Dominant role of deglaciation in Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene sediment aggradation in the Upper Chenab valley, NW Himalaya

Abstract

Sediment transfer from the interiors of the Himalaya is complex because the archives are influenced by both glacial and monsoonal cycles. To deconvolve the coupling of glacial and monsoonal effects on sediment transfer processes, we investigate the Late Pleistocene–Holocene sediment archive in the Upper Chenab valley. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from the archive indicate major aggradation during ca. 20–10 ka. Isotopic fingerprinting using Sr-Nd isotopes in silt fractions together with clast counts in boulder-pebble fractions indicate a decreasing Higher Himalayan sediment flux in the archive with time. Decreasing clast size, increasing clast roundness, increasing matrix to clast ratio, and dominance of the Higher Himalayan sourcing unequivocally suggest strong glacial influence during the initial stages of the archive formation. This evidence also agrees with the existing retreat ages of glaciers in the Upper Chenab valley. Results of our study also show that the upper parts of the archive contain significant fluvial sediment contribution from the Lesser Himalaya, which suggests an active role of the stronger Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) in the region during the Early Holocene. The apparent decrease in sediment supply from the Higher Himalayan sources could have been due to longer source-to-sink transport in the Early Holocene and/or increased hillslope flux from Lesser Himalayan sources.