Cold desert of Ladakh experienced monsoon and floods some 3,000 years ago: Study

DEHRADUN: Scientists and students of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) have found that the cold desert of Ladakh had once experienced large-scale floods that rose much above the present-day river level. The study concluded that in the scenario of global warming, when the higher Himalayas are expected to respond dramatically, flood frequency in Ladakh may increase, which may call for serious urban and rural planning.

The WIHG team looked minutely into geological signatures of past floods in Ladakh region that date between 15-3 thousand years before present. This study was recently published online in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, says a communique from the press information bureau .

In the study led by Pradeep Srivastava, senior scientist at the sedimentology department, it has been found that large floods that naturally occur in major rivers of India fed by melting snow and glaciers and rains significantly modify the landscape and impact lives and economy of all that encroached into its geomorphic domain.

The chronology of the flood deposits pointed towards three phases of increased flooding that occurred in Ladakh after the period called Last Glacial Maximum -- the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. These were times when due to warming the Indian summer monsoon was active in Ladakh as well. This analysis showed that the cold desert once experienced a large flood that rose to more than 30 metres above the present-day river level.