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Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
Morphology and Geology of the area
Kailash Mountain together with the east-west trending mountain (Kailash ranges) constitutes the northern boundary of the Trans- Himalayas. Alternatively, the Kailash ranges lies in the zone of collision between the Indian and Tibetan plate. After traversing the snow clad Himalaya in the south, one enters into a wide (~20 km) Barkha plain on which lie the Rakshas and Mansarovar Lakes. The Kailash ranges rise abruptly north of Darchen village and continue north of the Kailash Mountain. Dzong Chu and La Chu (Chu River) are the two major rivers that have sources outside the Kailash Mountain and drains through the eastern and western boundary of the Kailash range (Figure 1). From the northern face of Kailash two small streams emanate from the Gangjam glacier(Kailash Mountain) and Polung glacier (Dharma King Norsang) and flows few kilometers northwards before meeting the La Chu and Dolma La Chu. These rivers finally join in the Barkha plain and eventually drain into the Rakshas Tal in the south. The outer Kora follows along these rivers. In addition to this, there lies an inner Kailash basin with a very common southern face of the mount Kailash looking towards Mansarovar and Rakshas Tal. The inner Kailash basin drained by Serlung Chu named after the Serlung Gompa. Besides this, a rather small groundwater fed stream called the Gyndrang Chu drains through the eastern part of the inner Kailash basin and flows towards Darchen in the south before finally merging with other streams in the Barkha plain (Figure 1).
Towards the south of the Kailash Mountain, in the vicinity of Darchen the complex rock type dominated by sandy slates, red sand stones, radiolarian chert along with the lenses of dolomite. These rocks at places intercalated with volcanic rocks (Ophiolite). It is suggested that rocks constituting the Kailash ranges including the Kailash Mountain were deposited during the upliftment of the Himalaya and Kailash ranges can be considered to be the northern limit of the Himalaya. One can clearly demarcate two distinct types of rock geometry (structure). In the foothill areas the rocks are folded and comprises sandy slates, red sand stones, radiolarian chert with dolomite lenses, whereas around Kailash mountain the rocks are nearly horizontal (marginal northward tilt) and dominated by cemented boulders with subordinate sandstone and slates. These rocks are known as the famous Kailash Conglomerate and were deposited over the granite basement. A close scrutiny of the conglomeratic horizons shows the presence of vertical fractures cutting across the horizontal beds. Kailash peak (6638 m) and Nandi Mountain (6000 m) are formed by the Kailash Conglomerates with sub-ordinate contribution from sandstone and shale. The two mountains (Kailash and Nandi) are connected by a small southeast trending rocky ledge at 5859 m (Serlung Chuksum La, Figure 1). The top of the Nandi Mountain which mimics lion face, a pyramid and Bull is developed on the conglomerate horizon. This horizon contains boulders of granite, sandstone and quartzite whose size varies from few cm to around 1 m. Kailash and Nandi Mountains are surrounded by ~600 m deep valleys carved by the glaciers in geological past. In the lower part (from valley bottom to -300 m above) the Nandi Mountain is covered with angular rock fragments occurring as fan shaped bodies (scree deposit).
Earth surface processes: Past and Present
Three major earth surface processes that were operated and are still being in operation in the basin are the (1) glacial process (ii) frost action and (iii) river erosion. These processes have
Geological investigation of rock sculptures...
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