Palaeomagnetic Results from the Pleistocene-Holocene Lake Deposits of Bhimtal and Bhowali (kumaun Himalaya) and Lamayuru (Ladakh Himalaya) with Reference to the Reversal Events

Palaeomagnetic studies were carried out in the fluvio-Iacustrine sediments of Bhimtal and Bhowali basins (Kumaun Himalaya) and of Lamayuru basin (Ladakh Himalaya). The results were supplemented by radiocarbon dating. For the first time in the terrestrial sediments of the Quaternary-Holocene age in the Indian subcontinent, three minor reversal polarity events have been recorded at Lamayuru (ca. 35.5 ± 0.6 ka BP), Bhimtal (29.8-25.6 ka BP), and Bhowali (ca. 7.7 ± 0.13 ka BP). Since the upper most portion of the Lamayuru section indicated a reversal event, it may be significant to correlate it with the Indian Ocean event estimated as 40 ka BP. It is suggested that the Bhimtal event may be correlated with the widely known Mono Lake excursion which is fixed at 28-26 ka BP. Among the Holocene events, only a few are known, e.g., an event in the Solberga sediments (Sweden) estimated at ca. 10 ka BP; an event from Central Asia, dated at about 9 ka BP; the Erieau excursion, upper part of which has been estimated at about 7.6 ka BP; and the youngest event known as the Starno event (2.8 ka BP). The initial reports of the palaeomagnetic events, described in this paper, may be highly significant for examining several more sections as the events should he found repeatedly in sediments of same age in a given sedimentary environment.