significance

  • The study will help to understand river-borne erosion and sedimentation, which are the main drivers that make large riverine plains, terraces and deltas that eventually become the evolving grounds for civilizations.
  • The study brought forwards the 35 thousand-year history of river erosion and identified hotspots of erosion and wide valleys that act as buffer zones.
  • It showed how rivers in drier Ladakh Himalaya operated on longer time scales and how they responded to varying climates. The Ladakh Himalaya forms a high altitude desert between Greater Himalayan ranges and Karakoram Ranges and the Indus and its tributaries are major rivers flowing through the terrain.
  • Understanding of water and sediment routing becomes crucial while developing infrastructure and for other development works in the river catchment area.

Zanskar River

  • It is one of the largest tributaries of the upper Indus catchment.
  • It drains transversely northward from the Higher Himalaya, dominated by the Indian summer monsoon, to flow through the arid, westerlies-dominated, highly folded and thrusted Zanskar ranges in Ladakh.
  • The Doda and the Tsarap Lingti Chu confluence at Padam to form the Zanskar, which in turn joins the Indus at Nimu.
  • Zanskar valley can be divided into upper and lower divisions, separated by a gorge of nearly 60?km in length.

Source: PIB


Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana

Recently, Prime Minister announced Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana under which 1 crore households will get rooftop solar power systems. India’s Status of Current Solar Capacity India currently stands at 4th place globally in solar power capacity. As per Ministry of New an

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)- NGO 

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled this month. What is FCRA? Key provisions of FCRA, 2010 Key aspects Description

Voice clone-AI

Voice clone fraud has been on the rise in India. AI voice cloning – It is the process of creating a synthetic replica of a person’s voice through machine learning and speech synthesis technology.It is called as voice deepfakesor audio deepfakes. Objective – To achieve a high level of na

Science communication- how to promote

Steps taken by India to promote Science Communication Publications and Information Directorate (PID) - An organisation under Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) established in 1951 for publishing and disseminating scientific information in India. National science magazines- The PI

Universal Basic Income (UBI)- Analysis

Universal Basic Income (UBI) can strengthen welfare architecture and unlock the nation’s latent demographic potential. UBI - It is an income support mechanism typically intended to reach all or a very large portion of the population regardless of their earnings or employment status. Objective- To provide enough to co

Toppers

Search By Date

Newsletter Subscription
SMS Alerts

Important Links

UPSC GS Mains Crash Course - RAW Prelims Answer Key 2024