M.P. Sah, R.A.K. Srivastava, Morphology and facies of the
alluvial-fan sedimentation in the Kangra Valley, Himachal Himalaya,
Sedimentary Geology, Volume 76, Issue 1, 1992, Pages 23-42, ISSN
0037-0738,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0037-0738(92)90137-G.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/003707389290137G)Abstract:
A number of alluvial fans, having an average width (E-W) of 1015 km
and length (N-S) of 815 km, have been mapped using the LANDSAT TM
imageries on 1:250,000 scale in the Kangra Valley of Himachal
Himalaya. This important geomorphic zone of alluvial fans is
confined between the foot of the Dhauladhar Range and the Siwalik
ridges. These fans are gently sloping from north to south and are
slightly dissected having distinct horizons of glacial,
glacio-fluvial, fluvial, lacustrine and loessic sediments derived
from the Dhauladhar granitic complex, Dharamsala and Siwalik
Formations during the glacial and interglacial climatic stages of
the Quaternary period. The vertical lithological profiles of these
fans show a dominance of gravelly (nearly 60%) facies along with
other lithofacies associations representing a braided-river
depositional environment. In general, the thickness of fan
sediments ranges between 90 and 120 m. The vertical facies are
subdivided into three main facies, i.e. lower-, middle- and
upper-fan facies, showing distinct sediment characteristics. The
presence of glacial moraines and clay-rich debris-flow deposits is
significant in the upper-fan facies. The middle-fan facies is
gravel-dominated along with some interbedded sandy channel-fill
deposits, whereas the lower-fan facies is composed of sand, silt
and mud. The genesis of these three fan facies is closely related
with the uplift of the source area and climatic changes during the
Pleistocene period.
