Journal of Indian Geomorphology Volume 5, 2017 ISSN 2320-0731 Indian Institute of Geomorphologists (IGI) Paradoxes of Fluvial Evolution in Young Orogenic Systems Leszek Starkel Department of Geoenvironmental Research, 22 sw. Jana, 31-018 Krakow, Poland e-mail: starkel@zg.pan.krakow.pl Abstract: The paradoxical situation faced in the evolutionary tendencies, both in the marginal part of the rising eastern Himalaya and the subsiding fore-deep has been discussed in this paper. In the marginal part of the mountains heavy rains and deforestation replaced incision with aggradation, while on the other hand, in the subsiding foreland down-cutting predominated over aggradation due to reactivation of faults. Introduction In young orogenic systems a normal situation is characterised by uplift of mountains with subsequent deepening of river valleys and subsidence, on the contrary, by fluvial aggradation in the mountain fore-deep. The effect of uplifting in the central massifs gradually propagated towards the over-thrust margins and gradually affected the younger depositional zone of the piedmont (Fig. 1). It is also the case of the western Himalayas where the wide belt of the Siwaliks, forming the piedmont, is built of folded and over-thrust Neogene to early Quaternary alluvial sediments, dissected by the great Himalayan rivers. At the Siwaliks foreland, on the extensive Ganga- Brahmaputra lowland, contemporary fluvial aggradation takes place, which is only rarely disturbed by reactivation along fault lines the latter modifying the drainage pattern (Jain and Sinha, 2003). Disussion In the eastern Himalayas with steep front of the mountains rising to 2,000 m above sea level, the situation is different (Photo 1). The marginal part is characterised by annual rainfall reaching 5,000 6,000 mm and by heavy rains of the order of 1,000 mm, repeating 2 3 times in one century (Starkel, 1972, Starkel et al., 2008, Fig. 2). Over a stretch of about 30 km, the Siwalik zone is not only narrow, but at places it totally disappears. Between the Tista and Torsa rivers there was formation of semicircular depressions bordered by the retreated front of the mountains and dissected by many small rivers, which formed large alluvial fans frequently deeply rooted in the mountains (Starkel and Sarkar 2002; Fig. 3, Photo 2). The marginal part of the Lesser Himalayas (up to 40 km wide) is drained by a few long rivers, among them the Tista and its tributary, the Great Rangit are significant. Moreover, it is FLUVIAL EVOLUTION IN YOUNG OROGENIC SYSTEMS 57
Figure 1. Normal tendencies in evolution of young mountains and their foreland. 1. Uplift, 2. Subsidence, 3.Aggradation, 4. Downcutting. Figure 2. Mean annual rainfall along S-N transect of piedmont and margin of the Himalayas between the Tista and Torsa rivers (after Starkel et al. 2008). 58 JOURNAL OF INDIAN GEOMORPHOLOGY: VOLUME 5, 2017
Figure 3. Geomorphic map of piedmont- foreland fans (after Starkel et al., 2008). 1. Rivers, 2. Active alluvial fan, 3. Older alluvial fan, 4. Floodplain(downstream), 5. Lower terrace, 6. High terrace, 7. Mountain front, 8. Tectonic escarpment. Figure 4. Land use in Darjeeling region (after Starkel and Basu, 2000). 1. Forest, 2. Tea gardens FLUVIAL EVOLUTION IN YOUNG OROGENIC SYSTEMS 59
Figure 5. Three characteristic transects of valley evolution in lesser Himalaya and foreland. A. Deforested margin (N slope with debris flows), B. Aggradation progressing upstream, C. Uplifting blocks in piedmont (east of Tista river):1. Uplift, 2.Subsidence, 3.Aggradation, 4.Down-cutting, 5.Alluvia, 6.Bedrock, 7.Runoff, 8.Debris flow. located not only in the zone of higher rainfall but also it is an area of tea cultivation. The tea plantations are commonly found in the Rangit catchment (Fig. 4). Due to climatic, geologic and geomorphic setting, this area is affected by floods and various types of mass movements, especially debris flows (Photo 3). After the catastrophic rains of October 1968, I observed the huge debris flows which caused accelerated aggradation reaching up to 10 m (Starkel, 1972). This debris flow carried very large blocks (of several meters in diameter), that totally stopped the process of channel deepening (Starkel and Basu, 2000). After many years a relatively small deepening took place due to 60 JOURNAL OF INDIAN GEOMORPHOLOGY: VOLUME 5, 2017 the effect of washing out of finer particles and gradual settling-down of bigger blocks. Even in the main Tista river, which is alimented by the Great Rangit, the level of the former pre- 1968 flood channel bed has not been reached after decades (Starkel et al., 2014). So, in the margins of the Darjeeling Himalaya the heavy rains falling over deforested valleys changed the natural incision trend to aggradation (Fig. 5A). Only over the resistant over-thrust beds at the margin of the rising Himalayas the deepening of the narrow canyons occurs. In small valleys, dissecting the steep face of the mountains, landslides or debris flows
Photo 1. Alluvial fans of the Sukti and Pagli rivers Photo 2. Fan of the Rehti river penetrating upstream into the mountains FLUVIAL EVOLUTION IN YOUNG OROGENIC SYSTEMS 61
Photo 3. Debris flow in headwater of the Balasan valley in October 1968 Photo 4. Dissected edge of Bhutanese Himalaya showing landslide, debris flow, and alluvial fan (see Fig. 5B) 62 JOURNAL OF INDIAN GEOMORPHOLOGY: VOLUME 5, 2017
Photo 5. Antecedent section of the Kurti river in the piedmont Photo 6. Satellite image of the piedmont between the Lish and Daina rivers (2001). In the middle: narrow channels in the uplifting zone FLUVIAL EVOLUTION IN YOUNG OROGENIC SYSTEMS 63
gradually converted into steep alluvial fans (Fig. 5B, Photo 4). At the foreland of the Darjeeling Himalayas, aggradation dominates (Starkel et al., 2008). But in the still undeveloped part of the subsiding fore-deep zone, some blocks are rising up. Between the Chel and Jaldhaka the opposite condition is also observed, i.e. a tendency of down-cutting (Fig. 5C, Photos 5 and 6). Especially in the Jaldaka catchment, the system of alluvial fans is altered by uplifted W E elongated hills with steep tectonic scarps (Guha et. al., 2007, Starkel et al., 2015). Several rivers flowing from the mountains cut across the hills and form antecedent gorges, up to 40 m deep. On the flat tops of these hills (up to 60 m high), there is thick gravel cover with well-developed mature reddish soils. Here the Optically-Stimulated Luminescence dates range between 50 60 thousand years (Starkel et al., 2015), but some 14 C dates indicate younger deposits (Guha et al., 2007). This is evidence of late Quaternary uplift of the blocks in that part where the Siwalik belt is missing (Fig. 5C). It is a paradox that we presently face showing diverse tendencies in evolution of the marginal part of the rising eastern Himalayas and subsiding Ganga-Brahmaputra lowland. The heavy rains and deforestation blocked incision of the valleys in the mountainous part, while in the fore-deep the reactivation of faultlines and over-thrust turned aggradation to down-cutting. Acknowledgement The author would like to express thanks to Dr. Teresa Mrosek for revising my English as well to mgr Krzysztof Kiszka for drawing two figures. References Guha, D., Bardhau, S., Basir, S. R., De, A. K. and Sarkar, A. (2007) Imprints of Himalayan thrust tectonic on the Quaternary sediments of the Neora-Jaldhaka valley, Darjeeling Sikkim Sub-Himalayas, India, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 30: 464 473. Jain, V. and Sinha, R. (2003) Rivers systems in the Gangetic plains and their comparison with the Siwaliks: a review, Current Science, 84(8): 1025 1033. Starkel, L. (1972) The role catastrophic rainfall in the shaping of the relief of the lower Himalaya (Darjeeling Hills), GeographiaPolonica, 21: 103 160. Starkel, L. and Basu, S. R., (eds.) (2000) Rains, landslides and floods in the Darjeeling Himalaya, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. 168p. Starkel, L., Płoskonka, D. and Adamiec, G. (2015) Reconstruction of late Quaternary neotectonic movements and fluvial activity in Sikkimese-Bhutanese Himalayan Piemont, Studia Geomorphologica Carpatho-Balcanica 49: 71 82. Starkel, L. and Sarkar, S. (2002) Different frequency of threshold rainfalls transforming the margin of Sikkimese and Bhutanese Himalaya, Studia Geomorphologica Carpatho- Balcanica, 36: 51 67. Starkel, L., Sarkar, S., Soja, R. and Prokop, P. (2008) Present-day evolution of the Sikkimese- Bhutanese Himalayan Piedmont, Prace Geograficzne, IGiPZ PAN: 219. 64 JOURNAL OF INDIAN GEOMORPHOLOGY: VOLUME 5, 2017