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The need to preserve Ladakh’s geo-heritage

The Trans Himalayan region of Ladakh is located at the junction of collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The formation of the Himalayas started with the closure of the Tethys ocean around 65 million years ago. The region has a mesmerising landscape with a diversity of geomorphic and geological features. It has a rich and fascinating heritage owing to its unique geographical location. The area comprises wide glacial valleys, majestic mountains, saline and freshwater lakes, sand dunes, and lunar-like surface features. The region’s extraordinary geology has attracted many geoscientists, environmentalists, researchers, and nature lovers from around the world.

Ladakh is a natural laboratory that holds evidence of Himalayan mountain-building process. It has rocks formed at high temperatures and high pressure deep inside the earth that are known as eclogites, which can be observed near Sumdo in Changthang, eastern Ladakh. One can also observe rocks like pyroxenite, serpentinite, harzburgite, lherzolite, dunite, and gabbro, which have crystallised at high temperatures along the Indus and Shayok valleys. As a result of the closure of Tethys ocean, underwater rocks such as ophiolites can be observed in different parts of Ladakh including Nidar and Zildat areas in the east, Shargole in the west, and Spontang, Zangskar in the south. The presence of such rocks provides a unique and rare opportunity to study ocean floor processes. In addition to ophiolites, the erstwhile ocean floor includes fossil-rich limestone, which gives us an opportunity to understand past marine life. This includes fossils of marine life as well as freshwater fossils of plants and animals dating back millions of years.

The Indus river valley is tectonically unstable due to the continued mountain-building process. This has resulted in variations in topography, height of landscape, and sedimentation causing mass movements, and shifting of sediments to valley floors. Owing to these tectonic disturbances, lakes have been known to form due to damming of the Indus for different time spans at various locations in the geological past. In time, sediments would accumulate over the lake floor and once the lake would drain due to outburst floods caused by tectonic activity, the sediments would get redistributed.

These lake deposits are one of the most informative, best-documented, and well-preserved sedimentary archives along the Indus river, which is significant geological evidence of the palaeo-lacustrine environment and a research asset for palaeo-climatic studies in Ladakh. The sequence of lake sediments offers us an opportunity to infer past climatic changes, understand complex geomorphic processes forming a variety of intertwined landforms, and vertical variations in minerals, and to decipher changes in the source of sediments. It also preserves the imprint of past climate and tectonic events that can be used to interpret the climate-tectonic inter-relationship in this geologically active region where glacial and fluvial processes have played an important role in landscape evolution by depositing, blocking, and diverting drainage courses. Such palaeo-lake sites including Spituk (Pethub), Guphuks, Zingchen, Khaltsi, Lamayuru, Achinathang, Hanuthang, Byama, and Akchamal along Indus Valley and Khalsar along Shayok and Tangtse river valleys have immense scientific and educational value.

Granitic bodies extend from the Astor-Deosai-Skardu region to the Lhasa region in Tibet and are evident throughout the Trans Himalayas along a west-to-east axis. These granites are exposed in Ladakh and in geology they are known as Ladakh Granitoid Complex/Ladakh batholith, which consists of a variety of granitic rocks including tonalite, granodiorite, diorite, porphyritic granite, etc—each of which exhibit different textures. These granitic rocks are mineralised with quartz, feldspar, mica, hornblende, tourmaline, etc. The compositional studies of these granites could provide clues to their genetic environment.

Ladakh region is endowed with rich mineral wealth of economic importance. Some of the important minerals that occur in Ladakh are aquamarine beryl crystals in granitic rocks exposed between Hemya and Gaik areas, chromite mineralised in rock bodies of Kyun Tso-Shurok-Sumdo areas in eastern Ladakh and on the way to Marpo-la from Drass in Kargil. Malachite and azurite (copper ores) are present as stains near Basgo in Leh and the confluence of Suru river and Pinjung Nala in Kargil. Gypsum is present in the form of beds and lenses at Phitsi Nala in Zangskar valley, Kargil district, and Puga valley, Leh district. A considerable quantity of magnesite and marble has also been reported from Ladakh. The Himalayan granites possess a high concentration of uranium, thorium, and potassium, which are responsible for the generation of geothermal energy that is evident in the number of hot springs in Ladakh including Panamic, Puga, and Chumathang along with deposits of sulphur, borax, and fluorite mineralisation respectively.

Ladakh is a treasure trove that attracts visitors from around the world to experience and study the remarkable landscapes and landforms that are found in the region. Given its exceptional geology, riches of natural resources, and fragile environment, Ladakh is regarded as an important geo-heritage region that needs urgent attention to prevent possible destruction. These areas are important for school and college-level educational activities as well as scientific studies related to natural hazards, groundwater, environmental changes, geological history, etc. In this context, local communities and the government need to work together to conserve these geological treasures. This will require public awareness, legislation, documentation, and research to systematically preserve these sites while still enabling developmental changes.

Text by Dr. Stanzin Namga and Dr. Meenakshi

Photographs by Stanzin Oldan

Dr. Stanzin Namga is a faculty member at the Department of Geology, University of Ladakh

Dr. Meenakshi is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Geology, University of Ladakh

Stanzin Oldan is a student at Jamyang School, Leh.

Remembering Sodnam Skybldan Gergan (1904-1981)

Posted on by Elijah Spalbar Gergan

Born in the beginning of the 20th Century in a Ladakhi Christian family, my father, S. S. Gergan left at a very young age for Srinagar, Kashmir for his education. At the time, this journey would take 14 days on foot or pony. In Kashmir, he studied at the Tyndale Biscoe School, where he had the privilege of studying under the pioneering educationist, Canon Cecil Tyndale Biscoe. My father was a keen sportsman and represented Sri Pratap College in football, field hockey, tug-of-war and water sports. An avid polo enthusiast, he played the sport in Ladakh till well into his 50s. A lover of good music, he loved playing his Amati violin.

After his studies, my father took an administrative position in the Education Department in Ladakh. He would recount stories of school visits, including ones in Skardu region of Baltistan. In June 1929, his older brother, Chimed Gergan, an officer in the Forest Department was murdered on Pensi-la by smugglers of Indian Costus or Kuth (Sassurea lappa), which was an expensive minor forest produce exported to China through Central Asia. After this incident, the Maharaja’s government offered a position to my father in the Forest Department. I don’t know the exact year when he joined the Forest Service but it was sometime in the early 1930s. During this service, he was sent to the Imperial Forest College, Dehradun, which has since been renamed as Forest Research Institute. He was the first Ladakhi alumnus of this institution.

During his years in the Forest Service, he was posted in Ladakh for a few years and the rest of his tenure was in Kashmir where he was instrumental in establishing the Forest Training School in Chattarnar, Bandipore. He also served as Game Warden Kashmir (wildlife was known as game then) till his retirement. In Ladakh, he made a Plantation Working Plan for river valleys stretching from Changthang to Zoji-la, which was quite task in those days of pony transport. He probably spent around 33 to 34 in years in the Forest Service and retired in 1964. In addition to forestry, he also had extensive knowledge of earth sciences and biodiversity.

After his retirement in 1964, he assumed various responsibilities including serving as the Principal of the Moravian Institute, Dehradun. However, he dedicated this period of his life to research on Ladakh. His primary task was to complete editing a book on Ladakh’s history, Ladags rGyalrabs Chimed Ster, which was written by his father, Yoseb Tsetan Gergan (famed for translating the Bible into Tibetan and as a research scholar). In the absence of printing facilities for Tibetan alphabets in Kashmir, S. S. Gergan painstakingly calligraphed the whole book of several hundred pages by writing five to six pages a day for its lithography. This authoritative book on Ladakh history was published in 1976 and remains an essential reference on the subject. Besides this, he collaborated with Prof. F. M. Hassnain to write the ‘Critical introduction and annotations’ to Dr. A. H. Franke’s republished book, History of Ladakh. S. S. Gergan himself wrote two books; The Losar of Ladakh, Spiti, Lahoul, Khunnu, and Western Tibet (1978) and Big Game of Jammu and Kashmir (1962). He received invitations from several universities to deliver lectures, conduct research and participate in field surveys.

It was during one of his research tours to Kargil to explore local renditions of the legendary King rGyalam Kesar’s exploits that he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest. An epitome of health and vigour throughout his lifetime, S. S. Gergan passed away with his boots on! He was survived by his stalwart homemaker-wife Florence and family of six children.

By Elijah Spalbar Gergan

Elijah Spalbar Gergan served as Principal of Moravian Mission School for 25 years. Earlier in 1982, he established the Suru Valley Public School in Kargil.