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Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
Sherlung Chu
-500 m
Relict glaciated valley
Relict Cirque
Fig.4: IKONOS data showing the relict glaciated valleys and cirques (I-IV) which indicate the grandeur of glaciers around Kailash in the past.
A relict cirque is another characteristic erosional feature found in the ancient glaciated valleys. An active cirque can be considered as a feeder glacier to the main valley glacier. After the glacier recedes, a relict cirque resembles an amphitheater (Figure 4). The relationship between the modern regional snowline and the altitude of the floors of small, independent cirques in glaciated mountain ranges has long been used to provide the first-order approximation of the snowline altitude15. In the study area four relict cirques can be seen in the satellite data, marked as I-IV in Figure 4. The cirque floor altitude of a west-oriented relict cirque (cirque I, Figure 4) was located -5500 m, which broadly coincides with the highest elevation of the youngest lateral moraine (discussed later), implying that the cirque was active during the youngest glacial advance.
Reconstruction based on moraine stratigraphy in areas dominated by monsoon suffers from the difficulty in differentiating the moraines from those of the frequent mass wasting17.18. In addition, reconstruction of the former extent of glaciers requires detailed geomorphic mapping and analyses of landforms and sediments. The most accurate methods also require that there is sufficient geomorphic evidence, usually lateral-terminal moraines and trimlines, to allow the shape of the former glacier to be reconstructed18. In the study area low monsoon precipitation, wide valley Geomorphic evidence of glaciations around Mount Kailash...
Geomorphic expression of glacial erosion around. Kailash region is manifested by the pyramidal shape Mount Kailash. Such morphology develops in areas where headward erosion of a ring of cirque glaciers around a single high mountain deepens the valley from more than three sides. The features looks like
a spire of rock and are called as 'horn'. When the cirque glaciers finally disappear, they leave a steep, pyramidal mountain outlined by headwalls of the cirques 16. This suggests that in the past glaciers around Kailash Mountain operated in a much larger scale, which led to the sculpturing of peaks and incision of deep and wide valleys.
Rakshas Tal
Serlung Chu
S-III
S-II
Serlung Gompa S-1
Fig.5: Field photograph of lateral moraines deposited during there major glaciations in the Serlung Chu valley (southern Kailash). These glaciations from older to younger are named as Kailash stage-I (KS-I), KS-II and KS-III.
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