Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240

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Quaternary Science Reviews

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Factors governing the pattern of glacier advances since the Last Glacial
Maxima in the transitional climate zone of the Southern Zanskar
Ranges, NW Himalaya
Shubhra Sharma a, *, Anil D. Shukla b
a
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, IISER-Mohali, 140306, India
b
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380009, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present study investigates the relics of glacier advances and retreats in the transitional climatic zone
Received 11 July 2018 of the Southern Zanskar Range, NW Himalaya in response to the temporal changes in the Indian Summer
Received in revised form Monsoon (ISM) and mid-latitude westerlies. The study identifies four glacier advances which are named
6 October 2018
from the oldest to youngest as the Southern Zanskar Glacier Stage-4 (SZS-4) to SZS-1. The SZS-4 remains
Accepted 8 October 2018
undated, however based on the existing chronology of the stratigraphically equivalent moraines/trim-
lines in the region; it is conjectured to the Marine Isotope Stage-4 (MIS-4). The optical chronology ob-
tained during the present study dates the SZS-3 to 22.8 ± 1.9e19.1 ± 1.9 ka which corresponds to the Last
Keywords:
Quaternary glaciation
Glacial Maxima (LGM). The SZS-2 is dated to 15.7 ± 1.3e14.3 ± 1.3 ka (late Glacial period) whereas, based
South-eastern Asia on the chronology of the recessional moraines (4.9 ± 0.4e4.5 ± 0.3 ka) the youngest SZS-1 is assigned to
Geomorphology ~6 ka (mid-Holocene). The snout proximal moraines are attributed to the Little Ice Age (LIA)/historical
Glacial times. The pulsating deglaciation associated with each advance since the LGM is represented by the
Optical chronology recessional moraines and outwash gravel terraces. The older gravel terrace is dated between 10.8 ± 0.9
Monsoon and 6.5 ± 0.5 ka and is attributed to SZS-2 deglaciation which is also manifested by the deposition of
Mid-latitude westerlies sandy facies in a relict lake sequence (6.7 ± 0.6 ka) and development of palaeosol (5.6 ± 0.5 ka). We
NW Himalaya
propose that the glacial advances were triggered by the millennial scale cooling events during the pe-
riods of strengthened westerlies and thus, suggest a synoptic scale coupling with the Northern Atlantic.
The deglaciation is suggested to occur during the warmer ISM dominated phases. The late Holocene
climatic instability that followed the recession of SZS-1 is manifested by the development of rhythmites
(3.8 ± 0.5 ka), loess (2.5 ± 0.2 ka), and palaeosol (2189 ± 296 cal yr BP).
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Glacier advances in Himalaya are attributed to spatial vari-
ability in the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM), mid latitude west-
erlies and the topographically controlled micro-climatic
conditions (Benn and Owen, 1998; Bohner, 2006; Owen and
Dortch, 2014). The existing studies suggest that the maximum
extent of Himalayan glaciers was reached during the Marine
Isotope Stage (MIS-4) or 3 (local glacial maxima) and not during
the global Last Glacial Maxima (LGM) (Benn and Owen, 1998;
Owen et al., 2006; Seong et al., 2007, 2009; Saha et al., 2016;
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: shubhra@iisermohali.ac.in (S. Sharma).
Sharma et al., 2016). Instead during the global LGM (18e23 ka;
Mix et al., 2001) there are suggestions that the glacier expansion
was modest (Benn and Owen, 1998; Owen et al., 2002; Hughes
et al., 2013; Owen and Dortch, 2014).
In the NW Himalaya, Dortch et al. (2013) suggested that older
advancements (>20 ka) were dictated by the ISM, while the
younger advances were driven by the mid-latitude westerlies. The
recent studies however, suggest that the maximum glacier
expansion in the NW Himalaya perhaps occurred synchronously
during the westerlies dominated MIS-4 and therefore, imply a
coupling between the glacial expansion and the North Atlantic
climatic oscillations for the older advances as well (Taylor and
Mitchell, 2000; Nagar et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2014; Sharma et al.,
2016; Ganju et al., 2018). Also, albeit variable in extent (Owen
et al., 2002; Dortch et al., 2013), there seems to be a regional

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.006
0277-3791/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
224 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240
advance during the LGM in the Himalaya and Tibet (Schaefer et al.,
2008; Ali et al., 2013; Nagar et al., 2013; Bisht et al., 2015; Saha
et al., 2016; Eugster et al., 2016; Sharma et al., 2016; Ganju et al.,
2018). The progressive decrease observed in the extent of valley
glaciers during the Quaternary period is suggestively attributed to
deepening of the glacier valleys and/or decrease in the precipi-
tation caused by upliftment of the higher Himalaya in the south
and Karakoram in the west (Taylor and Mitchell, 2000; Owen
et al., 2006; Seong et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2014). Thus, quanti-
fying the timing and extent of multi-millennial scale (orbitally
driven) glacial advances become pertinent toward improving our
understanding about the causes of (a) synchronous response of
the Himalayan glaciers.
Further there is evidence to suggest that the Himalayan glaciers
responded to millennial and centennial scale climate perturbations,
e.g. the Heinrich events, the three Dryas (~16e13, ~14, ~12 ka),
regional cooling/aridity events (8.2, 5.2 and 4.2 ka), and the Little
Ice Age (LIA; Seong et al., 2007, 2009; Ali et al., 2013; Sati et al.,
2014; Sharma et al., 2016; Nagar et al., 2013; Dortch et al., 2013;
Saha et al., 2016; Ganju et al., 2018). These events were triggered by
the melting of the icebergs during low solar activity in the northern
Atlantic and have known to weaken the ISM (at the expense of
westerlies) via ocean-atmosphere circulations (Bond et al., 1992,
2001; Hong et al., 2003; Bhushan et al., 2018; Ali et al., 2018). This
would imply that the glaciers located in the regions dominated by
mid-latitude westerlies would have responded to the above cli-
matic perturbations.
The Southern Zanskar Range lies in the transitional climatic
zone of the ISM and mid-latitude westerlies (Sharma et al., 2018),
where geomorphic processes are known to respond sensitively to
minor changes in precipitation and temperature (Fu, 1992; Wang
et al., 2017). Previous studies (Hedrick et al., 2011; Lee et al.,
2014; Orr et al., 2017) suggest that glaciers in the Zanskar Ranges
responded asynchronously for which both the ISM and mid-
latitude westerlies are implicated (Taylor and Mitchell, 2000; Lee
et al., 2014; Saha et al., 2016, 2018; Sharma et al., 2016). Addition-
ally, the role of topography and bedrock control is also debated in
influencing the extent of glacier advances in northern Zanskar
(Burbank and Fort, 1985; Owen et al., 2006; Orr et al., 2017). More
recently, Sharma et al. (2018), based on geomorphology, stratig-
raphy, sedimentology, and the published chronology suggested that
the Southern Zanskar Ranges have preserved four major glacier
advances since MIS-4. Further, they speculatively suggested that
the oldest Southern Zanskar Stage (SZS)-4 corresponds to the MIS-
4/3, the SZS-3 was assigned MIS-2/LGM, the SZS-2 was suggested to
occur in early-mid Holocene whereas, the youngest SZS-1 probably
corresponded to the LIA. Additionally, it was hypothesized that
glacier expansion/recession in the Southern Zanskar Ranges were
driven by the contribution of both the ISM and westerlies where air
temperature played a critical role (Sharma et al., 2018). In order to
ascertain a more definitive climatic process and their regional and
global connectivity (if any), in the present study we revisited the
Southern Zanskar Range (Doda, Suru and Zanskar valleys) and built
on the initial observations of Sharma et al. (2018) by extensively
dating the moraines, glacio-fluvial outwash terraces, lacustrine
deposits and loessic silt together with the geochemical analyses of a
relict lake sequence.
The present study is therefore, an attempt is to ascertain the
sensitivity of the Southern Zanskar Range, NW Himalaya in terms of
geomorphic response to multi-millennial and millennial scale
climate variability. The study was pursued with the following ob-
jectives: (i) to understand the geomorphic response of the Southern
Zanskar Range to glacial and post glacial climate variability and (ii)
to ascertain the topographic/structural control (if any) on the
glacial expansion.
2. Study area
The Zanskar Ranges (elevation ~ 3500e7000 m) are drained by
four major rivers viz. the Suru, Doda, Tsarp Chu and Zanskar. The
Southern Zanskar Range lies in the proximity of the Zanskar Shear
Zone which separates the monsoon dominated higher Himalayan
crystalline in the south from the relatively drier and westerlies
dominated Tethyan sedimentary sequences in the north (Fig. 1A).
The Zanskar Ranges form part of the hanging wall of Zanskar Shear
Zone and are composed of weakly metamorphosed and folded Neo-
Proterozoic to Eocene rocks of the Trans-Himalaya (D'ezes, 1999
and references therein). In this study the Suru, Doda (Stod) and
Zanskar River valleys are investigated which are the tributaries of
the Indus River. In the Suru river valley, observations are made at
multiple locations and the detailed investigation is carried out in
the Shafat glacier valley (Fig. 1). Similarly, in the Doda and Zanskar
river valleys, the Drang-Drung and Seni glacier (Padam) valleys
have been investigated (Fig. 1A and B). The majority of the pre-
cipitation in the NW Himalaya is received during the winter, with
modest rainfall during the summer (Davenport, 2013). Despite
being drier than the monsoon fed central and eastern Himalayan
region, the NW Himalaya supports some of the largest glaciers like
Siachen and Drang-Drung. Besides the regional north-south and
east-west precipitation gradients (Fig. 1), there is variability in the
precipitation within the valleys which is dictated by the elevation
and valley orientation (Anders et al., 2006; Beniston, 2006).
This is eloquently reflected in the precipitation data of different
valleys (Table S1; Benn and Owen, 1998; Lee et al., 2014; Sharma
et al., 2016). On a regional scale, the winter precipitation (west-
erlies) dominates in the NW Himalaya (Table S1) which is sug-
gested to be coupled with the North Atlantic climatic oscillations
(Bhutiyani et al., 2010; Sharma et al., 2016). However, there are
suggestions that the ISM fed storms also nourish the glaciers in the
Southern Zanskar Himalaya (Nun-Kun massif; Mayewski et al.,
1984) and the Karakoram region (Hewitt, 2014).
3. Methodology
3.1. Reconstruction of glacial and glacio-fluvial landforms
Detailed geomorphological mapping is carried out using the
Survey of India topographic maps (1:50,000) supported by the
Google Earth images (Fig. 1). The elevation of the moraines and the
outwash gravel terraces is measured using the hand-held Global
Positioning System (GPS). Valley-wide detailed account of the
major landforms e moraines, glacio-fluvial terraces, scree/alluvial
fans, pro-glacial lake deposits, and the loessic silt are given in
Sharma et al. (2018). Therefore, here we present only the brief
description of glacial and glacio-fluvial landforms. The moraine
stratigraphy is reconstructed based on the morphology, elevation
and degree of weathering/lithification. The outwash gravel terraces
are differentiated using the conventional sedimentary criteria
(sorting, orientation, imbrications and texture), relative elevation
from river bed, extent of weathering, and development of soil cover.
The fluvial sand deposits draping the moraine surfaces are often
associated with sub-rounded to sub-angular glacio-fluvial gravels
with gritty matrix. These are laterally extensive than the cry-
oturbated pinching and swelling land lenses which are embedded
within the moraine comprising of angular fragments and glacially
grinded matrix. The moraine and fluvial stratigraphy nomenclature
are taken from Sharma et al. (2018). For example, in PDm-1, PD
represents Padam, m-moraine and 1 refers to the youngest
advance. Similarly, the outwash gravel terraces are named as PDt-1
where, PD- Padam, t-terrace and 1 refers to the youngest terrace.
Relict lake deposits investigated near Padam in Zanskar valley occur
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 225

Fig. 1. (A) The inset shows NW Himalaya with major ranges marked. Glaciers are shown in blue colour (GLIMS database). The black rectangle shows the study area which is
influenced by both the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM-yellow arrows) and mid latitude westerlies (WS-white arrows). The thickness of the arrows is suggestive of the north-south
(ISM) and east-west (WS) precipitation gradient. Note that the study area lies in the transitional climate zone. (B) The LANDSAT False Colour Composite image shows the Suru, Doda
(Stod), Tsarp Chu and Zanskar Rivers. The Pensi La (La ¼ pass) marks the water divide between the Suru and Doda Rivers (white rectangle). The glacier studied are labelled and
demarcated with thick red line. Note that multiple small glaciers drain into the Shafat and Seni glacier valleys contributing to ice volume and sediment supply. ZSZ- Zanskar shear
zone shown with white line which separates the higher Himalayan crystalline in the south from Zanskar Range (Tethyan sedimentary sequence) in the north. (For interpretation of
the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

as laminated, silty-clay layers with occasional sand lenses and are
punctuated by alluvial fan facies. The relict lake sediments overlie
either the moraines and/or terrace gravel. Also, there is sporadic
preservation of loessic silt draping the moraines/scree (Sharma
et al., 2018).
3.2. Chronology
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating technique is
used to obtain chronology on moraines, outwash gravel terraces,
lake deposits and loess. The OSL dating technique measures the
natural radiation induced trapped charges in the naturally
occurring minerals like quartz and feldspar. These minerals behave
as natural radiation dosimeters and thus, can be exploited for
dating of the sediments (Huntley et al., 1985; Aitken, 1998). Sam-
ples are collected in opaque metal pipes from sand lenses that occur
as discontinuous layers within moraines, outwash gravel terraces
and lake sediments. It has been observed that glaciogenic sedi-
ments are often poorly bleached and hence provide considerable
difficulties in OSL dating (Duller, 2006). However, the supraglacial
sediments within the moraines (sand lenses) are considered better
bleached as these sediments are transported in suspension and
hence receive adequate sunlight (Richards et al., 2000; Tsukamoto
et al., 2002; Zhang et al., 2012). These are embedded in the
226 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240

sediments which retain the characteristics of parent rock material
and are characterised by angular, poorly-sorted and coarse-grained
matrix, containing discrete sand lenses (Schomacker, 2011; Evans,
2014). The sand lenses are either deposited in the thaw lakes
over the surface of moraine which may also sometimes show
gravity sorted larger clast arranged in stripes and/or by the melt-
water streams on the surface of the glacier (Eyles, 1979).
The pure quartz is extracted by sequentially pre-treated of the
sediment with 1N HCl and 30% H2O2 to remove carbonates and
organic matter respectively. Samples were oven dried and sieved to
obtain 90e120 mm grain size. This fraction was etched with 40% HF
for 80 min followed by 1 N HCL for 30 min with constant magnetic
stirring to remove the outer alpha skin (~15 mm). The pure
diamagnetic quartz grains were separated from paramagnetic
feldspar and other heavy minerals using Frantz magnetic separator.
The purity of the quartz grains in terms of feldspar contamination
was checked by infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL). Lumi-
nescence measurements were made using an automated Risø TL-
OSL reader (TL/OSL-DA-20; Bøtter-Jensen et al., 2010). The sam-
ples were stimulated using blue diode (470 ± 20 nm) and detection
optics comprises EMI 9835QA photomultiplier tube coupled with a
7.5 mm Hoya U-340 filter (emission 330 ± 35 nm). Beta irradiations
were carried out using an on-plate 90Sr/90Y beta source with a dose
rate of 5.28 Gy/min.
The equivalent doses (De) were measured using modified single
aliquot regeneration protocol (DSAR; Murray and Wintle, 2000;
Banerjee et al., 2000) with preheat of 240  C for 10 s and cut heat of
200  C. Typically around 70 discs were analysed out of which 5e61
aliquots yielded data. The concentration of U, Th and K were
measured using high purity Germanium detector (HPGe) (Shukla
et al., 2002). Cosmic ray contributions in dose rate were calcu-
lated by the method suggested by Prescott and Hutton (1994).
Central age model (CAM) is preferred if the over-dispersion (OD) in
De values < 35% (Galbraith et al., 1999, 2005; Jacobs et al., 2006;
Arnold and Roberts, 2009). Since the OD of the De values is <30%,
we employed CAM for final age computation (Table 1; Fig. S2). A
total of twenty-two samples have been dated out of which thirteen
samples represent the moraines, two samples are from lake de-
posit, one sample each is from loess and soil profile, and the
remaining six are from outwash terraces. Table 1 summarizes de-
tails of the radioactivity, cosmic ray contribution, water content and
dose rate, equivalent dose and the ages obtained.
The organic matter in palaeosol within the loess was dated by
conventional 14C method using a liquid scintillation counter
(Quantulus 1220; Yadava and Ramesh, 1999, Table 2). The age thus
obtained was calibrated using Calib7.1.0 program and the IntCal13
data set (Stuiver and Reimer, 1993; Reimer et al., 2013).
3.3. Ice volume changes
The ice volume associated with different glacial adanvces is
estimated to infer the ambient moisture condition and also to make
a time contemporaneous inter-valley comparison. For demarcating
the present glacier catchments and calculating the glacier length
and height, the GLIMS dataset and SRTM GDEM (90 m) in ARCGIS
10.0 are used. The paleo-glacier extent/heights are taken from the
field observations and supported with the Google Earth imagery.
The slope-dependent method derived from inventory-based
parametrization of glaciers was employed to calculate the mean
€lzle (1995) and Frey
thickness of glaciers (Hf) after Haeberli and Ho

Table 1
Details of the number of aliquots taken for age calculation (N), radioactivity, over dispersion (OD), cosmic ray (CR), equivalent dose (ED) and standard error (SE), dose rate (DR),
and ages obtained for various landforms.

Sample Sample N K (wt%)± Th (ppm)± U OD DR CR ED þ SE Age (ka) Sample details

number Error Error (PPM) ± Error (%) (Gy)

1 DRUG-26b 21 2.53 ± 0.03 19.21 ± 0.39 4.56 ± 0.08 29 4.9 ± 0.3 407 ± 122 24.0 ± 1.3 4.9 ± 0.4Youngest recessional moraine Drang-Drung
2 DRUG-16 61 3.09 ± 0.03 24.75 ± 0.48 6.14 ± 0.09 21 6.1 ± 0.4 434 ± 130 57.9 ± 1.8 9.5 ± 0.7Fluvial drape over tributary moraine above
suru river
3 DRUG- 6 3.05 ± 0.03 20.26 ± 0.42 4.93 ± 0.08 3 5.5 ± 0.4 407 ± 122 22.2 ± 1.1 4.5 ± 0.3 6th recessional moraine
24B Drang-Drung
4 DRUG-19 23 3.01 ± 0.04 20.05 ± 0.45 5.39 ± 0.10 24 5.5 ± 0.4 436 ± 131 47.1 ± 2.6 8.5 ± 0.7 Recessional moraine
Drang-Drung
5 DRUG-20 24 2.89 ± 0.03 17.66 ± 0.36 4.48 ± 0.07 20 5.1 ± 0.3 434 ± 130 37.6 ± 1.8 7.4 ± 0.6 Recessional moraine
Drang-Drung
b
6 DRUG-23 37 2.17 ± 0.07 86.22 ± 1.62 19.69 ± 0.305 28 12.1 ± 0.8 431 ± 129 30.7 ± 1.6 2.5 ± 0.2 Loess
7 DRUG-15 15 1.2 ± 0.02 20.99 ± 0.41 5.19 ± 0.08 18 3.95 ± 0.3 436 ± 131 90.2 ± 4.5 22.8 ± 1.9 Tributary moraine Drang-Drung
8 DRUG-18 32 2.79 ± 0.03 24.87 ± 0.47 8.2 ± 0.11 19 6.2 ± 0.4 435 ± 131 35 ± 1.6 5.6 ± 0.5 Soil profile tributary moraine
9 DRUG-17 5 3.03 ± 0.03 22.87 ± 0.45 6.33 ± 0.1 10 5.9 ± 0.4 434 ± 130 62.2 ± 3.8 10.5 ± 0.9 Fluvial drape over tributary moraine above
Suru river
a
10 DRUG-22 34 2.7 ± 0.03 30.51 ± 0.5 6.6 ± 0.1 24 6.2 ± 0.4 431 ± 129 46.9 ± 2.1 7.2 ± 0.6 Recessional moraine
Drang-Drung
a
11 DRUG-21 23 2.7 ± 0.03 30.51 ± 0.5 6.6 ± 0.1 17 6.2 ± 0.4 431 ± 129 53.5 ± 2.2 9.1 ± 0.7 Recessional moraine
Drang-Drung
b
12 PDM- 12 2.8 ± 0.06 30.5 ± 1 6.05 ± 0.19 26 6.1 ± 0.4 365 ± 109 23.4 ± 2.25 3.8 ± 0.5 Middle of lake
OSL-2
13 KARG-28 14 1.3 ± 0.02 14.0 ± 0.4 3.26 ± 0.08 22 3.2 ± 0.2 365 ± 109 59.4 ± 4.0 19.1 ± 1.9 Padam moraine
14 PADG-32 36 1.5 ± 0.03 14.6 ± 0.5 2.83 ± 0.09 20 3.2 ± 0.2 365 ± 109 34.8 ± 1.4 10.8 ± 0.9 Padam terrace
15 PADG-27 19 1.4 ± 0.03 16.8 ± 0.5 3.24 ± 0.08 17 3.4 ± 0.2 365 ± 109 47.9 ± 2.6 14.3 ± 1.3 Padam moraine
16 RING-10 27 2.4 ± 0.03 17.0 ± 0.4 4.45 ± 0.08 28 4.5 ± 0.3 402 ± 121 28.7 ± 1.7 6.3 ± 0.6 Recessional moraine
17 SFAT-4 29 1.4 ± 0.03 12.1 ± 0.3 2.35 ± 0.07 22 2.9 ± 0.2 394 ± 118 45.8 ± 2.1 15.7 ± 1.3 Shafat moraine
18 SFAT-5 32 2.1 ± 0.03 23.7 ± 0.46 5.5 ± 0.09 15 4.9 ± 0.3 394 ± 118 37.6 ± 1.2 7.6 ± 0.6 Fluvial drape over Shafat moraine
19 RING-12 36 1.9 ± 0.03 13.6 ± 0.3 4.8 ± 0.08 26 3.99 ± 0.3 401 ± 120 37.8 ± 1.9 9.5 ± 0.8 Ringdom recessional moraine
20 SFAT-1 16 2.7 ± 0.03 26.62 ± 0.5 6.17 ± 0.092 29 5.8 ± 0.4 395 ± 119 38.3 ± 1.9 6.6 ± 0.5 Outwash terrace
21 PDM-OSL- 23 1.2 ± 0.03 10.6 ± 0.5 3.25 ± 0.10 25 2.9 ± 0.2 365 ± 110 18.8 ± 0.8 6.7 ± 0.6 Padam bottom of the lake
1
21 SFAT-6 21 2.3 ± 0.03 17.84 ± 0.39 4.61 ± 0.08 18 4.5 ± 0.3 394 ± 118 29.2 ± 1.4 6.5 ± 0.5 Fluvial drape over moraine
a
Average radioactivity taken for the samples as it is from the same horizon.
b
Ages published in Sharma et al. (2018).
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 227

Table 2
The radiocarbon age obtained on organic matter from palaeosol developed in the loess.

Sample name and details Radiocarbon age in years Calibrated age at 1s Average age

Loess-1 2196þ-233 cal BP 1893 - cal BP 2485 2189 ± 296

et al. (2014) by multiplying mean ice thickness along the central elements is <15% (Shukla, 2011).
flowline (hf) with ðpÞ ð4Þ where,
=

t 4. Results
hf ¼
f rgsinðaÞ
t is the average basal shear stress along the central flow line taken
as 150  103 Nm2 (Haeberli and Ho € lzle, 1995; Frey et al., 2014), f is
a shape factor taken as 0.8, which is considered as the typical value
for valley glaciers (Paterson, 2016), g the gravitational acceleration
taken as 9.8 ms2, and a is the mean surface slope calculated by
dividing the maximum elevation difference of the glacier catch-
ment with the length of the glacier measured manually along the
flow line in ArcGIS10.0 (Frey et al., 2014), r is the density of ice
taken as 850 kgm3 (Huss, 2013; Agarwal et al., 2017). The ice
volume estimation is carried out for Drang-Drung, Shafat, Padam,
and Nubra (Siachen) glaciated valleys (Fig. 1).
3.4. Geochemistry of relict lake deposit
In order to ascertain temporal changes in chemical weathering
hence relative temperature/moisture changes in the catchment (Li
et al., 2007), 64 samples collected at 5 cm interval were analysed for
Rubidium (Rb) and Strontium (Sr) variability using X-ray fluores-
cence (XRF) spectrometry technique (Axios, from Panalytical
limited). The analytical precision at 2 sigma level for the trace
4.1. Chronostratigraphy of glacial and glacio-fluvial landforms
The chronostratigraphy is reconstructed based on field stratig-
raphy supported by the optical chronology obtained on the glacio-
fluvial landforms that were identified by Sharma et al. (2018).
4.1.1. The suru valley
(a) Shafat glacier (34 030 32.800 N, 76100 27.2 00 E; 3940 m): The
oldest glacier advance (SFm-4) is represented by a truncated “U”
shaped hanging ridge preserved at the confluence of the Shafat and
Suru Rivers (Fig. 2B). The younger advances are represented by the
degraded lateral moraine (SFm-3) and the latero-frontal moraines
(SFm-2 and SFm-1; Fig. 2).
A sand lens within the SFm-2 moraine is dated to 15.7 ± 1.3 ka.
This moraine can be traced along the southern flank of the Shafat
valley (Fig. 3). The youngest SFm-1 latero-frontal moraine is
differentiated into three distinct recessional moraine ridges, which
are draped by laminated sand and are devoid of vegetation (Fig. 3B
and C in Sharma et al., 2018).
A laterally discontinuous pedogeneised sandy-silt surface which
abuts the Zanskar Range seems to represent the upper-most facies

Fig. 2. (A) Map showing various landforms observed in the Shafat glacier valley. The black rectangles mark the locations of the field photographs shown in (BeC; Fig. 3). HHC-higher
Himalayan Crystalline, TS-Tethyan sedimentary (B) A polished bedrock (SFm-4) and lateral moraines (SFm-3, 2) preserved near the confluence of the Shafat and Suru Rivers. The
moraine SFm-2 is overlain by fluvial deposit (inset) that is dated to infer deglaciation event. (C) The field photograph with close-up of outwash terrace SFt-2 in the downstream of
the Suru River. Age of the sand horizon on the terrace surface gives minimum age of the deglaciation event. (A) and (B) are modified after Sharma et al. (2018).
228 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240
Fig. 3. (A) A field photograph of the SFm-2 latero-frontal moraine at the confluence of the Shafat and Suru Rivers. (B) Close up of the SFm-2 frontal moraine shows sub-angular
cobbles in silty-sandy matrix where a faintly laminated sand lens was dated that gives the oldest age of advancement.
of the outwash gravel terrace SFt-3. The surface terminates in the
vicinity of the SFm-3 moraines suggesting the phase of deglaciation
associated with SFm-3. The second outwash gravel terrace SFt-2
(Fig. 2B and C) which abuts the SFt-2 moraines is incised into five
surfaces with vertical offsets of 1e3 m. The SFt-2 sand lenses are
dated to 7.6 ± 0.6, 6.6 ± 0.5 and 6.5 ± 0.5 ka (Fig. 2B and C). The
youngest terrace (SFt-1) is preserved along the meandering loops
and is represented by ~5 m thick, laterally impersistent gravel
(Fig. 2B).
d) Rangdum Gompa (34 000 21.400 N, 76 220 41.300 E; 4039 m):
Around Rangdum Gompa, a lateral moraine (RIm-1) that bifurcates
into three recessional ridges is draped by sub-rounded to sub-
angular fluvial gravels (Fig. 4A). These recessional ridges are
dated to 9.5 ± 0.8 and 6.3 ± 0.6 ka (Fig. 4B and C).
e) Tributary glacier (33 53014.500 N, 76 20018.100 E; 4439 m): A
tributary glacier located immediate west of the Drang-Drung
glacier opens into the Suru valley. Based on the relative dating of
the lateral moraines, the older advance is identified which is rep-
resented by a lateral moraine (TRm-2). This moraine abuts the
mountain flank and is fluvially modified into a bevelled surface by
the melt water stream at the exit of the tributary valley (Fig. 5A and
B). The TRm-2 moraine can be traced ~5 km downstream in the
Suru valley (33 540 2.7700 N, 76190 24.2400 E). The core of the moraine
is exposed after digging a meter-deep pit on the bevelled surface
which shows moderately compact, sub-angular to sub-rounded
pebbles and boulders embedded in silty-clay matrix (glacial till;
Fig. 5B). The sand lens collected from the TRm-2 is dated to
22.8 ± 1.9 ka (Fig. 5B). A younger TRm-1 lateral moraine is pre-
served in the downstream of the Suru river valley (Fig. 5A, C, D). The
moraine crests at places preserved modern and a palaeosol
(Sharma et al., 2018). The “B” horizon of the palaeosol is optically
dated to 6.5 ± 0.5 ka (Fig. 5C). The TRm-1 is draped with gritty sand
containing sub-rounded to angular lithoclast with occasional sand
lenses implying short-lived fluvial activity (Fig. 5D). A sand lens
within the fluvial drape is dated to 9.5 ± 0.7 and 10.5 ± 0.9 ka
(Fig. 5D).
4.1.2. Doda (Stod) and Zanskar valley
a) Drang-Drung Glacier (33 520 08.400 N, 76 21011.700 E; 4365 m): At
Pensi La (La ¼ pass; ~4452 m) due to the inaccessibility, the oldest
DDm-3 moraine abutting the mountain flanks is not dated. How-
ever, the moraines can be traced ~7 km downstream in the Suru
valley (33 540 2.7700 N, 76190 24.2400 E). The younger DDm-2 bi-
furcates into five degraded recessional moraine ridges. Two sam-
ples each are collected from the fourth and fifth DDm-2 recessional
moraines. The fourth recessional moraine is dated to 9.1 ± 0.7 and
7.2 ± 0.6 ka (Fig. 6CeE) whereas, the fifth (last) recession moraine is
dated to 8.5 ± 0.7 and 7.4 ± 0.6 ka (Fig. 7A).
The DDm-2 at places is covered with discrete patches of loessic-
silt containing palaeosols (Sharma et al., 2018; 33 50 20.400 N,
76 21051.200 E; 4410 m; Fig. 7A). The C-horizon of the lower palaeosol
is optically dated to 2.5 ± 0.2 ka by Sharma et al. (2018) whereas the
organic carbon of the A-horizon is radiocarbon dated (present study)
to 2189 ± 296 cal yr BP (Fig. 7A). The third and youngest DDm-1 is
represented by eight, curvilinear, latero-frontal moraines (Fig. 7E and
F in Sharma et al., 2018). The seventh DDm-1 ridge is dated (present
study) to 4.5 ± 0.3. The eighth (youngest) DDm-1 was dated by
Sharma et al. (2018) to 4.9 ± 0.4 ka (Fig. 7B and C).
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 229

Fig. 4. (A) Three recessional latero-frontal moraines marked as (1), (2), and (3) are preserved at Rangdum. The surface of the moraines is draped with fluvial sand. (B)e(C)
Laminated sand lenses for optical dating were collected from the surface of recessional moraine (1) and (2) in order to ascertain the timing of deglaciation.

b) Padam valley (33 290 39.500 N, 76 490 20.000 E; 3609 m): Near
Padam Sharma et al. (2018) identified four generations of moraines
which can be traced upstream (towards the west) in the Seni glacier
valley (Fig. 8A). Following the nomenclature of Sharma et al. (2018),
these moraines are named as PDm-4 (oldest) to PDm-1 (youngest).
The PDm-4 moraine which seems to be the oldest moraine in the
Southern Zanskar Ranges are highly degraded, indurated and oc-
curs as isolated tillite pinnacles overlying gently sloping rocky
ledges (Fig. 8A in Sharma et al., 2018). The PDm-3 latero-frontal
moraine is differentiated into five recessional moraine ridges and
abuts the valley flanks (Fig. 8B and C of Sharma et al., 2018). The
terminal moraine mounds of the PDm-3 near Karsha village are
dated to 19.1 ± 1.9 ka (Fig. 8B in present study). The younger PDm-2
moraine dated to 14.3 ± 1.3 ka is preserved near the exit of the Seni
glacier valley (Fig. 8C and D). The youngest PDm-1 latero-frontal
moraines are confined within the Seni Valley (not shown in Fig. 8).
Besides moraines, two generations of outwash gravel terraces,
viz. PDt-1 and PDt-2 have been identified by Sharma et al. (2018)
around Padam. The sedimentological details and the stratigraphic
relationship with the moraines are discussed in Sharma et al. (2018).
A sand lens within the older ~15 m thick PDt-2 is dated to 10.8 ± 0.9
ka (Fig. 8A, E). The PDt-2 (33 280 41.900 N, 76 530 55.400 E; 3551 m) is
overlain by laterally persistent relict lake deposits (Fig. 9 in Sharma
et al., 2018), which are preserved along the eastern flank of the
Zanskar river (33 280 41.900 N, 76 530 55.400 E). Based on the texture
and sedimentary structures, the relict lake succession is differenti-
ated into two broad litho units (Fig. 9). The lower 2 m thick unit-I is
dominated by parallel laminated silty-clay (rhythmites), alternating
with coarse-gritty sand and suggest deposition under proglacial lake
environment (Juyal et al., 2009). At places it also contains fine sand
layers. One such sand layer at the bottom is dated to 6.7 ± 0.6 ka
(Fig. 9). The upper part of the lake sediment is dated to 3.8 ± 0.5 ka by
Sharma et al. (2018). The upper ~2.5 m thick unit-II is dominated by
crudely laminated, angular lithoclast with sub-ordinate silty-clay
layers suggesting progradation of the alluvial fan sediments into the
ambient lake. This unit also contain the relict ice wedges (Fig. 9).
230 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240

Fig. 5. (A) Map showing various landforms observed in the Tributary glacier valley. The black rectangles mark the locations of the field photographs shown in (BeD). HHCe Higher
Himalayan Crystalline, TS-Tethyan sedimentary (B) The photograph showing the TRm-2 moraine emanating out of the tributary valley, the surface near the glacial stream is fluvially
modified in to a table top morphology. The inset shows sedimentary texture of the core of the moraine inside ~1 m deep pit. (C) A soil profile draping the TRm-1 moraine is dated by
OSL. (D) A field photograph of fluvially draped surface of the TRm-1 moraine along the Suru River in the downstream. (A) and (D) are modified after Sharma et al. (2018).

Based on the composite stratigraphy and chronology of the mo-
raines, outwash gravel terraces, alluvial fans and lacustrine deposits,
four glacier advances and three events of deglaciation are discerned.
The cumulative evidence obtained from three glacier valleys in-
dicates a broad synchroniety in the pattern of glaciation in the
Southern Zanskar Range (discussed later). The composite glacial
advances are termed as the Southern Zanskar Glaciation Stage (SZS)
following Sharma et al. (2018) (Table S2 in supplementary). The
oldest glacier advance SZS-4 for which we used the stratigraphically
equivalent ages of moraines from the adjacent valleys is ascribed to
MIS-4 (Taylor and Mitchell, 2000; Lee et al., 2014). The second major
advance (SZS-3) is dated to LGM (22.8 ± 1.9 and 19.1 ± 1.9 ka; Fig. 8 B
and 5B). The third advance (SZS-2) is dated to the late glacial period
(15.7 ± 1.3 and 14.3 ± 1.3 ka; Figs. 3B and 8D). The recessional mo-
raines associated with SZS-2 are dated between 9.5 ± 0.7 and
6.3 ± 0.6 ka (Figs. 4, 6 and 7; Table S2) whereas, the recessional
moraines corresponding to the youngest SZS-1 are dated to 4.9 ± 0.4
(Sharma et al., 2018) and 4.5 ± 0.3 ka (Fig. 7B and C; mid-Holocene).
The snout proximal moraines in the Shafat and Drang-Drung glaciers
are assigned to the LIA/historical period (Osmaston, 2001). Out of the
three levels of the outwash gravel terraces representing three
deglaciation events (Sharma et al., 2018) the second deglaciation
event (corresponding to SZS-2) is dated between 10.8 ± 0.9 and
6.5 ± 0.5 ka (Fig. 2B, C-E, and 5D).
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 231

Fig. 6. (A) Landforms around Pensi La and near the snout of Drang-Drung glacier. Black rectangles shows the locations of various field photographs given in (BeE). (B) Field
photograph of Pensi La water divide showing latero-frontal moraines corresponding to DDm-3 and 2 along with the kettle holes. (C) Fourth recessional moraine of DDm-2 advance.
(D)e(E) are the close-ups of the moraine texture. DD-Drang-Drung glacier; DDm-2(4)-fourth recessional moraine; T-Tributary glacier; HHC-higher Himalayan crystalline; TS-
Tethyan sedimentary. (A) and (B) are modified after Sharma et al. (2018).

4.2. Geochemistry of the lake sediments
We used Rb/Sr ratio to infer the temporal changes in chemical
weathering hence relative temperature and precipitation changes
in the ambient lake catchment (Li et al., 2007). Between depth 315
and 260 cm (sand facies) an initial decrease in Rb/Sr (Fig. 9B) sug-
gests increased run-off with dominance of physical weathering.
The Rb/Sr values show a sharp increase after 260 cm (rhythmites)
with fluctuating values suggesting dominance of chemical weath-
ering and low run-off in overall unstable climate (Li et al., 2007).
4.3. Ice volume changes
The ice volume estimates in the study should only be treated as
an approximation for relative comparisons within the valleys and/
or different phases of glacial advances. This is given the fact that the
subsequent advances may be draping the relics of earlier advances
(moraines) or glacio-fluvial sediments (Benn and Owen, 2002) and
unless corrected for may be misleading in terms of absolute
number.
The ice volume varies in accordance with the length and area of
a glacier. For example, the modern ice volume of the largest Drung-
Drang glacier contains ~175 km3 of ice, followed by the Seni and its
tributary glaciers (Padam) (~99 km3), and the Shafat and its tribu-
tary glaciers (~58 km3). Likewise, the Siachen glacier being the
largest and longest contains the highest ice volume (Fig. 10;
Table S3).
The data (Fig. 10 A) shows that the relative change in ice volume
during each advance (compared to the present) is greater for the
bigger glaciers. There are suggestions that in the present times
smaller Himalayan glaciers (<10 km2) are more sensitive to climate
change (Kulkarni et al., 2007). However, the study by Bahr et al.
(1998) suggested the contrary that is, the bigger mountain valley
glaciers respond more sensitively to the changing climate. They
suggested that the larger glaciers expand more into the ablation
zone and thus, have a higher ice velocity along with greater mass
balance rate; further implying higher dependence on glacier length
and slope than the ice thickness. However, our inference is sug-
gestive and seeks empirical validation by field-based mass balance
studies. Nevertheless, the present study observes that the glaciers
that are topographically obstructed (Drang-Drung glacier by east-
west trending Zanskar range; Figs. 1 and 10B), and have a compa-
rable area to topographically unobstructed glaciers (Seni glacier)
(Fig. 10A) are truncated in their palaeo (lateral) extent. Therefore,
the study cautions that topographic control should be taken into
consideration for regional comparisons of the ice volume changes
to a given climatic scenario.
5. Discussion
(A) Stages of glacier advances and retreat
(i) Southern Zanskar Glacial Stage (SZS)-4: The oldest glacier
advance SZS-4 is inferred from the bedrock trimline in
the Nun-Kun Massif (Sentik glacier; ~70 ka; Lee et al.,
2014) and lacustrine deposits in the Tsarp Chu valley
(~80 ka; Mitchell et al., 1999; Taylor and Mitchell, 2000).
The SZS-4 corresponds to the cold and wet MIS-4 ‒ a
period known for strengthened westerlies (Fontugne
232 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240

Fig. 7. (A) Field photograph of the fifth latero-frontal moraine of DDm-2. The insets show sedimentary texture of the dated sand lens near the moraine surface along with the
palaeosol developed in the loessic silt. Yellow square- C-14 age; Red square- OSL age. (B)e(C) The field photographs of the eighth and seventh curvilinear recessional moraines
respectively corresponding to DDm-3 with insets showing the sedimentary texture. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the
Web version of this article.)

and Duplessy, 1986; Hughes et al., 2013). According to
Taylor and Mitchell (2000), the glacier expansion was
most likely favoured by a combination of lower tem-
perature and increased moisture and perhaps known to
be the most extensive glacial stage reported without
ambiguity across the NW Himalaya (Owen et al., 2006;
Hedrick et al., 2011; Sharma et al., 2016; Ganju et al.,
2018). The oldest glacial stage reported so far from the
Zanskar Himalaya is > 300 ka (Karazok valley, Hedrick
et al., 2011; Orr et al., 2017, 2018) and is equivalent to
the semi-arid western Himalayan-Tibetan stage-9
(SWHTS) of Dortch et al. (2013). However, the older ages
from Himalaya yet remain to be established conclusively
for regional comparisons owing to non-repeatability of
the ages, large errors and/or because of less number of
samples (Owen et al., 2006; Seong et al., 2009; Dortch
et al., 2013; Owen and Dortch, 2014; Orr et al., 2018).
(ii) Southern Zanskar Glacial Stage (SZS)-3: The second major
glacier advance is dated to 19.1 ± 1.9 and 22.8 ± 1.9 ka
which corresponds to the LGM (Mix et al., 2001). Since
the ISM reduced considerably during the LGM
(Duplessy, 1982; Prell and Kutzbach, 1992) at the
expense of enhanced westerlies which shifted equator
wards by storm tracks (Li et al., 2016 and references
therein) and was responsible for driving the glacier
advance (Taylor and Mitchell, 2000; Ali et al., 2013; Lee
et al., 2014; Sharma et al., 2016). During the LGM, various
climate models (Braconnot et al., 2007 and references
therein) suggest a decrease of ~2  C in annual
temperature with either none or marginal decrease in
precipitation (up to 0.25 mm/day) in the NW Himalayan
region. Globally, a decrease in temperature corre-
sponding to the period spanning SZS-3 which eventually
culminated with the Heinrich event-2 (H2) and corre-
lates reasonably well with the insolation minima in the
northern hemisphere (Bond et al., 1999; Fleitmann et al.,
2007). At a regional scale, the palaeo-ELA re-
constructions in the southern Tibet (Schaefer et al.,
2008) and Zanskar Range (Sharma et al., 2016) suggest
a temperature decrease up to ~3  C with a marginal in-
crease in winter precipitation (Taylor and Mitchell,
2000; Lee et al., 2014; Sharma et al., 2016). There was
a reduction (~100%) during the SZS-3 (e.g. Padam valley)
Fig. 10A; Table S3) compared to the SZS-4 implying
relatively drier conditions as also indicated by increased
dust flux from Central Asian loess records (Porter, 2001).
(iii) Southern Zanskar Glacial Stage (SZS-2): The terminal
moraines corresponding to SZS-2 are dated to 15.7 ± 1.3
and 14.3 ± 1.3 ka (late Glacial period) suggesting minor
re-advancement. This period is considered as the coldest
climatic phase after the LGM (Zhou et al., 2008) with
strengthened westerlies (Li et al., 2016). Further, series
of the millennial scale cooling events led to decrease in
air temperature below a critical threshold and culmi-
nated in Heinrich event-1 (Bond et al., 1992, 1999; 2001).
The late Glacial period marks a fundamental change in
climate boundary conditions when the ocean circulation
was disrupted by meltwater release as the ice margins
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 233

Fig. 8. (A) Map showing the landforms around Padam where black rectangles mark the locations of various field photographs (B-E; Fig. 9). (B) Mounds of push moraines PDm-3
near Karsha village marking the termination of glacial advance. Inset shows the details of sedimentary texture. (C) Lateral moraines PDm-3 and PDm-2 are shown at the exit of the
Seni glacier near Padam. (D) Frontal section of PDm-2 at the confluence of the Seni and Doda Rivers with inset showing the sedimentary texture. (E) Outwash gravel terrace near the
exit of Tsarp Chu with inset showing the details of the sedimentary texture. (A) and (C) are modified after Sharma et al. (2018).
234 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240

Fig. 9. (A) Stratigraphy of the relict lake sequence at Padam showing the textural details. The red boxes are the OSL ages from the bottom and middle of the lake. The close-up shows
ice-wedges formed at the contact of alluvial fan and lake. (B) The Rb/Sr ratio is plotted to infer the temporal changes in moisture and temperature condition (weathering pattern).
(For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 235

Fig. 10. Bar diagrams depicting (A) the change in ice volume (km3) and (B) change in glacier length from the present for Shafat (Shafat þ small tributary glaciers), Drang-Drung,
Padam (Seni þ tributary glaciers) and Siachen glacier valleys during the mid-late Holocene, late Glacial, LGM, and MIS-4. For the Shafat and Drang-Drung glaciers refer to the scales
on the left while for the Padam and Siachen glaciers refer to the scale on right. The values within the parentheses refer to present day ice volume in (A) and present day glacier
length in (B). For Shafat and Padam glaciers the ice volume/area of tributary glaciers (Fig. 1) feeding the main catchment are also taken into consideration; whereas, the present day
length value is given for the main glacier only. Topographic bulwarking is implicated for the less increment in ice volume and the lateral extent for the Drang-Drung glacier
compared to the Padam glacier which is otherwise comparable in size. Due to the absence of moraines corresponding to the MIS-4, we could not estimate the MIS-4 ice volume for
Drang-Drung and Shafat glaciers.

from high latitude continental shelves disappeared in
response to the increased solar activity (Birchfield and
Broecker, 1990; Broecker et al., 1990; Lehman and
Keigwin, 1992). Based on palaeo-ELA in the Himalayan-
Tibet orogen (Schaefer et al., 2008) a temperature
decline of <2  C is suggested. The late glacial advance is
reported across the Himalayan orogen, e.g. Karakoram
(Spencer and Owen, 2004; Seong et al., 2007, 2009), NW
and Zanskar Himalaya (Taylor and Mitchell, 2000; Owen
et al., 2001; Lee et al., 2014; Orr et al., 2017), Ladakh
(Dortch et al., 2013), Central Himalaya and Tibet
(Schaefer et al., 2008; Owen, 2009; Ali et al., 2013; Bisht
et al., 2015) and seems to be regionally synchronous.
The early to mid-Holocene in Southern Zanskar Range is
represented by multiple recessional moraines, outwash
gravel terraces and fluvial drapes. The outwash gravel
terraces and fluvial drapes are dated between 10.8 ± 0.9
and 6.5 ± 0.5 ka suggesting the deglaciation corresponded
to the SZS-2. Near similar observations were made by
Jonell et al. (2018) from the Padam valley where they
dated multiple outwash gravel terraces between ~13 and
7 ka. In the Indian sub-continent, this period corresponds
to intensification of the ISM (Demske et al., 2009;
Bhushan et al., 2018; Wünnemann et al., 2010; Sarkar
et al., 2016; Ali et al., 2018) caused due to the enhanced
summer insolation which in turn led to a negative feed-
back by reducing the albedo and thus, suggested to have
accelerated the melting of the Himalayan-Tibetan gla-
ciers/snow (Fang et al., 1999; Sinha et al., 2005; Juyal et al.,
2009; Demske et al., 2009; Dixit et al., 2014; Bhushan
et al., 2018). The recessional moraines (associated with
SZS-2) which are the geomorphic expressions of the stand
still conditions during a recessional phase (Singh et al.,
2011; Evans, 2014) are dated between 9.1 ± 0.7 and
6.3 ± 0.6 ka. The cause of the stand still conditions is not
certain but speculatively it might have been triggered
either by centennial scale cooling events (e.g. 8.2 ka) and/
or positive feedback mechanism caused by ice albedo
effect (Colin et al., 1998; Adams et al., 1999).
(iv) Southern Zanskar Glacial Stage (SZS-1): There is no direct
age on SZS-1 however; the recessional moraines asso-
ciated with the SZS-1 are dated to 5.1 ± 0.4e4.5 ± 0.3 ka
while the preceding SZS-2 recessional moraine is dated
to 6.3 ± 0.6 ka. Thus, it can be suggested that the SZS-1
occurred after 6.3 and before 5.1 ka (mid-Holocene).
Various global and regional climate proxies suggest
236 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240

Fig. 11. (A) The distribution of optical and radiocarbon ages obtained on lateral and recessional moraines, relict lake, loessic silt, palaeosol, and outwash gravel terraces/sand drapes.
Three OSL ages 3.8 ± 0.5, 2.5 ± 0.2, and 4.9 ± 0.4 ka are from Sharma et al. (2018). The black solid line curve is the insolation data (Berger and Loutre, 1991) for the northern
hemisphere at 30 N. The glacial advance (SZS-3-~24e18 ka), represented by lateral/frontal moraines, corresponds to the insolation minima; whereas the recessional moraines and
outwash terraces correspond with the insolation maxima. (B) The millennial scale cooling cycles culminating into the Heinrich events-2 (H2) and (H1) are shown by a line diagram
(Bond et al., 1993) which is traced using the dO18 data from GRIP ice core (Andersen et al., 2005) shown in (C). The lateral/frontal moraines of SZS-3 and SZS-2 (late glacial- ~17e13
ka) correspond to millennial scale cooling culminating in H2 and H1 respectively. (D) The moisture contribution by the westerlies plotted from lake records of arid central Asia
(Chen et al., 2008) shows a monotonous increase after ~8 ka. The period is represented by recessional moraines, relict lake, loess and palaeosol deposits. The SZS-1 (~6 ka) could not
sustain inspite of the enhanced moisture from the westerlies and therefore it seems that the millennial scale cooling event was critical for the advance. (E) The Haematite Stained
 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240 237

unstable climatic conditions during mid to late Holocene
with overall weakened ISM at the expense of strength-
ened westerlies (Fig. 11D, E, G; Bond et al., 1997;
Fleitmann et al., 2003; Steig, 1999; Chen et al., 2008;
Wünnemann et al., 2010; Bhushan et al., 2018). The mid
to late Holocene marks overall cooling (up to 0.7  C) in
response to decreased orbital obliquity (Marcott et al.,
2013) and seasonal changes in insolation where
climate models suggest marginally cool (0.25e0.5  C)
summers and cooler (up to 0.8  C) winters than the
present in the NW Himalayan region (Braconnot et al.,
2007). The sedimentological and geochemical data
from the relict lake sediment at Padam indicate unstable
(fluctuating) climatic conditions (Fig. 9). This is further
suggested by the development of palaeosol at Pensi La
(Fig. 5C), and deposition of loessic silt (Fig. 7A). We
suggest that the SZS-1 advance was most likely triggered
by a millennial scale cooling event ~6 ka (Fig. 11BeE)
under enhanced westerlies. Following this, the SZS-1
retreated in pluses as indicated by the trail of reces-
sional moraines and deposition of the youngest outwash
gravel terraces dated to ~4 ka (late-Holocene) by Jonell
et al. (2018) in the Padam valley. Whereas, the snout
proximal minor advance may be the geomorphic
expression of the latest cooling event of LIA (Bond et al.,
2001).
(B) Response of glaciers to millennial scale cooling events: The
chronology of the various landforms discussed above is
plotted along with the global and regional climate proxies to
ascertain the role of the ISM and mid-latitude westerlies
(Fig. 11). The glacier advances SZS-3 and 2 coincide with the
multi-millennial and millennial scale cooling events culmi-
nating in H1 and H2 (low solar activity) and seem to be
driven by enhanced westerlies (Fig. 11AeD). Thus, suggesting
a strong coupling between the glacier dynamics in the
Southern Zanskar Range and the North Atlantic cooling
events. During SZS-1 a similar multi-millennial cooling event
(although of relatively shorter duration) is observed in
Haematite Stained Grain (HSG) data (Fig. 11E), dO18 record of
speleothem from Mawmluh Cave, eastern Himalaya (Fig. 11F;
Dutt et al., 2015) and MgO% from a central Himalayan lake
(Fig. 11G; Bhushan et al., 2018). It is noteworthy that after 8
ka the moisture supply from the westerlies enhanced
(Fig. 11D; Chen et al., 2008) and yet the SZS-1 (~6 ka) could
not sustain under fluctuating temperature (Chen et al., 2008;
Wünnemann et al., 2010; Bhushan et al., 2018) implying the
critical role of millennial scale cooling events. Contrary to
this, events of glacier recession and deglaciation correlate
reasonably with the warmer temperature both during the
intensified and weakened ISM (Fig. 11F and G). Particularly,
the early Holocene ISM intensification (11e9 ka) is suggested
to trigger glacier advances by cooling associated with
enhanced cloudiness and precipitation (Owen and Dorcth,
2014 and references therein). Interestingly, the absence of
early Holocene moraines in the transitional climatic zone of
the Southern Zanskar Range suggests that the climate was
not conducive for the growth of glaciers. Thus, again high-
lights the critical role of millennial scale cooling events in
driving the glacier advances (Fig. 11A,-C, E). It seems that the
moisture becomes crucial only once the required threshold
of cooling is achieved which is then translated into increased
ice volume. The terrain also seems to be sensitive enough for
short lived (centennial) cooling events which although seem
to be incapable of triggering an advance but could tempo-
rarily halt the recession (stand still conditions) during the
LGM, late Glacial and mid-Holocene. Finally, the progressive
decrease in the ice volume from SZS-4 to 1 can be attributed
to the decrease in moisture supply by the mid-latitude
westerlies (Wünnemann et al., 2010; Hughes et al., 2013;
Bhattacharyya et al., 2014; Li et al., 2016) where for the SZS-1
less cooling for shorter duration played an additional control
in reducing the glacier extent/volume.
(C) Role of topography and evidence of glacial-drainage capture: In
an earlier study by Burbank and Fort (1985), bedrock control
leading to restricted extent of glacial expansion in the
northern Zanskar Range was suggested. However, recently
Orr et al. (2017) have negated their suggestion. Although we
do not find bedrock control limiting the lateral extent of the
valley glacier however, there seems to be a topographic
obstruction (bulwarking) in the lateral extent of Drang-
Drung glacier (Fig. 10; Table S3). This would imply that
asynchronous advances in NW Himalaya may not necessarily
represent the differential response of the glaciers and could
be at places be an artefact of the topography.
Glaciers are known to flow against the topographic gradient
owning to large ice volume. The subsequent reduction in ice
volume may lead to drainage capture which at times is reflected
in the provenance of sediments mobilised during deglaciation
phases (Rowan et al., 2013 and references therein). The large
volume of moraines preserved at the drainage divide (Pensi La;
Fig. 6B) suggests that until around the SZS-2 (Late glacial) the
Drang-Drung glacier crossed the divide against the topographic
gradient owning to large ice volume. Subsequently, due to the
sequential reduction in the ice volume, the glacier captured the
drainage of the eastward flowing Doda River (Fig. 7Band C)
(Sharma et al., 2018). Jonell et al. (2018) suggest major contri-
bution of sediment by Doda (Stod) river in the Zanskar valley
since Holocene and a shift in provenance towards Tethyan
sedimentary after ~8 ka. Their observations accord well with the
present study suggesting a drainage capture by Drang-Drung
glacier in the mid-Holocene (~7.7 ka).
6. Conclusions
The moraine stratigraphy supported by optical chronology
suggests that the Southern Zanskar Range witnessed four glacier
advances of decreasing magnitude. The oldest Southern Zanskar
Glacier Stage-4 (SZS-4) is conjectured to the MIS-4, the SZS-3 is
dated to the LGM (22.8 ± 1.9e19.1 ± 1.9 ka), the SZS-2 is dated to the
late Glacial period (15.7 ± 1.3e14.3 ± 1.3 ka) whereas the youngest
SZS-1 is assigned mid-Holocene age (~6 ka). The glacier advances

grain (HSG) percentage (Bond et al., 2001) shows that the centennial scale cooling events were not sufficient to trigger an advance. (F) The dO18 data of speleothem from the
Mawmluh Cave, NE India mimics the moisture contribution from the ISM (Bay of Bengal; Dutt et al., 2015). The Heinrich events (H2 and H1) are marked with the arrows during
which the ISM was weakened. (G) The aqueous detrital proxy (MgO %) is plotted from a lake deposit in central Himalaya (Bhushan et al., 2018) to infer the regional variability of the
ISM. (H) The dO18 records from PD and MSD stalagmites cores are plotted from the Hulu cave (Wang et al., 2001) to show the variability in Asian monsoon. Summarising the multi-
proxy data shown in plots (F) to (H) (red curves) it can be suggested that strengthened ISM phases are anti-correlated with the multi-millennial and millennial scale cooling events.
The landforms representing deglaciations largely correspond with the ISM dominated phase (11e9 ka-dotted yellow stippling). The weakened ISM phases (cooling events) are
marked by strengthened westerlies (blue shading) which supplied the required moisture for the glacial advances. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend,
the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
238 S. Sharma, A.D. Shukla / Quaternary Science Reviews 201 (2018) 223e240
seem to be driven by enhanced westerlies (low insolation/solar
activity) during the multi-millennial and millennial scale cooling
events associated with Northern Atlantic climatic perturbations.
The study suggests that at least a millennial scale cooling event is
critical in order to trigger an advance whereas the moisture be-
comes crucial only once the required threshold of cooling is ach-
ieved. Following each major advance, the pulsating recession
implies temporarily stand still conditions which might have been
triggered by centennial scale cooling events. The early to mid-
Holocene is represented by major deglaciation
(10.8 ± 0.9e6.5 ± 0.5 ka) for which warmer air temperature is
implicated. The fluctuating climatic conditions prevailed during
later part of the mid to late Holocene with overall weakened ISM at
the expense of strengthened westerlies. The progressive decrease
in the ice volume from SZS-4 to 1 is attributed to the decreasing
strength of the mid-latitude westerlies, where particularly for SZS-
1 lesser cooling may have played an additional role. Further, there
seems to be a topographic control (bulwarking) in the lateral extent
of obstructed valley glacier Drang-Drung. Thus, the study cautions
that the asynchronous advances in NW Himalaya may not neces-
sarily represent the differential response of the glaciers and could
be at places an artefact of topography.
Acknowledgements
Authors are grateful to the Editor and anonymous reviewers for
their valuable suggestions which helped us improve the manu-
script. Shubhra Sharma acknowledges the support provided by the
Director, IISER-Mohali. We are thankful to Dr Navin Juyal for fruitful
discussions during the course of this work and Dr. M.G. Yadava for
providing radiocarbon age. SS thanks the DST-sponsored field
training programme (2015) coordinated by KSKV Kachchh Univer-
sity. Dr Dorjee and his team are acknowledged for their hospitality.
We also acknowledge the GLIMS and NSIDC (2005, updated 2018):
Global Land Ice Measurements from Space glacier database
compiled and made available by the international GLIMS commu-
nity and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder CO, U.S.A.
DOI:10.7265/N5V98602. NASA, NGA and the USGS is acknowledged
for the SRTM 90 m product.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.006.
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