Geoheritage Merits of the Zanskar Range of the Kashmir Himalaya: a Field Geology Museum from Precambrian to Present

• Published in: Geoheritage 2023-06, Vol.15 (2), Article 75
• Main Authors: Thakkar, M. G., Chauhan, Gaurav, Padder, Aadil Hussain, Parcha, Suraj Kumar, Sharma, Shubhra, Thakur, V. C., Dorjay, C. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biogeosciences; Cambrian; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geology; Geomorphology; Glaciers; Historical Geology; Indian Geoheritage: From the Precambrian to the Present; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Mesozoic; Mineralogy; Museums; Original Article; Paleontology; Physical Geography; Precambrian; Quaternary
• ISSN: 1867-2477; 1867-2485
• DOI: 10.1007/s12371-023-00842-9

The Zanskar Range is unique in varied aspects and is always been an attraction to the geoscientists and tourists due to its geographic location. The most of the area and routes are not easily accessible but it is the place where the glaciers are accessible by road and hence the best place for the study on glacial geomorphology and geology. Geologically, it represents the northwestern extension of the Spiti Basin, and constitutes the southern part of the Ladakh Himalaya. This range lies between the Great Himalayan and Ladakh ranges from SW and NE. It exposes the Higher Himalayan Crystalline (HHC), Paleo-Mesozoic Tethyan Sequences, and Indus Suture Zone composed of Kargil Mollase, flysch, and ophiolitic mélange. It is an ideal field museum of young orogenic tectonic and lithological settings and faunal remains from Cambrian onwards. Sediments of the Zanskar Range show sub-vertically, tightly folded, and wedge type structures in the north and open to tight folds in the south. In the present study, we have revealed the geoheritage value of each of its exposures taking the field, areal-air, and Google traverses from Kargil to Zangla along the Suru, Shankoo, Doda, and Zanskar valleys and air traverse from Leh to Lesser Himalaya of Kashmir. It is also an ideal sequence of Quaternary glacial episodes, the natural laboratory, and the open practical school for earth scientists. Eleven geoheritage sites are proposed in the Zanskar region with several geotopes under each site, covering many potential sites of this region. In the coming days, the geopark of the Zanskar may be envisaged.